Welcome to the Americans With Disabilities Act section of our webpage. 

This front page will reflect our most current information on federal disabilities law affecting educational institutions.

 

 

NACUANOTES: Shifting the Playing Field: The ADA Amendments of 2008
June 4, 2009 Written By Henry Morris, This is an excellent summary of the 2008 ADA Amendments. 

 

Jenkins v. National Board of Medical Examiners, (6th Cir. Feb. 11, 2009)

The plaintiff in this case was a third year medical student seeking additional time on the US Medical Licensing Exam as an accommodation for a reading disorder. The National Board of Medical Examiners had denied his request, even though the plaintiff had received extra time on the ACT and MCAT exams. The plaintiff sued for injunctive relief and lost at the District Court level.  

 

In reliance upon Toyota Motor, the district court found Jenkins did not qualify as disabled. The Court of Appeals held the ADA amendments apply to this case as it was pending on appeal when the amendments became effective. The 6th Circuit remanded the case back to the district court to determine if slow and labored reading is a substantial limitation under the newly amended law.

 

ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA)(Effective January 1, 2009)

In 2008, on Sept. 25, 2008 President Bush signed into law the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. The focus of this law is to clarify the definition of disability for purposes of employment, public entities and public accommodations. This law expressly overturns two Supreme Court decisions on the ADA:  Sutton v. United Air Lines, Inc., 527 U.S. 471 (1999) and Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. v. Williams, 534 U.S. 184 (2002). The criticism of those two cases was that they had unduly narrowed the "broad scope of protection" provided by the ADA in defining the term disability.

 

In addition, the current EEOC regulations defining the term substantially limits (as significantly restricted) were found to be inconsistent with Congressional intent, and the EEOC was ordered to draft new regulations with a less demanding standard for an individual trying to establish a substantially limiting mental or physical impairment.

 

The ADAAA clarifies that an impairment that is episodic or in remission is a disability if it would substantially limit a major life activity when active. Under the amended law, employers may not consider mitigating measures when determining whether an individual is disabled, with the exception of glasses and contact lenses. An employer may be found to have discriminated against an individual if the individual can prove discrimination because of an actual or perceived impairment, whether or not the impairment actually limits or is perceived to limit a major life activity. This last sentence does not apply to impairments that are transitory and minor. A transitory impairment is an impairment with an actual or expected duration of 6 months or less. Employers are not required to provide reasonable accommodations to employees who are solely regarded as disabled and are not actually disabled. An impairment only needs to substantially limit one major life activity to qualify as a disability, and not just those activities that are of primary importance. Under the ADAAA the following are major life activities:

(A) IN GENERAL- For purposes of paragraph (1), major life activities include, but are not limited to, caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, and working.

(B) MAJOR BODILY FUNCTIONS- For purposes of paragraph (1), a major life activity also includes the operation of a major bodily function, including but not limited to, functions of the immune system, normal cell growth, digestive, bowel, bladder, neurological, brain, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine, and reproductive functions.

 

For tips on what steps employers should take see the Jackson Lewis Sept. 25, 2008 newsletter titled: President Bush Signs Landmark Amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act.

ADA: Applying Performance and Conduct Standards to Employees with Disabilities: Guide Issued by EEOC

 

 

links updated 5/29/08 rab