Parties Settle ADA Case Out of Court

January 15, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Employer groups watching a U.S. Supreme Court case about an organization's responsibilities to a disabled worker under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) will not get the legal clarification many had hoped for.

That’s because both sides in Pam Huber’s fight against retail giant Wal-Mart agreed to a confidential settlement and voluntarily withdrew the case before the high court, according to court records .

At issue in the case before the justices was whether the ADA requires an employer reassign a disabled employee to a vacant, equivalent job for which the disabled applicant is qualified or only mandates the employer allow that worker to compete with other applicants.

Huber sued Wal-Mart after she was turned down for a job reassignment when she suffered an injury to her right arm and hand, claiming that the higher paying job she sought represented the “reasonable accommodation” called for in the ADA.Wal-Mart ultimately filled the job with a nondisabled applicant, explaining that Huber was not the most qualified candidate.

Huber won in the lower court, but a federal appellate court overturned that decision, saying that the ADA does not force employers to offer positions to less qualified, disabled workers (See Supreme Court to Review Wal-Mart ADA Hiring Case ).

Neither side would discuss the settlement details, according to a Business Insurance news report.

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