“Long COVID,” Bodily Systems as ADAAA Major Life Activities, and the Social Model of Disability

2022 U. Chicago Legal Forum 159 (2022)

University of Utah College of Law Research Paper No. 532

32 Pages Posted: 7 Feb 2023 Last revised: 9 Feb 2023

See all articles by Leslie P. Francis

Leslie P. Francis

University of Utah - S.J. Quinney College of Law

Michael Ashley Stein

Visiting Professor, Harvard Law School; University of Pretoria Faculty of Law, Centre for Human Rights

Date Written: February 1, 2023

Abstract

Long COVID claims for disability-related employment discrimination have been met by physical reductionism during determinations of disability. Difficult to diagnose due to an absence of agreed-upon physiologically observed biomarkers, and liable to elude ADA coverage and/or eligibility for reasonable workplace accommodations, long COVID illustrates a misunderstanding of the relationship between disability, bodily function, and disability anti-discrimination law. Although the ADAAA was intended to extend the range of people considered to be disabled for purposes of disability anti-discrimination law, including bodily system function as a major life activity in the amended statute has contributed to problematic physical reductionism in disability determinations as demonstrated in recent federal court decisions. To remedy this discordance, we suggested how social understandings of the body and disability, congruent with the ADAAA, can counter misleading reductionism about ambiguously diagnosed conditions as disabilities, including long COVID.

Note:

Funding Information: No funding.

Declaration of Interests: No conflict of interest.

Suggested Citation

Francis, Leslie P. and Stein, Michael Ashley, “Long COVID,” Bodily Systems as ADAAA Major Life Activities, and the Social Model of Disability (February 1, 2023). 2022 U. Chicago Legal Forum 159 (2022), University of Utah College of Law Research Paper No. 532, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4344370 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4344370

Leslie P. Francis (Contact Author)

University of Utah - S.J. Quinney College of Law ( email )

383 S. University Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0730
United States

Michael Ashley Stein

Visiting Professor, Harvard Law School ( email )

1585 Massachussetts Avenue
Austin Hall 305
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States
617-495-1726 (Phone)

University of Pretoria Faculty of Law, Centre for Human Rights ( email )

Private Bag X20
Hatfield 0028
Pretoria
South Africa

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