Turner v. Hershey Chocolate - 3d Cir. - March 20, 2006
http://www.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/044674p.pdf
Plaintiff's Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) claims, 42 USC 12112(a), et al., were not estopped by allegations in her SSDI and long-term disability insurance claims about her disability.
Statements in support of an SSDI claim do no take into account the concept of reasonable accommodation under the ADA and therefore do not necessarily estop a claim under the ADA that one is capable of performing the essential functions of a job, with reasonable accommodations. Cleveland v. Policy Mgmt. Systems Corp., 526 US 795 (1999)
Statements on the long-term disability insurance claim were not categorical statements of total inability to peform job funcionts, nor did they take into account plaintiff's ADA entitlement to reasonable accommodation.
