ADA Amendments Act of 2008

The ADA Amendments Act reversed the effects of several Supreme Court decisions.

Between 1999 and 2008, a quartet of Supreme Court cases narrowed the population of individuals who qualified for coverage under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and made the question of whether plaintiffs were disabled the main focus of many disability discrimination cases. Seeking to reverse the decisions and their effect on disability discrimination law, Congress enacted the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA).

Background and History

Congress passed the ADAAA to restore the original intent of the ADA.

In the words of then-President George H.W. Bush, the ADA was enacted in 1990 to provide "equality, independence, and freedom" to individuals with disabilities. The law promoted the integration of individuals with disabilities into society and prohibited disability discrimination in employment, education, housing, provision of services and access to public accommodations.

The ADA provided individuals with disabilities the right to sue for discrimination. However, over time, a number of Supreme Court decisions--Sutton v. United Air Lines; Murphy v. UPS; Albertson's, Inc. v. Kirkinburg and Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. v. Williams--placed restrictions on who might qualify as a disabled person eligible for ADA coverage. Noticing a trend in which very few ADA plaintiffs succeeded in proving their entitlement to the rights provided under the statute, disability groups and others pushed for change. Congress passed the ADAAA on September 25, 2008.

Major Changes to Disability Definition

The ADAAA clarifies whether impairments qualify for ADA coverage.

Both the original ADA and the ADAAA define disability as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. However, the ADAAA broadens the interpretation of the term "substantially limits." Additionally, the revised statute expands the definition of "major life activities" by expressly adding new activities, such as bending, reading and communicating. Additionally, it adds major bodily functions--including functions of the immune system, normal cell growth, digestive, bowel, bladder, neurological, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine and reproductive systems--to the list of major life activities.

Mitigating Measures

The ADAAA also changes the way mitigating measures are treated by the law.

One area where Supreme Court interpretation restricted ADA coverage was the exclusion of individuals whose use of mitigating measures--such as medical treatments, drugs and assistive devices--reduced or eliminated their limitations. Because those individuals may still have faced discrimination for their underlying conditions, the ADAAA dictates that mitigating measures, other than "ordinary glasses or contact lenses" may not be considered in making a disability determination. Similarly, conditions that are "episodic or in remission," such as epilepsy or cancer, which were often not accepted as disabilities under later interpretations of the ADA, are now considered disabilities under the ADAAA when active.

"Regarded as" Disabled

The ADAAA changes the rules for "regarded as disabled" claims.

One of the three forms of discrimination under the ADA is taking an adverse action based on the perception that a nondisabled person has a disability. The Supreme Court interpreted the law to require "regarded as" plaintiffs to show that the defendant considered them to be "substantially limited in a major life activity." The ADAAA changed this to allow a valid discrimination claim if the defendant took a prohibited action based on beliefs about the plaintiff's impairment. However, "regarded as" plaintiffs are not entitled to reasonable accommodation under the ADAAA.

Proposed Regulations

Proposed regulations suggested some conditions will always qualify as disabilities.

As required by the ADAAA, the EEOC published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in September, 2009, in which draft regulations for the revised statute were released for public comment. The regulations, which were not final in May 2010, included a list of conditions that would consistently result in a finding of disability, a list of conditions that might result in a disability finding upon more thorough analysis and a list of conditions that would be unlikely to qualify. It also provided EEOC interpretation of other aspects of the law.

References

• EEOC.gov: Notice Concerning The ADA Amendments Act of 2008
• EEOC.gov: ADA Amendments Act of 2008
• DBTAC Southeast Regional ADA Center: ADAAA Resources
• Parker Poe: New ADA Amendments Reverse Four Supreme Court Cases
• Georgetown Law School: The ADA Amendments Act: An Overview of Recent Changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act

Resources

• Background and History