Disability claim fatal to age discrimination claim

ABA E-Journal this week scooped a case I was planning to report, Detz v. Greiner Industries Inc. (3rd Cir. 10/7/03) Here’s the full text of the opinion.

The plaintiff “forfeited his age discrimination claim because of ‘patently inconsistent’ statements made to the Social Security Administration in pursuit of disability benefits.”

“In his application for disability benefits, Detz asserted he was disabled and unable to do any work. But in his age discrimination suit, he claimed he was qualified to do light-duty work.”

“The decision shows attorneys have to exercise care in cases in which a plaintiff might pursue both disability and employment discrimination claims.”

Likewise with Social Security, workers compensation, or private disability insurance claims and ADA disability claims. Pleading a high degree of disability, while helpful with the former, hurts with ADA claims, which require being qualified to perform the essential job functions (with accomodation if necessary). Technically, the issue is one of judicial estoppel, though it seems in a looser sense it may be material for impeachment (“were you lying then or are you lying now?”).