[acb-hsp] FW: [acb-l] [leadership] Fw: Press Release: EEOC Releases FinalRegulations forthe ADAAA

[Baracco, Andrew W]

-----Original Message-----
From: acb-l-bounces at acb.org [mailto:acb-l-bounces at acb.org] On Behalf Of
peter altschul
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2011 9:12 AM
To: Acb-l
Subject: [acb-l] [leadership] Fw: Press Release: EEOC Releases
FinalRegulations forthe ADAAA

The following information is forwarded to you by the DBTAC-Great 
Lakes ADA Center (www.adagreatlakes.org) for your information:

PRESS RELEASE
3-24-11

EEOC Announces Final Bipartisan Regulations for the ADA 
Amendments Act
Regulations Implement Congressional Intent to Simplify Definition 
of Disability
WASHINGTON - The U.S.  Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's 
(EEOC) final regulations to implement the ADA Amendments Act 
(ADAAA) are now available for public view on the Federal Register 
website at www.ofr.gov.  The regulations will be published 
Friday.  Like the law they implement, the regulations are 
designed to simplify the determination of who has a "disability" 
and make it easier for people to establish that they are 
protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

"The ADAAA is a very important civil rights law," said EEOC Chair 
Jacqueline A.  Berrien.  "The regulations developed by the 
Commission to implement the ADAAA clarify the requirements of the 
law for all stakeholders, which is one of the Commission's most 
important responsibilities."

"Based on the hard work we did at the Commission over the past 
months, I am confident that these regulations will work well for 
both people with disabilities and employers," said Commissioner 
Chai Feldblum, who joined the EEOC in April, 2010.  "It was our 
job as an agency to carry out the intent of this landmark law and 
I believe we have done so successfully." Feldblum was one of the 
lead negotiators on the original ADA as well as on the Amendments 
Act.

"Just as the ADAAA was the result of a considerable bipartisan 
effort by Congress, the final rule represents a concerted effort 
of EEOC Commissioners representing both parties to arrive at 
regulations that hold true to that bipartisan Congressional 
intent," said Commissioner Constance S.  Barker.  "I was pleased 
to have been able to vote in favor of the final rule."

The ADAAA went into effect on Jan.  1, 2009.  In the ADAAA, 
Congress directed the EEOC to revise its regulations to conform 
to changes made by the Act, and expressly authorized the EEOC to 
do so.  The EEOC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking 
comment on proposed implementing regulations on September 23, 
2009, and received well over 600 public comments in response.  
The final regulations reflect the feedback the EEOC received from 
a broad spectrum of stakeholders.

The ADAAA 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 or 
epilepsy.  The ADAAA states that the definition of disability 
should be interpreted in favor of broad coverage of individuals.  
The effect of these changes is to make it easier for an 
individual seeking protection under the ADA to establish that he 
or she has a disability within the meaning of the ADA.

The ADAAA and the final 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 law made significant changes in how 
those terms are interpreted, and the regulations implement those 
changes.

Based on the statutory requirements, the regulations set forth a 
list of principles to guide the determination of whether a person 
has a disability.  For example, the principles provide that an 
impairment need not prevent or severely or significantly restrict 
performance of a major life activity to be considered a 
disability.  Additionally, whether an impairment is a disability 
should be construed broadly, to the maximum extent allowable 
under the law.  The principles also provide that, with one 
exception (ordinary eyeglasses or contact lenses), "mitigating 
measures," such as medication and assistive devices like hearing 
aids, must not be considered when determining whether someone has 
a disability.  Furthermore, impairments that are episodic (such 
as epilepsy) or in remission (such as cancer) are disabilities if 
they would be substantially limiting when active.

The regulations clarify that the term "major life activities" 
includes "major bodily functions," such as functions of the 
immune system, normal cell growth, and brain, neurological, and 
endocrine functions.  The regulations also make clear that, as 
under the old ADA, not every impairment will constitute a 
disability.  The regulations include examples of impairments that 
should easily be concluded to be disabilities, such as HIV 
infection, diabetes, epilepsy, and bipolar disorder.

Following the dictates of the ADAAA, the regulations also make it 
easier for individuals to establish coverage under the "regarded 
as" part of the definition of "disability." Establishing such 
coverage used to pose significant hurdles, but under the new law, 
the focus is on how the person was treated rather than on what an 
employer believes about the nature of the person's impairment.

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, accompanying Question and Answer documents 
and a fact sheet are available on the EEOC website at 
www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/adaaa_info.cfm.

The EEOC enforces the nation's laws prohibiting employment 
discrimination.  More information is available at www.eeoc.gov.



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