The court ruled that impairments are not disabilities if they can be mitigated by lifestyle, by devices or by medications. The lower courts, following Sutton, now disqualify people with diabetes, heart conditions, epilepsy, cancer and "mental illness" from pursuing ADA employment discrimination claims because their impairments can be mitigated with medications.
Caught in a viscious catch 22 workers with these conditions are "too functional" to be "disabled" yet can be fired for the "nondisabling" conditions. The Supreme Court virtually de- defined disability into thin air.
As Ruth O'Brien put is, the Supreme Court "turned the ADA on its head" by giving employers "the right to discriminate" and "the freedom to decide against hiring people who had limiting impairments." (Crippled Justice)
A glaring result of that ruling is that of a person with cerebral palsy was denied the status of "disabled" because she had a pharmacist education. Even Jeffrey Gorman, a paraplegic, was challenged by Kansas City lawyers as to whether he was disabled or not by claiming his mobility impairment was mitigated by his wheelchair.