[Nfbf-l] EEOC Fact Sheet on the ADA

[MisterAdvocate at aol.com]

Fact Sheet on the EEOC’s Final Regulations Implementing the ADAAA
The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) was enacted on September 25, 2008, 
and  became effective on January 1, 2009. The law made a number of 
significant  changes to the definition of “disability” under the Americans with 
Disabilities  Act (ADA). It also directed the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission  (EEOC) to amend its ADA regulations to reflect the changes made 
by the ADAAA.  The EEOC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on 
September 23, 2009.  The _final  regulations_ 
(http://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2011/03/25/2011-6056/regulations-to-implement-the-equal-employment-pro
visions-of-the-americans-with-disabilities-act-as)  were approved by a 
bipartisan vote and were published in the  Federal Register on March 25, 2011. 
In enacting the ADAAA, Congress made it easier for an individual  seeking 
protection under the ADA to establish that he or she has a disability  within 
the meaning of the statute. Congress overturned several Supreme  Court 
decisions that Congress believed had interpreted the definition of  “disability”
 too narrowly, resulting in a denial of protection for many  individuals 
with impairments such as cancer, diabetes, and epilepsy. The ADAAA  states 
that the definition of disability should be interpreted in favor of broad  
coverage of individuals. 
The EEOC regulations implement the ADAAA -- in particular, Congress’s  
mandate that the definition of disability be construed broadly.  Following the 
ADAAA, the regulations keep the ADA’s definition of the term  “disability” 
as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or  more 
major life activities; a record (or past history) of such an impairment; or  
being regarded as having a disability. But the regulations implement the  
significant changes that Congress made regarding how those terms should be  
interpreted. 
The regulations implement Congress’s intent to set forth predictable,  
consistent, and workable standards by adopting “rules of construction”  to use 
when determining if an individual is substantially limited in performing  a 
major life activity.These rules of construction are derived directly from 
the  statute and legislative history and include the following: 
    *   The term “substantially limits” requires a lower degree of  
functional limitation than the standard previously applied by the  courts . An 
impairment does not need to prevent or severely or  significantly restrict a 
major life activity to be considered “substantially  limiting.” Nonetheless, 
not every impairment will constitute a  disability. 
    *   The term “substantially limits” is to be construed  broadly in 
favor of expansive coverage, to the maximum extent  permitted by the terms of 
the ADA. 
    *   The determination of whether an impairment substantially limits a 
major  life activity requires an individualized assessment, as was  true 
prior to the ADAAA. 
    *   With one exception (“ordinary eyeglasses or contact lenses”), the  
determination of whether an impairment substantially limits a major life  
activity shall be made without regard to the ameliorative effects of  
mitigating measures, such as medication or hearing aids. 
    *   An impairment that is episodic or in remission is a  disability if 
it would substantially limit a major life activity when  active. 
    *   In keeping with Congress’s direction that the primary focus of the 
ADA is  on whether discrimination occurred, the determination of disability  
should not require extensive analysis.
As required by the ADAAA, the regulations also make it easier for  
individuals to establish coverage under the “regarded as” part of the definition  
of “disability.” As a result of court interpretations, it had become  
difficult for individuals to establish coverage under the “regarded as” prong.  
Under the ADAAA, the focus for establishing coverage is on how a person has 
been  treated because of a physical or mental impairment (that is not 
transitory and  minor), rather than on what an employer may have believed about the 
nature of  the person's impairment. 
The regulations clarify, however, that an individual must be covered  under 
the first prong (“actual disability”) or second prong (“record of  
disability”) in order to qualify for a reasonable accommodation . The  regulations 
clarify that it is generally not necessary to proceed under the  first or 
second prong if an individual is not challenging an employer’s failure  to 
provide a reasonable accommodation. 
The final regulations differ from the NPRM in a number of  ways. The final 
regulations modify or remove language that groups  representing employer or 
disability interests had found confusing or had  interpreted in a manner not 
intended by the EEOC. For example: 
    *   Instead of providing a list of impairments that would “consistently,
”  “sometimes,” or “usually not” be disabilities (as had been done in the 
NPRM),  the final regulations provide the nine rules of construction to 
guide the  analysis and explain that by applying those principles, there will 
be  some impairments that virtually always constitute a disability. The  
regulations also provide examples of impairments that should easily be  
concluded to be disabilities, including epilepsy, diabetes, cancer,  HIV infection, 
and bipolar disorder. 
    *   Language in the NPRM describing how to demonstrate that an  
individual is substantially limited in “working” has been deleted from the  final 
regulations and moved to the appendix (consistent with how  other major life 
activities are addressed). The final regulations also retain  the existing 
familiar language of “class or broad range of jobs” rather than  
introducing a new term, and they provide examples of individuals who could be  
considered substantially limited in working. 
    *   The final regulations retain the concepts of “condition, manner,  
or duration” that the NPRM had proposed to delete and explain that  while 
consideration of these factors may be unnecessary to determine whether  an 
impairment substantially limits a major life activity, they may be relevant  in 
certain cases.
The Commission has released two Question-and-Answer documents about  the 
regulations to aid the public and employers – including small business – in  
understanding the law and new regulations. The ADAAA regulations and  
accompanying Question and Answer documents are available on the EEOC website at  
_www.eeoc.gov_ (http://www.eeoc.gov/) .