By legislation effective January 1, 2009, Congress expanded the scope of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) so that a greater number of individuals will be considered “disabled” or be “regarded as disabled.” This legislation was intended to reverse the effects of a number of U.S. Supreme Court cases and administrative enactments that had narrowed the broad scope of protections that Congress initially intended when it enacted the ADA in 1990. In that legislation, Congress also ordered the federal Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (“EEOC”) to revise its interpretive regulations to broaden the scope of people to be characterized as disabled under the law. On September 23, 2009, the EEOC published it proposed ADA regulations. There is a 60-day period in which the public may submit comments to EEOC about the proposed regulations. Anyone interested in submitting written comments to the proposed regulations must do so on or before November 23, 2009.
For additional information on the proposed regulations, as well as the changes made to the ADA in January of 2009, please click here.