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Nami.org,
September 18, 2008
On September 17, 2008, the House unanimously passed legislation
to amend the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and overturn
a series of Supreme Court decisions that had narrowed the scope
of the law in recent years. The bill unanimously passed the
Senate on September 11 and is now on its way to the White House
where the President is expected to sign it into law as early as
next week.
Background on S 3406, the Americans with Disabilities Amendments
Act
The ADA Amendments Act represents a historic alliance comprised
of leading employer, civil rights and disability groups, who
have agreed to support legislation ensuring civil rights
protections for millions of Americans with disabilities.
The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (S 3406/HR 3195) reaffirms civil
rights protections dismantled by a series of Supreme Court
decisions that narrowly interpreted the definition of
disability, leaving people with epilepsy, diabetes, cancer and
mental illness without the protections Congress envisioned when
the ADA was originally enacted in 1990.
Business, human resource, disability and civil rights
organizations have recognized that the courts went too far in
some decisions, leaving out many people with disabilities that
Congress intended to protect. In a 2007 case, a Court even held
that an individual with severe intellectual disabilities
("mental retardation") was not covered by the ADA because he had
failed to adequately demonstrate his impairment substantially
limited a major life activity. The alliance of employer and
disability advocacy organizations negotiated the compromise to
clarify elements of the ADA Amendments Act, a bill first
introduced in July of 2007.
S 3406 clarifies for the courts that people with disabilities
should not lose civil rights protections because their condition
is treatable with medication or can be addressed with the help
of assistive technology. The bill also clarifies the definition
of disability to include all individuals whose impairment
substantially limits a major life activity. Among the key
provisions in S 3406 are:
Broadened coverage under the ADA. The bill clarifies that
Congress intended the ADA to be interpreted broadly rather than
narrowly, as the Supreme Court has held.
A revised standard to qualify for protection broader than that
applied by the courts. The ADA protects individuals who have an
impairment that substantially limits a major life activity, who
have a record of such impairment, or who are treated as having
such an impairment. S 3406 retains the definition of
"disability" as an impairment that "substantially limits" a
major life activity, the legislation does not provide a new
definition for the term "substantially limits." Instead, the
bill uses the findings and purposes section to reject Court and
agency interpretation of "substantially limits" as too stringent
and directing them to interpret the terms of the definition to
create a less demanding standard.
New standards for "mitigating measures" (measures a person
takes to control the effects of a disability) cannot be held
against people with disabilities. Many people with mental
illnesses have been denied protection under the ADA because they
use medication, therapy or other measures to control the effects
of their disabilities. This bill would overturn several Supreme
Court decisions and provide that people with disabilities will
not lose their coverage under the ADA simply because their
condition is treatable with medication or can be addressed with
the help of assistive technology.
Improved coverage for episodic impairments. Many people with
mental illnesses have been denied protection under the ADA
because their impairments are episodic. This bill would ensure
that an episodic impairment counts as a disability as long as it
would meet the test for a disability when it is active.
Broader coverage for people who are subjected to
discrimination because they are regarded by others as having a
disability. The bill makes it much easier for individuals to
obtain protection under the ADA by showing that they were
"regarded as" having a disability.
Learn more about the Americans With Disabilities Act Amendments
of 2008 at www.nami.org.
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