New ADA Laws and EEOC
Disabled workers have a new sense of hope for improved workplace conditions. As of May 24, 2011, legislation was passed, establishing a new set of ADA laws on the books. The new ADA regulations have the power to protect your employment in uncertain times. Brought by the
EEOC, these updated laws revise the Americans with Disabilities Act and prevent loopholes and discrimination against disabled individuals.
Have you noticed anything different at work? If not, the failure of your employer to make acceptable workplace accommodations may be in violation of the new law. A significant aspect of this new and improved Americans with Disabilities Act is the mandate to construe the ADA broadly and to do away with any questioning of claimed disabilities.
Under the prior law. the EEOC did not protect workers whose employers questioned them outright about the validity of their disabilities. It was up to the worker to submit proof of their conditions. Mental illnesses including temporary and long-term conditions are addressed; in addition, impairments that are considered to be in remission still qualify as protected disabilities.
In a far-reaching decision to put the burden of proof on the employer, the worker no longer has to show that accommodations are a requirement for continued job performance. Instead, it is now the workplace that must show why it would be unreasonable or impossible to grant the mandated ADA accommodations to an individual worker or group of employees. Not surprisingly, this game change is new to businesses and a fair number or workers will probably have to insist on their rights under the updated regulations.
The EEOC regulations implement the ADAAA -- in particular, Congress’s mandate that the definition of disability be construed broadly. 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.
Brian F. LaBovick, Esq.
Esther Uria LaBovick, Esq.
Mark R. Hanson, Esq.
Joseph R. Fields Jr., Esq.
Marcie Dodson, J.D.