Nunies v. HIE Holdings, No. 16-16494 (9th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this Case
Under the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA), the scope of the ADA's "regarded-as" definition of disability was expanded. The plaintiff must show, under the ADAAA, that he has been subjected to a prohibited action because of an actual or perceived physical or mental impairment whether or not the impairment limits or is perceived to limit a major life activity.
In this case, plaintiff filed suit against HIE, alleging disability discrimination under the ADA and state law claiming that HIE terminated him because of his shoulder injury. The Ninth Circuit held that plaintiff established a genuine issue of material fact as to whether his employer regarded him as having a disability. The panel held that the district court erred in concluding, as a matter of law, that plaintiff was not regarded-as disabled. Furthermore, the district court erred in concluding that plaintiff did not meet the "physical" definition of disability under the ADA.
Court Description: Employment Discrimination. The panel affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court’s summary judgment in favor of the defendant in an employment discrimination action under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The panel held that, under the ADA Amendments Act, the scope of the ADA’s “regarded-as” definition of disability was expanded. Prior to the ADAAA, to sustain a regarded-as claim, the plaintiff had to provide evidence that the employer subjectively believed the plaintiff was substantially limited in a major life activity. Under the ADAAA, however, the plaintiff must show that he has been subjected to a prohibited action “because of an actual or perceived physical or mental impairment whether or not the impairment limits or is perceived to limit a major life activity.” Applying the correct law, and viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, the panel concluded that the plaintiff established a genuine issue of material fact as to whether his employer regarded him as having a disability. The panel held that the district court further erred in concluding that the plaintiff did not meet the “physical” definition of disability under the ADA, which requires a showing that the plaintiff has a physical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. The panel concluded that there was at least a dispute about NUNIES V. HIE HOLDINGS 3 whether the plaintiff’s shoulder injury substantially limited the life activities of working and lifting. The panel reversed the district court’s dismissal of both the ADA claims and plaintiff’s state law discrimination claim. The panel affirmed the district court’s ruling that Haw. Rev. Stat. § 378-35, which provides an exclusive remedy for certain claims arising from a workplace injury, did not bar the ADA claims. The panel remanded the case to the district court for further proceedings.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on November 1, 2018.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.