Is Stuttering A Reason Not To Hire Someone?

Is stuttering a disability under the Americans With Disabilities Act?

stuttering as a disability under the ADAPeople who stutter, or stammer, struggle to get words out. It can be difficult for both speaker and listener.

“The flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the person who stutters is unable to produce sounds.”

Stuttering is more than just a speech issue, though – it may also be an employment issue, since the workplace is a microcosm of society and shares its issues. Communicating is, after all, a human activity that takes place everywhere – including on the job.

Is stuttering a disability under the Americans With Disabilities Act (“ADA”)? And can a person who stutters be refused a job or fired?

What Is Stuttering?

It is a speech disorder, like dysarthria, which is a physical weakness or paralysis of the speech muscles caused by nerve or brain damage, or aphasia, which is characterized by difficulty using words and sentences.

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association states that “[i]t begins during childhood and, in some cases, lasts throughout life. The disorder is characterized by disruptions in the production of speech sounds, also called ‘disfluencies.’ … Disfluencies are not necessarily a problem; however, they can impede communication when a person produces too many of them.”

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What Causes Stuttering?

As far as my admittedly limited research has revealed, “nobody knows” is not far from the truth. However, just a few years ago researchers using brain imaging tools such as PET scanning and MRIs discovered that mutations in four genes have an association with stuttering within families.

And researchers estimate that perhaps 50–70% of stuttering is genetic.

So maybe that is the root cause – or at least one of them.

Do People Who Stutter Suffer Employment Discrimination?

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In a UK study, a researcher discussed “aesthetic labour … ‘looking good,” which “also includes ‘sounding right.” She said that “excellent communication skills is an almost mandatory component of job advertisements. Much success in the labour market is therefore predicated on employees possessing the right verbal characteristics.”

Men who stammer (her research subjects) suffer “routine discrimination – by employers and the men themselves … Their sometime inability to sound right saw the men seek to enhance their knowledge or emphasize other communication attributes, such as listening.”

These men “had been rejected by potential employers, sometimes in the very first interview. … Many participants were told not only of their mismatch for the specifics of the job or the likelihood of a detrimental impact on customers, but also of the possible negative impact on team dynamics if they were appointed.”

Additionally, the employment possibilities of those who stutter are limited by damaging stigmas and stereotypes — of the type which the ADA intended to correct. A former chair of the National Stuttering Association Advocacy Committee said that “[r]esearch has confirmed that persons who stutter are subject to negative stereotypes, which have significantly harmed their employment and promotion opportunities. These stereotypes include the widely accepted impression that stutterers are nervous, shy, quiet, self-conscious, withdrawn, tense, anxious, fearful, reticent, and guarded.”

Is It A Disability Under The ADA?

In simple terms, the ADA defines a disability as a condition that impairs a major life function such as walking, breathing, taking care of oneself or working.

Stuttering limits the ability to communicate, but is that a major life function? In Stuttering: An Integrated Approach to Its Nature and Treatment (affiliate link), the author says that it is — due to the severity of stuttering and how people who stutter feel about themselves and how others react to them. “In the most severe cases stuttering may even result in handicapping conditions because it can limit how well a person can communicate at home, school, on the job, on the phone, or just out in public.”

However, one commentator noted that “[n]ot every mental or physical condition is a disability under the ADA. That’s because the ADA requires more than the diagnosis of a medical or psychiatric problem. … Consider claustrophobia. Though the condition, which involves the inability to remain in a confined space such as an elevator, may be a legitimate psychiatric condition, it does not necessarily prevent those who suffer from it from living a relatively normal life.” (I have questions about this last sentence).

The ADA And “Perceived As” Disability

The advocacy group spokesperson quoted above claimed that stuttering “clearly fulfills the definition of a ‘physiological disorder’ or ‘condition’ that affects the ‘speech organs’ and that limits an individual’s ability to participate in the ‘major life activity’ of ‘speaking’ and, in some cases, ‘working,’” thus falling within the ADA.

He also noted that that the person who stutters “might still have a ‘disability’ … because he is ‘regarded as having such an impairment.’”

“Perceived as” having a disability is also covered by the ADA.

A Conundrum

A spokesperson of another advocacy group noted that stuttering is “a legally defined disability” in a number of countries, but “to call stuttering a disability can provoke a strong negative reaction” in people who stutter because, among other things, “[s]ome people who stutter do not choose/want to see themselves as disabled, and “[t]he label disability encourages the victim mentality.”

This may be true. But if so, it is not limited to stutterers; it may also then apply to virtually any disability. “Disabled” or “victim” – the employment playing field must be leveled.

I know of no case law in the U.S. involving stuttering, but if the ADA has done anything, it has proven that people with disabilities have indeed suffered employment discrimination because of their disabling condition and/or because of being “perceived” as having a disabling condition.


richard-b-cohenRichard B. Cohen has litigated and arbitrated complex business and employment disputes for almost 40 years, and is a partner in the NYC office of the national “cloud” law firm FisherBroyles. He is the creator and author of his firm’s Employment Discrimination blog, and received an award from the American Bar Association for his blog posts. You can reach him at Richard.Cohen@fisherbroyles.com and follow him on Twitter at @richard09535496.