Passed in 1973, the Rehabilitation Act was the first law to provide equal access for individuals with disabilities. The Rehabilitation Act opened the door for the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which created enforceable standards addressing discrimination against individuals with disabilities. Working in tandem, these two Acts form the foundation that protects individuals with disabilities from discrimination in the U.S. However, in 1985, the Supreme Court intentionally refused to decide whether this protection included disparate impact as well as intentional discrimination. This has led the circuit courts to split in holding whether or not disparate impact claims are recognized under the Rehabilitation Act and the ADA. This Note will examine different methods of statutory interpretation to ultimately recommend that disparate impact claims should be recognized under the Rehabilitation Act and the ADA, following prior Supreme Court precedent in recognizing disparate impact claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Fair Housing Act.
* J.D. Candidate, 2024, University of Illinois College of Law; B.S. & B.A., 2021, The Pennsylvania State University. Thank you to the members, staff, and editors of the University of Illinois Law Review for their support, guidance, and hard work in publishing this Note. I would like to dedicate this Note to my parents, Christine and Lou; my siblings, Nicholas and Olivia; and my partner, Bryan. Thank you for your unwavering love and support throughout my time in law school.
The full text of this Note is available to download as a PDF.