President Signs ADA Amendments Act

By Sally Piefer

The ADA Amendments Act (ADA-AA) of 2008 was signed into law in a White House ceremony on September 25, 2008, after identical bills were passed by the Senate and the House.

The law's effective date is January 1, 2009.

The ADA-AA significantly changes the current law by:

• Explicitly removing the Supreme Court's requirement in Sutton that mitigating measures be considered when evaluating whether an individual has a disability within the meaning of the ADA;

• Including language in the findings and purposes section to clarify that the courts' previous interpretations of the term "substantially limits" [in the phrase "substantially limits a major life activity"] were too restrictive;

• Defining "major life activity" to include "operation of a major bodily function" such as the neurological, circulatory, and reproductive systems (the provision contains a non-exhaustive list);

• Eliminating the requirement that an individual asserting a "regarded as" claim show that s/he has an impairment that substantially limits a major life activity;

• Clarifying that an impairment that is episodic or in remission is a disability if it would substantially limit a major life activity when active;

• Directing the courts to interpret the ADA as a remedial statute, i.e., liberally; and

• Conforming the definition of "disability" under the federal Rehabilitation Act, which covers federal, state, and local government employees, to the ADA-AA.

Published: 09/2008