E.D. Pa.: Sufficient Evidence at Summary Judgment that Irritable Bowel Syndrome is a Disability Under the ADAAA

Earlier this week, Judge Ronald Buckwalter of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued an opinion denying the defendant's motion for summary judgment in Myles v. University of Pennsylvania Health System, 2011 WL 6150168 (E.D. Pa., Dec. 12, 2011), an ADA employment case.  The defendant argued, among other things, that the plaintiff's irritable bowel syndrome was not an ADA disability.  Applying the ADA Amendments Act, the court concluded that the plaintiff presented sufficient evidence that her IBS substantially limited her bowel functions (which are a "major bodily function" and hence a "major life activity" under 42 U.S.C. 12102(2)(B)), and her ability to work.  This case would likely have come out the other way under pre-ADAAA law.