Legal Question in Disability Law in Georgia

Re: How many full time employees must a company have to qualify for ADA necessit

To be covered under the ADA, an employer must have at least 15 employees. The statute defines an employer as follows:

"The term ''employer'' means a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce who has 15 or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year..."

The firm at issue here has 15 people working for it; however, the question is whether or not all 15 are counted as employees. The ADA defines employees as:

"The term ''employee'' means an individual employed by an employer."

That definition is not much help. However, several cases have addressed the question as to whether partners and other lawyers are to be counted as employees under discrimination laws. They have generally found that shareholders (equity partners) in law firms are not counted as employees, but other attorneys are. Therefore, assuming that the 4 partners are shareholders of the firm, they would not be counted as employees. Also, depending on whether or not the contract attorney would be considered an independent contractor or an employee under the law (which is a topic for another day), s/he may or may not be counted as an employee, but it is likely that s/he would be. Therefore, it appears that the firm only has 11 employees, meaning that it is not a covered employer under the ADA law. Of course, there are specific factors that may change this analysis, and based on the limited facts in this post, this response should be considered general information only, and not legal advice concerning specific facts. You should consult with an attorney of your choosing before taking legal action.

No attorney/client relationship has been created or should be implied by anything contained herein.