Is sex addiction discrimination a thing? Fired employee argues her case

The first time I heard the term "sex addiction" was in 2010, when Tiger Woods told the public he would be stepping away from the PGA Tour to attend rehab. The announcement shook the sports world and sparked a conversation about an addiction that seemed to happen only in Hollywood. Since then, the term "sex addiction" and its diagnosis have gained some scientific and public recognition, and more recently, a former employee used the condition as a basis for her disability discrimination claim.

Facts

Karen Manson worked as IT operations director for a Texas company and claimed to be an exemplary employee. She was fired, however, after informing her supervisor she had been diagnosed with love/sex addiction. The condition required her to attend therapy and limit her private interactions with members of the opposite sex.

Manson recently filed a disability discrimination complaint over her discharge in a Texas federal court. She argues sex addiction is a "disability"—a mental or physical condition that substantially limits one or more of an employee's major life activities—under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). She further claims she was qualified for her role as IT operations director, but the employer chose termination instead of entertaining reasonable accommodations for the disability.

What court will have to decide

Manson's discrimination claim will have to overcome the ADA's language, which clearly excludes the following conditions from its definition of "disability":