The doctrine of judicial estoppel will not bar a disability discrimination claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) where a claimant is denied benefits by his employer and later makes statements regarding his condition in applying for social security benefits.
The plaintiff was a Vietnam veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. While employed by the defendant, he participated in an in-patient treatment program. During the treatment, his employer requested information regarding his condition, which the plaintiff refused to provide. As a result, the employer sent him a letter stating that when his departmental leave was over, he could apply for personal leave (with no guarantee of reinstatement) but that it would not grant him another departmental leave. The plaintiff did not apply for personal leave. He was terminated shortly thereafter.
The plaintiff then applied for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. In applying, he stated
that he was totally disabled and unable to work. He also stated that when his treatment ended, he would relinquish his benefits and return to work.
The plaintiff later sued his employer under the ADA and won in district court. The employer appealed to the 10th Circuit, contending that the lower court should have applied the doctrine of judicial estoppel to bar the claim based on the statements he had made in connection with his request for Social Security benefits.
The court began its analysis by stating that judicial estoppel bars a party from adopting inconsistent positions in the same or related litigation (citing United States v. 49/01 Acres of Land, 802 F.2d 387, 390 [10th Cir. 1986]). It then compared the ADA with the Social Security Act stating that while the ADA considers whether someone with a disability can work given reasonable accommodation, the Social Security Act does not consider whether an accommodation would render the individual able to perform a job. So, the court held, a statement that a person is disabled for purposes of obtaining social security benefits is not necessarily inconsistent with a statement that a person has been discriminated against in the workplace on the basis of a disability. The court went onto hold that that there was nothing inconsistent in plaintiff's application for disability benefits after his request of accommodation in the form of paid leave from his employer had been denied.
ECHOLINGO
A legal doctrine barring a party from adopting inconsistent positions in the same or related litigation.
