Do exclusive remedy provisions in workers' compensation laws bar employees from pursuing ADA claims?

Do exclusive remedy provisions in workers' compensation laws bar employees from pursuing ADA claims? No. The purpose of workers' compensation exclusivity clauses is to protect employers from being sued under common law theories of personal injury for occupational injury. Courts have generally held that the exclusive remedy provisions of state workers' compensation laws cannot bar claims arising under federal civil rights laws, even where a state workers' compensation law provides some relief for disability discrimination. Applying a state workers' compensation law's exclusivity provision to bar an individual's ADA claim would violate the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution and seriously diminish the civil rights protection Congress granted to persons with disabilities.