Judicial Estoppel Barred Ex-ALJ From Seeking Damages

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled that principles of equity should have barred a former administrative law judge from seeking damages in an employment discrimination suit based on a claimed ability to continue working. The case was Vacca v. Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Matthew Vacca became an administrative law judge for the Missouri Division of Workers' Compensation in 1992. Four years later, he informed the division that he had been diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, a chronic illness. In 2008, Vacca worked out an arrangement with the then-chief ALJ to allow h...