Trucker’s Disability Benefits Claim Dooms Bias Case at 8th Cir.

A former truck driver with Parkinson’s disease can’t qualify for the job accommodations protected by federal law based on his own description of his limitations, a federal appeals court found.

Jason Schmit told the Social Security Administration in a benefits application that he suffered an “inability to control my right hand, arm, right leg & foot” as well as hallucinations and delusions caused by his medication, according to the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit opinion issued Thursday.

In his self-described condition, he couldn’t be a “qualified individual” under the Americans with Disabilities Act, a three-judge panel said. ...