The Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act
The Issue:
| On September 25, 2008, the ADA Amendments Act was signed into law by President Bush. |
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted in 1990 to prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities in the workplace. The law also aimed at making public spaces accessible. However, several Supreme Court decisions have utilized a narrow interpretation of the law which has excluded individuals from being classified as disabled.
Proposed Legislation:
The ADA Amendments Act (H.R. 3195/ S.3406)
Sponsors: Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-MD) [H.R.3195] and Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) [S. 3406]
Cosponsors: House of Representatives and Senate
Legislation Overview:
The ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) is the result of a compromise between the disability and business communities over the Americans with Disabilities Act Restoration Act (ADARA). Both bills sought to address recent judicial holdings that have the effect of narrowing the definition of disabled.
The ADAAA seeks to ease the process by which people qualify for protection under the ADA. It does so by establishing that the definition of disability must be interpreted broadly and stating that mitigating measures or therapies are not to be considered when determining disability. The ADAAA also includes episodic conditions in the definition of disability and extends protections to those “regarded as” disabled.
For more on the ADA, please visit: www.ada.gov.
For a Quest magazine article (which includes the experiences of a man with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy), see “Returning to the framers’ intent: Efforts to restore the ADA’s protections” |
