The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently issued proposed regulations to implement the amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act that were passed by Congress and signed into law by the President last year.

The ADA Amendments Act, which went into effect January 1, 2009, rejected the holdings in several Supreme Court decisions and portions of the EEOC’s previous ADA regulations that Congress believed construed the definition of “disability” too narrowly.

The ADA Amendments Act and the proposed regulations issued by the EEOC could make it easier for an individual alleging employment discrimination based on disability to establish that he or she meets the ADA’s definition of “disability.”

The proposed regulations provide, in part, as follows:

• The definition of disability -- an impairment that poses a substantial limitation in a major life activity -- must be construed in favor of broad coverage of individuals to the maximum extent permitted by the terms of the ADA, and should not require extensive analysis.
• Mitigating measures, such as medications and devices that people use to reduce or eliminate the effects of an impairment, are not to be considered when determining whether someone has a disability.
• The focus should be on whether discrimination occurred, not on whether the individual meets the definition of “disability.”
• Certain impairments, such as autism, cancer, cerebral palsy, diabetes, epilepsy, and AIDS or HIV, should consistently meet the definition of “disability” after an individualized determination that can be conducted “quickly and easily” to reach that determination.
• Major life activities include “major bodily functions.”
• Impairments that are episodic or in remission, such as epilepsy, cancer, and many kinds of psychiatric impairments, are disabilities if they would “substantially limit” major life activities when active.

The EEOC encourages employers and other members of the public to submit their views, concerns and suggestions during the period for public comments on the proposed regulations.

The full text of the proposed regulations, found in a “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking,” can be viewed on the EEOC’s website at http://www.eeoc.gov/ada/amendments_notice.html.

You can also review a helpful question-and-answer guide about the proposed regulations and instructions for submitting public comments at http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/qanda_adaaa_nprm.html.