Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Signed into Law

On September 25, 2008, President Bush signed the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, which, when the Amendments become effective on January 1, 2009, will considerably expand the coverage of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"). The ADA prohibits discrimination against a qualified individual with a "disability," defined as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the individual's "major life activities." The Amendments to the ADA are intended to reverse the effect of court decisions - including decisions of the United States Supreme Court - that restricted the scope of the ADA by narrowly interpreting the term "disability." Certain of these cases strictly interpreted the requirement that the impairment substantially limit a "major life activity" by narrowly defining the types of activities that may qualify as "major life activities" for purposes of the statute.

Among other things, the Amendments:

•· Direct the courts to construe the term "disability" in favor of "broad coverage . . . to the maximum extent permitted by the terms of this Act." Included within this mandate are provisions requiring that ameliorative effects of mitigating measures (medication, prosthetics, hearing aids, etc.) cannot be taken into account in determining whether an individual has a disability.

•· Require the EEOC to issue new regulations providing guidance as to when a condition is regarded as "substantially limiting" an individual, with the new regulations to be more expansive in this regard than court decisions narrowly interpreting this requirement.

•· Reverse Supreme Court decisions regarding the definition of "major life activity," such that a much broader range of impairments will now qualify as substantially limited a major life activity and therefore will be covered under the ADA. The Amendments include a broad, non-exhaustive list of qualifying activities, including caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating and working. The Amendments also provide that "the operation of a major bodily function," such as the immune system, normal cell growth, and digestive, bowel, bladder, neurological, brain, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine and reproductive functions are considered major life activities covered by the ADA.

For these and other reasons, when the Amendments become effective on January 1, 2009 the scope of the ADA will be significantly expanded and it protect many more persons with disabilities than are protected under the current version of the ADA, as it has been interpreted and applied by the courts.

Attorney Michael J. Betts

November 17, 2008