Case Law Update: Eligibility for Back Pay Under the ADA – Nawara v. Cook County

In a recent decision, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal appeals court that covers matters in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana, concluded disability discrimination occurs under the Americans with Disabilities Act when an employer requires an unsupported medical examination of an employee, regardless of whether the employee has or is perceived to have a disability. 

Background

John Nawara worked as a correctional officer with the Cook County Sheriff’s Office. Following a series of confrontations with his co-workers in 2016, Nawara was placed on paid leave and required to complete a fitness for duty examination and authorize the Sheriff’s Office to obtain his medical records before returning to work. Nawara refused to comply and was placed on unpaid leave in April 2017. While on leave, Nawara filed suit against the Sheriff’s Office, alleging the Sheriff’s Office violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by requiring him to complete a medical examination. Nawara never claimed to have a disability or that the Sheriff’s Office’s required medical testing because of a perceived disability.

Under the ADA:

No covered entity shall discriminate against a qualified individual on the basis of disability in regard to job application procedures, the hiring, advancement, or discharge of employees, employee compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment.

This “prohibition against discrimination…include[s] medical examinations and inquiries.” For current employees, the ADA prohibits covered entities from requiring medical examinations or making “inquiries of an employee as to whether such employee is an individual with a disability or as to the nature or severity of the disability, unless such examination or inquiry is shown to be job-related and consistent with a business necessity.” The employer “bears the burden of establishing that an examination is consistent with business necessity,” which requires the employer show that the required medical examination is “vital to the business as opposed to a mere expediency.”

What Happened at Trial?

The Nawara case went to trial, where the jury determined the Sheriff’s Office violated the ADA by requiring Nawara to submit to a medical exam. However, the jury awarded Nawara no damages. Both parties filed post-trial motions to address any compensation owed to Nawara. Nawara argued he was entitled to back pay for the period the Sheriff’s Office placed him on unpaid leave due to his refusal to submit to a medical exam. The Sheriff’s Office argued Nawara was not entitled to back pay.

While “[a] plaintiff who wins a favorable verdict on an ADA claim is presumptively entitled to back pay…[t]he back pay statute contains an exception…barring [back pay] where the employer carried out the [adverse] employment action for any reason other than discrimination on account of’ disability.” The Cook County Sheriff’s Office argued that while the jury found it violated the ADA by requiring Nawara to undergo medical testing before returning to work, the Sheriff’s Office was not required to provide Nawara with back pay because it was not requiring medical testing on the basis of Nawara’s actual or perceived disability; therefore, the County was not discriminating against Nawara on the basis of disability.

The district court agreed with the Cook County Sheriff’s Office. According to the district court, “while an employer may unlawfully require a medical examination or inquiry if those actions are not ‘job-related’ or ‘consistent with business necessity,’…those unlawful actions are not inherently discriminatory” under federal law. The district court concluded that Nawara was not entitled to back pay because he failed to provide “any other reason that the [Sheriff’s Office’s] violation of [the medical examination limitations of the relevant federal law] should constitute discrimination[.]”

What Happened on Appeal?

Nawara appealed the back pay determination to the Seventh Circuit, which agreed with Nawara that an employer’s violation of this aspect of the ADA constitutes disability discrimination in and of itself, regardless of whether the employee has or is perceived to have a disability. According to the Court, the ADA’s general prohibition against disability discrimination includes requiring an improper medical examination or inquiry of any employee. The Seventh Circuit therefore determined Nawara was entitled to back pay for the Sheriff’s Office violation of the ADA, despite his not having or being perceived as having a disability. The Sixth Circuit, which covers Michigan and Ohio, concluded similarly in Bates v. Dura Automotive Sys., Inc., that a non-disabled employee subject to unlawful medical examinations is entitled to statutory damages, such as back pay.   Nawara v. Cook County, — F.4th — (7th Cir. 2025).

Bottom Line

Based on the Seventh Circuit’s decision in Nawara, Great Lakes area employers are well advised to proceed cautiously when requiring a medical examination or inquiry of a current employee. If such an examination or inquiry is determined not to be job-related and consistent with a business necessity and the employer places the employee on unpaid leave pending completion of the examination, the employer engaged in disability discrimination regardless of whether the employee has or is perceived to have a disability, which will entitle the employee to back pay and other potential damages.

This article, slightly modified to note recent updates, was featured online in the Great Lakes Employment Law Letter and published by BLR®—Business & Legal Resources. Reproduced here with the permission of BLR®—Business & Legal Resources.