Fourth Circuit Limits §504 Employment Rights of the Handicapped

Trageser v. Libbie Rehabilitation Center, Inc., 590 F.2d 87 (4th Cir. 1978), cert, den., 47 U.S.L.W. 3811 (June 19, 1979). This paper has benefited from research on the Trageser case undertaken by Paula Wiseman, a legal intern for the National Center for Law and the Handicapped, Inc.

The Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 701, et. seq. (1973).

Trageser v. Libbie Rehabilitation Center, Inc., 462 F. Supp. 424, 426 (E.D. Va. 1977).

29 U.S.C. § 794(a)(2).

42 U.S.C. § 2000d–3.

See cases cited in the Fourth Circuit opinion at 590 F.2d 87, 89, n.6 and n.7.

Other provisions, particularly at the state and local level, might be available to fight employment problems. Nevertheless, the enforcement of these laws has been very uncertain and sporadic.

4 U.S. Code Cong. and Admin. News 6390 (1974).

Ibid.

45 C.F.R. §§84.11–84.14.

45 C.F.R. §§85.52–85.55.

430 F. Supp. 75 (M.D. Fla. 1977) (petition for preliminary injunction denied); 451 F. Supp. 954 (M.D. Fla. 1978) (police department was ordered to hire plaintiff).

451 F. Supp. 791 (E.D. Pa. 1978).

411 F. Supp. 982 (E.D. Pa. 1976), aff d 556 F.2d 184 (3d Cir. 1977).

428 F. Supp. 809 (E.D. Pa. 1977).

485 F. Supp. 66 (N.D. Cal. 1979); See also Scanlon v. Atascadero State Hospital, CV 79–453 (C.D. Cal., Jan. 31, 1980).

Ibid.

44 Fed. Reg. 54950 (Sept. 21, 1979). See also final regulations promulgated by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 45 Fed. Reg. 14533 (March 6, 1980) (agency refused to follow Trageser).

Ibid. at 54953 (citations omitted).

Ibid. (citations omitted).

S. Rep. No. 96–316, 96th Cong., 1st Sess. 12–13, (1979). A letter dated May 21, 1979 from Senators Bayh and Cranston to Solicitor General McCree, urging the Government to file an amicus curiae brief in support of the petition for certiorari, similarly criticized the Trageser interpretation of legislative history. (Unpublished — in the author's possession.)

Southeastern Community College v. Davis, 99 S. Ct. 2361 (1979).