{"id":37762,"date":"2008-03-26T16:35:41","date_gmt":"2008-03-26T21:35:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-legal\/uncategorized\/the-ada-has-teeth.html"},"modified":"2008-03-26T16:35:41","modified_gmt":"2008-03-26T21:35:41","slug":"the-ada-has-teeth","status":"publish","type":"corporate","link":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/litigation-disputes\/the-ada-has-teeth.html","title":{"rendered":"The ADA Has Teeth"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline\">\n    <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-content\">\n                    <p><em>This article was edited and reviewed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team.html\" rel=\"noopener\">FindLaw Attorney Writers<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n                | Last reviewed\n        <time>\n                            May 04, 2026\n                    <\/time>\n    <\/div>\n\n    \n    <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle fl-gutenberg-byline-legally-reviewed\">\n        <h2>\n            <button tabindex=\"0\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n                <i class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-icon\"><\/i>\n                Legally Reviewed\n            <\/button>\n        <\/h2>\n\n        <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle-content\">\n            <p><em>This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy, clarity, and style by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team.html\" rel=\"noopener\">FindLaw\u2019s team of legal writers and attorneys<\/a> and in accordance with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/company-history\/editorial-policy.html\" rel=\"noopener\">our editorial standards<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle fl-gutenberg-byline-fast-checked\">\n        <h2>\n            <button tabindex=\"0\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n                <i class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-icon\"><\/i>\n                Fact-Checked\n            <\/button>\n        <\/h2>\n\n        <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle-content\">\n            <p><em>The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team\/contributing-authors.html\" rel=\"noopener\">contributing authors<\/a>. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please <a href=\"https:\/\/lawyers.findlaw.com\/?fli=bylinelink\" rel=\"noopener\">contact an attorney in your area<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"rxbodyfield\" xmlns:o=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/office\" xmlns:st1=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/smarttags\" xmlns:w=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/word\" xmlns:x=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/excel\"><p>The Seventh Circuit also recently reinstated a claim under the ADA by a prospective telemarketer with 18 missing teeth, who was discharged after three days of training because he &quot;mumbled&quot; on the phone. As Judge Easterbrook wrote, &quot;unlike [plaintiff], the Americans with Disabilities Act has teeth.&quot;<\/p><p>Robert Johnson&#39;s claim had been dismissed by the district court, which held that Johnson was not disabled within the meaning of the ADA because his missing teeth do not rise to the level of a &quot;cosmetic disfigurement.&quot; The Seventh Circuit reversed and remanded the case, holding that Johnson&#39;s claim that he was &quot;regarded as&quot; disabled by his employer was cognizable under the ADA, even in the absence of an objective disability. The Court went on to note, however, that the telemarketing company had many other defenses to Johnson&#39;s ADA claim, including that Johnson is not entitled to ADA protection because mumbling does not substantially limit a major life activity, a prerequisite to ADA protection. The appeals court left consideration of such other defenses to the district court, however. <i>Johnson v. American Chamber of Commerce Publishers, Inc.<\/i><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Seventh Circuit also recently reinstated a claim under the ADA by a prospective telemarketer with 18 missing teeth, who was discharged after three days of training because he &#8220;mumbled&#8221; on the phone. As Judge Easterbrook wrote, &#8220;unlike &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_stopmodifiedupdate":true,"_modified_date":"","_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false},"corporate_categories":[6522,6526,6520],"class_list":["post-37762","corporate","type-corporate","status-publish","hentry","corporate_categories-litigation-disputes__civil-litigation","corporate_categories-litigation-disputes__civil-litigation__civil-rights","corporate_categories-litigation-disputes"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate\/37762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/corporate"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"corporate_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate_categories?post=37762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}