The Rehabilitation Act protects a person who the employer erroneously believes has an impairment that substantially limits a major life activity. For example, an applicant for a letter carrier job who has a limp may be regarded as having a disability if the hiring official concludes without any inquiry that the applicant could not walk a full route. In this case, the applicant may be erroneously regarded as having a disability because there is no individualized basis or medical support for concluding that the applicant cannot perform the major life activity of walking.
An employee may also be regarded as having a disability if the employer believes the employee has an impairment that the employee does not have. For example, an employee who is infected with HIV (a treatable virus that is not spread by casual contact, through the air, or from food, water, or other objects) is believed to have AIDS. The Postal Service must not discriminate against a person who is regarded as having a disability because of the perceived disability.
