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Case #13
Reply RESPONSE in (IRAC) ISSUE, RULE, ANALYSIS, and a CONCLUSION Question: Is allowing use of a golf cart a reasonable accommodation for a professional golfer with a disability that restricts him from walking substantial distances? Explain.
Casey Martin is a professional golfer and also an individual with a disability as defined in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA).Since birth he has been afflicted with Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber Syndrome, a degenerative circulatory disorder that obstructs the flow of blood from his right leg back to his heart. The disease is progressive; it causes severe pain and has atrophied his right leg. During the latter part of his college career, because of the progress of the disease, Martin could no longer walk an 18-hole golf course. Walking not only caused him pain, fatigue, and anxiety, but also created a significant risk of hemorrhaging, developing blood clots, and fracturing his tibia so badly that an amputation might be required. For these reasons, Stanford made written requests to the Pacific 10 Conference and the NCAA to waive for Martin their rules requiring players to walk and carry their own clubs. The requests were granted. When Martin turned pro and entered the PGA Tour’s Q-School, the hard card permitted him to use a cart during his successful progress through the first two stages. He made a request, supported by detained medical records, for permission to use a golf cart during the third stage. PGA Tour refused to review these records or to waive its walking rule for the third stage.
Expert Answer
Rule: The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which made discrimination based on race, religion, sex, national origin, and other characteristics illegal
Analysis: The ADA prohibits discrimination in employment, public services, and public accommodations. The Court noted that discrimination under the ADA includes the failure to make reasonable modifications in policies or accommodations to individuals with disabilities unless an entity can show that the modification would have “fundamentally altered the nature of,” in this case, the golf tournament.
According to the Supreme Court, Martin’s use of a cart was a reasonable means of giving him access to the tournaments. The rule requiring the elite golfers to walk was not indispensable to the competition. The modification of using a cart allowed Martin the opportunity to compete in an athletic contest open to members of the public who have the necessary skill and desire, just as the ADA requires. The Supreme Court, after careful consideration of the how golf is played, rejected the PGA’s contention that walking was critical.
Conclusion: The Supreme Court said that under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), he could use a golf cart to ride between holes on the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour
