A federal appellate court on Thursday upheld a denial of disability claims against a security company, but reintroduced a retaliation claim.
Othman Ibela accused his Conshohocken, Pennsylvania-based Allied Universal, of reducing his hours and working days, among other things, after informing his supervisor that he had bipolar disorder, according to court papers in Othman Ibela v. Allied Universal.
The U.S. District Court in New York dismissed both his claim for discrimination and retaliation under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Confirming that the claim of discrimination was rejected, a panel of three judges in the Court of Appeal said that Mr. Ibela “did not sufficiently claim that he suffered from a disability in the ADA̵
7;s view.”“A diagnosis alone is insufficient to determine disability according to the charter … Since Ibela did not state any facts showing that his bipolar disorder affected, let alone significantly limited, a major life activity, he failed to make a claim for discrimination against disability,” “the four-page they said.
By reintroducing the claim for retaliation, the court said that Ibela claimed that within two months of making a reasonable lodging request, his supervisor “began denying him work, reducing his hours and denying him overtime after requesting reasonable accommodation due to his bipolar disorder. ”
His amended complaint and opposition instruction “likely asserted a reasonable conviction on his part that he was engaging in protected conduct and satisfying the elements of an ADA retaliation claim,” the panel said, reintroducing the claim and referring the case to further proceedings.
Allied Universal’s lawyers did not respond to a request for comment. The court did not state the name of a lawyer for Mr. Ibela.
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