Disability discrimination cases arising under the Americans With Disabilities Act can involve physical injury and physical pain and sufferng damages. These most typically will arise where an employer refuses to reasonably accomodate an employee's disability and, as a result, the employee's condition is worsened or aggravated. A number of cases have recognized that pain and suffering damages for physical injury are recoverable in these type of cases:
- Sturz v. Wisconsin Dept. of Corrections, 642 F.Supp.2d 881, 891 (W.D. Wis. 2009) ("Again, plaintiff has adduced evidence that her conditions at work not only failed to accommodate her conditions, but actually exacerbated them to the extent that she was in so much pain that she was throwing up at the end of the day. An employee should not have choose between her job and her health.")
- Olian v. Board of Educ. of City of Chicago, 631 F.Supp.2d 953, 963 (N.D. Ill. 2009) ("... she produced ample evidence that her disability worsened as a result of the Board's failure to reasonably accommodate her. She testified to increased pain in her throat ...")
- Tobin v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 2007 WL 967860 (D. Mass. 2007) (although employer argued that plaintiff's bipolar disorder and other life problems, and not its failure to accommodate, was the cause of the emotional distress, the jury disagreed; the tortfeasor “takes his victim as he finds him,” and an employer can be liable for aggravating a pre-existing emotional condition)
- Melluzzo v. Public Advocate, LLC, 2006 WL 5159197 (M.D. Fla. May 31, 2006) (claims included pain from being forced to stand)
- Worthington v. City of New Haven, 994 F. Supp. 111, 114 (D. Conn. 1997) (plaintiff may seek damages for becoming totally disabled due to employer's refusal to accommodate her disability while she was its employee)
- Epstein v. Kalvin-Miller Intern., Inc., 139 F. Supp. 2d 469, 481 (S.D.N.Y. 2001) (in case under state law, jury award for emotional distress was fully supported by evidence that plaintiff's physical symptoms were aggravated and his emotional distress was severe)
- Messer v. Huntington Anesthesia Group, Inc., 218 W. Va. 4, 620 S.E.2d 144 (2005) (state law claim that failure to accommodate aggravated employees medical condition is not barred by workers' compensation exclusivity provision); Goodman v. Boeing Co., 127 Wash. 2d 401, 899 P.2d 1265 (1995) (similar)