CSLS Speaker Series – “Disputed and Discredited: Pain, Mental Illness, and Invisible Impairments in Disability Lawsuits”

Featuring Rachel Best, Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Sociology, University of Michigan

When they sue their employers for disability discrimination, do plaintiffs with some types of conditions fare better than others? This paper analyzes legal outcomes for three types of conditions that are potentially disputed (subject to suspicion and doubt) or disfavored (subject to stigma or judgment): mental illnesses, invisible conditions, and subjectively diagnosed pain conditions. Using multilevel logistic regression to analyze over 1,100 federal judicial opinions, we find some small disadvantages for plaintiffs with mental illnesses as opposed to physical illnesses and invisible conditions as opposed to visible conditions, but these patterns are not strong or consistent. In contrast, we show that plaintiffs with subjectively diagnosed pain conditions are significantly less likely to be deemed a person with a disability and to win in court. The disadvantages for plaintiffs with difficult-to-document pain conditions persist even if they are deemed to be persons with disabilities, suggesting that skepticism about these conditions pollutes judges’ overall impression of plaintiffs.

Reception: Lunch 12:15-12:45p.m. in the Kadish Library 
Program: 12:45-2:00p.m. in the Philip Selznick Seminar Room

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If you require an accommodation for effective communication (ASL interpreting/CART captioning, alternative media formats, etc.) to fully participate in this event, please contact csls@law.berkeley.edu with as much advance notice as possible and at least 7-10 days in advance of the event.