Main Street Alliance, Democracy Forward Respond to Supreme Court Ruling in Stanley v. City of Sanford, Florida 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a ruling today, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed a decision of a federal appeals court that denied a retired firefighter, Karyn Stanley, who is disabled, the ability to sue her former employer for discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). 

Democracy Forward represented the Main Street Alliance — a national network of nearly 30,000 small businesses — in submitting a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Karyn Stanley, the plaintiff in the case.

“The Americans with Disabilities Act is a landmark piece of legislation that for over two decades has shielded workers with disabilities from workplace discrimination – not only during employment, but after it ends. We are pleased, as Justice Sotomayor notes in her concurrence, that a majority of justices on the Court still recognize that people subjected to compensation discrimination based on their disability may bring claims to challenge that discrimination, even if they file suit after their employment ends,” said Skye Perryman, President & CEO of Democracy Forward. “We are disappointed that Ms. Stanley, a retired firefighter and frontline responder, did not obtain the relief that she went to court to seek in the case.  We are also concerned that the Court’s decision today improperly minimizes the protection against discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Title I of the ADA’s prohibition on disability discrimination does not – and should not – stop the day an employee retires. Our team will continue our work to advance the rights of people with disabilities and the protections that they are entitled to under our laws.” 

“Subjecting millions of people in our country to second-class citizenship to avoid incurring the costs of covering a promised benefit to an employee violates their employment contract. Main Street Alliance, which represents 30,000 small business owners, supports efforts to uphold disabled Americans’ rights because many of our members live with a disability. Nearly all small business owners are employees of another business or entity before becoming a business owner or may work in a W2 position part-time while owning their business. Protecting the rights of those members, in addition to creating a legal climate of certainty of enforcement of the ADA will help support small businesses’ efforts to recruit and employ staff with disabilities. While today is a loss for Main Street, we will continue to vigorously defend the rights of our members and the American People. It’s what’s best for small business and what’s best for achieving the aspirations of the American people,” said Shawn Phetteplace, National Campaigns Director, Main Street Alliance.

As laid out in their brief, the Main Street Alliance argued that the Eleventh Circuit’s ruling would allow blatant discrimination against people with disabilities and harm small businesses by driving employees with disabilities out of the workforce, harming employers’ bargaining power if employees know they can’t count on their post-employment benefits, and creating a competitive disadvantage for employers who want to do right by their former employees and invest in their post-employment benefits.

Democracy Forward’s legal team on this matter includes: Bradley Girard, Rachel L. Fried, Robin Thurston, and Sunu Chandy.  

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Democracy Forward Foundation is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org.