Levinger v. Mercy Med. Ctr., Nampa,

Levinger v. Mercy Med. Ctr., Nampa,
No. 27591 (Idaho
July 24, 2003)

An
anesthesiologist who worked as an independent contractor for a group with an
exclusive contract had his hospital privileges suspended and subsequently revoked
for several incidents of erratic behavior. The anesthesiologist was later diagnosed
with bipolar disorder, and sued the hospital alleging violations of the Rehabilitation
Act (RA) and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The trial court dismissed
the RA and ADA claims because neither Acts’ employment discrimination provisions
applied to independent contractors. The Supreme Court of Idaho upheld the trial
court’s decision, reaffirming that to bring a Title I ADA employment discrimination
claim, the plaintiff must be an "employee." The court added that the
standards used to determine actionable Title I ADA discrimination were the same
standards used to determine RA discrimination.