Senate passes amendments to Americans with Disabilities Act

On September 12, the U.S. Senate passed S. 3406, the Senate version of the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. The bill is intended to overturn a number of U.S. Supreme Court cases that narrowed the scope of protection afforded by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), including the interpretation of the term “disability.” Specifically, the proposed Senate amendments would eliminate the requirement that the evaluation of whether an impairment substantially limits a major life activity be determined with reference to the ameliorative effects of mitigating measures, such as medication, low-vision devices (which do not include glasses or ordinary contact lenses), or assistive or prosthetic devices. Major life activities are defined to include a broader range of activities that some courts had previously excluded from coverage, such as performing manual tasks, standing, lifting, bending, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, and, significantly, working, as well major bodily functions including “functions of the immune system, normal cell growth, digestive, bowel, bladder, neurological, brain, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine, and reproductive functions.”

The Senate version of the amendments also expand and clarify the scope of coverage to individuals who are “regarded as disabled.” An individual “regarded as” disabled is now defined as someone subjected to discrimination due to an actual or perceived physical or mental impairment, whether or not the impairment limits or is perceived to limit a major life activity. However, a “regarded as” claim will not lie with respect to impairments that are “transitory and minor,” which are defined as impairments with an actual or expected duration of six months or less.

The bill will now go to the House for a vote, where another version of the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, HR. 3195, passed by a vote of 402-17 earlier this year. Given the broad based support for the amendments, it is likely that President Bush will sign whatever version of the bill comes to his desk.

Stay tuned....