New EEOC Regulations Make It Easier To Prove Disability Discrimination

In 2008, Congress passed the ADA Amendments Act.  The law overturned several Supreme Court decisions that had narrowly interpreted the definition of "disability" under the Americans with Disabilities Act.  Today, the EEOC has issued new regulations implementing the ADAAA.

Among the changes:

• Whether a physical impairment is considered to be a disability should be construed as broadly as possible.
• A physical impairment need not prevent or severely or significantly restrict performance of a major life activity to be considered a disability.
• “Mitigating measures,” such as medication and assistive devices like hearing aids, must not be considered when determining whether someone has a disability. 
• Episodic impairments, such as epilepsy, or impairments that are in remission, such as cancer, are disabilities if they would be substantially limiting when active.
• The regulations also make it easier for individuals to be “regarded as” having a disability, focusing on how the person was treated rather than on what an employer believes about the nature of the person’s impairment.
  
  The ADAA and these new regulations became necessary because federal courts have been particularly hostile to the ADA.  While the language of the ADA is very broad, courts have interpreted it in such a way that it became almost impossible to prove both that you were disabled and that you were still capable of performing the essential functions of a job.  Indeed, it had gotten so bad that my practice had been to advise victims of disability discrimination to ignore the ADA and bring their claims just under Connecticut law, which is much more employee-friendly.  The ADAAA and the new regulations have breathed new life into the ADA.  Let's hope that conservative, business-oriented judges get the message this time and don't start a new round of limitations on the law.
  
  You can get more information on the ADAAA and the new regulations from the EEOC by clicking here.