Tomorrow the U.S. Supreme Court will hear opening arguments from the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Company, and one of its former employees, in a case that could determine the coverage of repetitive stress injuries under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The case originated in a 1999 suit charging that the Toyota corporation fired an assembly line worker in violation of the ADA when she refused to perform an assigned task that she claimed was re-injuring a severe case of carpal tunnel syndrome caused by a previous position on the assembly line. Toyota---along with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the Bush Administration---argue that conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome are injuries not disabilities, and that the term "disabilities" in the ADA should be narrowly interpreted to apply only to conditions that completely prevent an individual from performing a task.
See "A Definition of 'Disabilities'; Supreme Court to hear case that could affect millions", GAYLORD SHAW, Newsday, November 5, 2001