Regulations to implement the equal employment provisions of the Americans With Disabilities Act, as amended

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) proposes to revise its Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations and accompanying interpretive guidance in order to implement the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. EEOC is responsible for enforcement of title I of the ADA, as amended, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of disability. Under the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, EEOC has express authority to amend these regulations. The Amendments Act makes important changes to the definition of the term ‘‘disability’’ by rejecting the holdings in several Supreme Court decisions and portions of EEOC’s ADA regulations. 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 Amendments Act retains the ADA’s basic definition of ‘‘disability’’ as an impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a record of such an impairment, or being regarded as having such an impairment. However, it changes the way that these statutory terms should be interpreted in several ways thereby necessitating revision of the existing regulations and interpretive guidance. Written comments on this rulemaking are due to the agency by November 23, 2009.

74 Fed. Reg. 48431 (Sept. 23, 2009)