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The ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) and Its Implications for the Future of the ADA

Abstract

On September 25, 2008, President George W. Bush signed into law a measure (S. 3406) that significantly amends the definition of “disability” in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Effective January 1, 2009, the ADA-AA significantly changes the current law.

This amendment was necessary because Supreme Court cases under the original definition excluded large groups of people with disabilities from the law's coverage. The primary difficulty was the requirement that an individual be “substantially limited in a major life activity”.  Supreme Court cases found that individuals that mitigate the affects of their impairments by taking medication or using  devices or aids were not “substantially limited” and that individuals that could accomplish daily grooming and self care were not “substantially limited”.  The result of these decisions was that ADA plaintiffs were either considered "too disabled" to be qualified but "not disabled enough" to be covered by the ADA. The ADA-AA amends critical parts of the disability definition in order to reverse the restrictive Supreme Court cases.  Because the ADA-AA is a product of negotiations between employee and disability advocacy groups, the fixes are not always straight forward.  The purpose of this session is to parse through the new definition and discuss how it can be used to cover individuals excluded by the prior definition.

Specifically, we will discuss,

• the significance of the changes to such key terms as of ADA terms such as substantially limits, major life activity, mitigating measures, regarded as, bodily functions, etc.;
• the legislative history, findings and purpose of the ADA-AA and how it can help broaden interpretation of the legislation;
• strategies for expanding coverage of the ADA-AA for disabled individuals;
• challenges we are likely to face in interpreting of the ADA-AA.