EEOC Approves ADA Regulations for Public Comment

 Posted on September 19, 2009 in Social Security Disability

On Wednesday, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) took a major step towards broadening their definition of "disability" to be consistent with the original intent of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. The original intent was to prohibit employment discrimination against individuals with disabilities. To expand upon the that original intent, Congress had already passed The ADA Amendments Act, which went into effect on January 1, 2009, to specifically make sure that all individuals deemed to be disabled are protected in the workplace. The EEOC since January however, had not changed their own regulations to be in unison with the ADA.

In fact, in recent years, EEOC's regulations and U.S. Supreme Court precedent have offered very narrow interpretations of what it takes to be disabled. As a result, EEOC and the U.S. Supreme Court have received public outcry for those interpretations. Most notably, public outcry has been the greatest for those individuals with impairments such as diabetes, epilepsy, cancer, bipolar disorder, muscular dystrophy and others who have been prevented from bringing their employment claims to court even though they would constitute as disabled under the ADA. The public outcry prompted Congress to direct the EEOC to approve ADA regulations and on Wednesday the EEOC announced their initial move to do so.

To read more about the EEOC approval of ADA Regulations for public comment you can visit the EEOC website and their subsequent press release here http://www.eeoc.gov/press/9-16-09f.html