EEOC Announces Final Regulations to Implement ADA Amendments Act

The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published its final bipartisan regulations to implement the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) in the March 25, 2011, Federal Register. Like the law they implement, the regulations are designed to simplify the determination of who has a “disability,” and they 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 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.”

The ADAAA went into effect on January 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 on September 23, 2009, seeking comment on proposed implementing regulations, and received over 600 public comments in response. The final regulations reflect feedback the EEOC received from a broad spectrum of stakeholders.

“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.

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 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 how the regulations implement those changes. The regulations clarify that the term “major life activities” includes “major bodily functions,” such as functions of the immune system, normal cell growth, as well as 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.” 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 regulations will take effect May 24, 2011. The EEOC has released two documents about the regulations, which can be found on the Commission’s web site, at www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/adaaa_info.cfm.