The ADA Amendments Act Of 2008 Expands The Protections Of The Americans With Disabilities Act Of 1990

President Bush signed the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (S. 3406)

into law on September 25, 2008. The bill was passed by the U.S.

Senate with unanimous consent on September 11, 2008, and was

approved without amendment by the U.S. House of Representatives on

September 17, 2008.

The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 ("ADAAA" or "the

Act") amends the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

("ADA"), which, among other things, prohibits

discrimination against disabled employees and disabled job

applicants. By passing the ADAAA, Congress purported to

"restore the intent and protections" of the ADA.

Specifically, Congress expanded the definition of disability under

the ADA to comport with "how courts had applied the definition

of a handicapped individual under the Rehabilitation Act of

1973."

The ADAAA will become effective on January 1, 2009.

The ADAAA Rejects the Supreme Court's and EEOC's

Strict Interpretation of the ADA

Under the ADA, "disability" is defined as:

(A) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits

one or more of the major life activities of such individual;

(B) a record of such an impairment; or

(C) being regarded as having such an impairment.

42 U.S.C. § 12102.

The ADAAA does not alter this definition, but instead clarifies

the meaning of certain terms contained therein, and expressly

rejects certain Supreme Court cases and EEOC regulations that

called for a narrow interpretation of these terms.

Specifically, the ADAAA provides that the term "major life

activities" includes, but is not limited to, "caring for

oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating,

sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing,

learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, and

working." The ADAAA further clarifies that "major life

activities" includes "the operation of a major bodily

function," which includes, among other systems, the immune,

digestive, respiratory, and circulatory systems.

The Act states that episodic impairments or medical conditions

that are in remission may constitute a disability "if it would

substantially limit a major life activity when active."

The ADAAA also clarifies what it means for an impairment to

"substantially limit" a "major life activity."

Expressly rejecting the U.S. Supreme Court's holdings in

Sutton v. United Airlines, Inc., 527 U.S. 471 (1999) and

its companion cases, the ADAAA requires that, with the exception of

ordinary eyeglasses or contact lenses, the...