WASHINGTON (Gray DC) – On Monday, the Supreme Court’s nine justices will hear arguments in a case that could determine whether or not former employees can sue over post-employment benefits.
The case was brought to the court by former Sanford, Florida firefighter Karyn Stanley who sued the city for discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
When Stanley was offered her job as a firefighter in 1999, the city offered a retirement health insurance subsidy until age 65 as long as the employee served the department for 25 years or retired for disability reasons.
“She, knew when she joining the fire department that she would get benefits, after she retired, generous health care benefits,” said Deepak Gupta, Stanley’s lawyer in the case. “And that’s important for people that are taking jobs like a firefighter job or, police officer job, particularly because you can get injured, in the line of duty.”
In 2003, the city passed an ordinance that would terminate disability retiree health benefits after 24 months.
“Unbeknownst to her, the fire department changed their policy, and took away benefits for people who would be disabled. And then Karen developed a disability. She was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2016,” said Gupta.
Stanley took disability retirement in 2018 because the disease prevented her from meeting the demands of the job, after serving in the department for 20 years.
The city ended health insurance subsidy payments to Stanley in 2020.
Stanley then filed a lawsuit against the city, alleging that its subsidy policy discriminated against her on the basis of disability, in violation of the ADA.
The city argues that Stanley never earned the benefit or suffered from any discrimination on the basis of her disability.
A district court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled in favor of the city, holding that the ADA does not apply to Stanley’s case because she did not work for the city when the benefits were terminated.
She then appealed to the nation’s highest court who agreed to hear the case last June.
Gupta said that the case will impact all Americans who are retired and are seeking the protections of the ADA.
“If this were a case about race discrimination or religious discrimination, there’d be no question,” he said. “Retirees have those protections. A company can’t cut off the benefits of all black workers or all Jewish workers. That would be illegal. And so the question is here is the same thing true of people who are alleging that they’ve been discriminated against because they’re disabled.”
International Association of Firefighters attorney Arthur Traynor, who filed an amicus brief in the case, said its outcome is especially important for firefighters.
“What’s at stake for firefighters, it’s is the same thing that’s at stake for all workers,” he said. “Except firefighters are far more likely than most workers to find themselves disabled by job related illness or injury, after a long career of being exposed to the hazards that are involved in firefighting.”
Copyright 2025 Gray DC. All rights reserved.