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Abstract

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted in 1990 and became effective in 1992. Enacted in a bipartisan and optimistic atmosphere, the legislation has often been portrayed in the popular media as a windfall statute for plaintiffs.

Professor Colker argues that this media portrayal is inaccurate. Focusing on appellate outcomes available electronically on Westlaw, she has found that defendants disproportionately prevail in ADA employment discrimination litigation. Comparing these outcomes with the results available from other researchers, she concludes that the plaintiff success rate in the appellate courts is lower under the ADA than under other, similar statutes. Using a logistic regression analysis, Professor Colker identifies what factors can predict a positive outcome for plaintiffs at the appellate level. She found that the circuit in which the plaintiff litigated was one of the most important factors predicting success and speculates that there is a political component to predicting successful outcomes in court.

Finally, Professor Colker examines the effect that passage of the ADA may have had on pre-existing disability nondiscrimination statutes such as Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. She suggests that the backlash against the ADA may also have negatively affected these other statutes.