## Facts

- Thomas Adkins worked for Briggs & Stratton Corporation and operated a forklift.
- The company terminated Adkins after finding him asleep while operating the forklift.
- Adkins was diagnosed with narcolepsy about four months after his termination.
- Adkins admitted the employer did not know of any disability when it discharged him, and he did not know of the condition at that time.
- Adkins sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), alleging he was fired “because of” his disability.

## Issues

1. Whether the district court abused its discretion by denying attorney’s fees to Briggs & Stratton, a prevailing defendant, on the ground that Adkins’s ADA claim was not frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation.

## Decision

- The Seventh Circuit reversed the order denying Briggs & Stratton’s motion for attorney’s fees and remanded.
- The court held Adkins’s ADA claim was frivolous because his own allegations established the employer lacked knowledge of the disability at the time of discharge.
- The court concluded the district court abused its discretion in finding the claim sufficiently distinguishable from controlling circuit precedent to avoid a frivolousness determination.

## Legal Principles

- Under 42 U.S.C. § 12205, courts may award reasonable attorney’s fees to the prevailing party in ADA litigation, including prevailing defendants.
- A prevailing defendant may recover fees only if the plaintiff’s action was frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation, or pursued in bad faith.
- An employer cannot be liable under the ADA for discharging an employee “because of” a disability when the employer indisputably had no knowledge of the disability at the time of the adverse action.
- When a plaintiff’s own pleadings foreclose liability under binding precedent, the claim may be deemed frivolous for fee-shifting purposes.

## Conclusion

The Seventh Circuit held that an ADA claim is frivolous when the complaint concedes the employer lacked knowledge of the asserted disability at the time of termination, and it required reconsideration of a defense fee award under the ADA’s fee-shifting statute.


Adkins v. Briggs & Stratton Corp., 159 F.3d 306 (7th Cir. 1998)