806
Opinion of the Court
"fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to [her] case, and on which [she] will bear the burden of proof at trial." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U. S. 317, 322 (1986). An ADA plaintiff bears the burden of proving that she is a "qualified individual with a disability"—that is, a person "who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions" of her job. 42 U. S. C. § 12111(8). And a plaintiff's sworn assertion in an application for disability benefits that she is, for example, "unable to work" will appear to negate an essential element of her ADA case—at least if she does not offer a sufficient explanation. For that reason, we hold that an ADA plaintiff cannot simply ignore the apparent contradiction that arises out of the earlier SSDI total disability claim. Rather, she must proffer a sufficient explanation.
The lower courts, in somewhat comparable circumstances, have found a similar need for explanation. They have held with virtual unanimity that a party cannot create a genuine issue of fact sufficient to survive summary judgment simply by contradicting his or her own previous sworn statement (by, say, filing a later affidavit that flatly contradicts that party's earlier sworn deposition) without explaining the contradiction or attempting to resolve the disparity. See, e. g., Colantuoni v. Alfred Calcagni & Sons, Inc., 44 F. 3d 1, 5 (CA1 1994); Rule v. Brine, Inc., 85 F. 3d 1002, 1011 (CA2 1996); Hackman v. Valley Fair, 932 F. 2d 239, 241 (CA3 1991); Barwick v. Celotex Corp., 736 F. 2d 946, 960 (CA4 1984); Albertson v. T. J. Stevenson & Co., 749 F. 2d 223, 228 (CA5 1984); Davidson & Jones Development Co. v. Elmore Development Co., 921 F. 2d 1343, 1352 (CA6 1991); Slowiak v. Land O'Lakes, Inc., 987 F. 2d 1293, 1297 (CA7 1993); Camfield Tires, Inc. v. Michelin Tire Corp., 719 F. 2d 1361, 1365-1366 (CA8 1983); Kennedy v. Allied Mutual Ins. Co., 952 F. 2d 262, 266 (CA9 1991); Franks v. Nimmo, 796 F. 2d 1230, 1237 (CA10 1986); Tippens v. Celotex Corp., 805 F. 2d 949, 953-954 (CA11 1986); Pyramid Securities Ltd. v. IB Resolution, Inc.,
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