[Missouri-l] [Leadership] PUBLIC COMMENT INVITED ON PROPOSED CHANGES TO ADAREGULATIONS

[peter altschul]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: September 24, 2009

FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
DBTAC National Network of ADA Centers
1-800-949-4232

PUBLIC COMMENT INVITED ON PROPOSED CHANGES TO ADA REGULATIONS

The public has been given 60 days to comment on proposed 
revisions to
regulations implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act of 
1990 ( ADA),
as amended by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008.  The regulatory 
changes,
contained in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking just announced by 
the U.S.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), focuses on 
providing
individuals seeking protection against employment discrimination 
under Title
I of the ADA with a more expansive definition of "disability.  " 
Written
comments must be submitted on or before November 23, 2009.

The ADA is an antidiscrimination statute passed by Congress and 
signed into
law by the President in July 1990.  The EEOC is responsible for 
enforcing
Title I of the ADA , which prohibits employment discrimination 
against
individuals with disabilities.  The ADA requires employers to 
make reasonable
accommodations to employees and job applicants with disabilities.

"We encourage the public to submit comments directly to the 
EEOC." "People
with disabilities will be the winners when the new regulations 
are fully
implemented and extensive public comment will ensure they are the 
best that
they can be."

The ADA Amendments Act, which went into effect Jan.  1, 2009, and 
the
regulatory revisions embedded in the proposed rule now available 
for public
comment, makes it easier for an individual alleging employment
discrimination based on disability to establish that he or she 
meets the ADA
's definitions of "disability.  " The ADA Amendments Act also 
modifies the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits employment 
discrimination in the
federal workforce on the basis of disability.

The regulatory changes in the proposed rule emphasize that the 
definition of
disability-an impairment that poses a substantial limitation in a 
major life
activity-must be construed in favor of broad coverage of 
individuals to the
maximum extent permitted by the terms of the ADA , and should not 
require
extensive analysis.

The regulatory changes expand major life activities to include 
"major bodily
functions, and clarify that mitigating measures, such as 
medications and
devices that people use to reduce or eliminate the effects of 
impairment,
are not to be considered when determining whether a person has a 
disability.
They also clarify that impairments that are episodic or in 
remission, such
as epilepsy, cancer, and many kinds of psychiatric impairments, 
are
disabilities if they would "substantially limit" major life 
activities when
active.

Finally, the regulation revisions provide a more straightforward 
way of
demonstrating a substantial limitation in the major life activity 
of
working, and implements the ADA Amendment Act's new standard for 
determining
whether someone is regarded as having a disability.

The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking containing the regulatory 
changes is
posted on the EEOC website, 
http://www.eeoc.gov/ada/amendments_notice.html
<http://www.eeoc.gov/ada/amendments_notice.html>  along with a 
question-and-
answer guide about the proposal and instructions for submitting 
public
comments to the Commission.

You Can Submit Comments by Mail, Fax and Electronically, Here's 
How:

Written comments should be submitted to Stephen Llewellyn, 
Executive
Officer, Executive Secretariat, Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission, 131
M Street, NE., Suite 4NW08R , Room 6NE03F, Washington , DC 20507