Committee on Education and Labor - U.S. House of Representatives

ADA Amendments Act of 2008

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The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (signed into law on September 25, 2008):

  • Overturns the erroneous Supreme Court decisions that have eroded the protections for people with disabilities under the ADA, restoring original Congressional intent.
  • Rejects strict interpretation of the definition of disability, and makes it absolutely clear that the ADA is intended to provide broad coverage to protect anyone who faces discrimination on the basis of disability.
  • Strikes a balance between employer and employee interests.
  • Prohibits the consideration of mitigating measures such as medication, prosthetics, and assistive technology, in determining whether an individual has a disability.
  • Covers people who experience discrimination based on a perception of impairment regardless of whether the individual experiences disability.
  • Provides that reasonable accommodations are only required for individuals who can demonstrate they have an impairment that substantially limits a major life activity, or a record of such impairment. Accommodations need not be provided to an individual who is only “regarded as” having an impairment.
  • Is supported by a broad coalition of civil rights groups, disability advocates, and employer trade organizations.
     

Background

photo of worker in wheelchairThe Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 was intended to “provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities.” Just as other civil rights laws prohibit entities from basing decisions on characteristics like race or sex, Congress wanted the ADA to stop employers from making decisions based on disability. Unfortunately, four U.S. Supreme Court decisions have narrowed the definition of disability so much that people with serious conditions such as epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, cancer, diabetes, and cerebral palsy have been determined to not meet the definition of disability under the ADA. The result: In 2004, plaintiffs lost 97% of ADA employment discrimination claims that went to trial, often due to the interpretation of definition of disability. People who are not hired or are fired because an employer mistakenly believes they cannot perform the job – or because the employer does not want “people like that” in the workplace – have been denied protection from employment discrimination due to these court decisions. This was not the intent of the ADA.

The Committee held a hearing on the ADA and the original House version of the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (H.R. 3195) in January 2008. The House passed H.R. 3195 b y a vote of 402-17 on June 25, 2008.
 

Support for S. 3406

ADA Watch/National Coalition for Disability Rights
Air Force Association
Air Force Sergeants Association
Air Force Women Officers Associated
Alpha-1 Association
Alpha-1 Foundation
ALS Association
Alzheimer's Association
American Association for Affirmative Action
American Association for Respiratory Care
American Academy of Nursing
American Association of Diabetes Educators
American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)
American Association of University Women
American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association
American Bakers Association
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
American Council of the Blind
American Diabetes Association
American Federation of Government Employees – Veterans Council
American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Unions (AFL-CIO)
American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
American Foundation for the Blind
American Foundry Society
American Jewish Committee
American Kidney Fund
American Liver Foundation
American Lung Association
American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association
American Mental Health Counselors Association
American Physical Therapy Association
American Psychological Association
American Society of Employers
AMVETS
Anti-Defamation League
APSE: The Network on Employment
Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
The Arc of the United States
Arthritis Foundation
Asian American Justice Center
Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc.
Association of Jewish Family & Children's Agencies
Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living (APRIL)
Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD)
Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
Autism Society of America
The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
B’nai B’rith International
Brain Injury Association of America
Breast Cancer Network of Strength
Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association
Care4Dystonia, Inc.
Center for Women Policy Studies
Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation
CIGNA Corporation
Coleman Global Telecommunications, LLC
Community Action Partnership
Community Health Charities of America
Control Technology, Inc.
COPD Foundation
Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates
Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR)
Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America
Disabled American Veterans
Disability Policy Consortium, Inc.
Easter Seals
Eastman Chemical
Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States
Epilepsy Foundation
Friends of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind, Inc.
Hearing Loss Association of America
Heat Transfer Equipment Company
Higher Education Consortium for Special Education
HR Policy Association
Human Rights Campaign
Huntington's Disease Society of America
Hydrocephalus Association
International Association of Official Human Rights Agencies
International Franchise Association
International Paper Company
Japanese American Citizens League
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Koller-Craft Plastic Products
The LAM Foundation
Lambda Legal
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR)
Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA)
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Lupus Foundation of America
March of Dimes
Mental Health America 
Military Officers Association of America
Motorola
Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America
NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc.
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
National Alopecia Areata Foundation
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
National Association for Black Veterans
National Association for Employment of People who are Blind (NAEPB)
National Association for Uniformed Services
National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities
National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors
National Association of Governors’ Committees on People with Disabilities (NAGC)
National Association of Human Rights Workers
National Association of Manufacturers
National Association of Social Workers
National Association of State Directors of Special Education
National Association of State Head Injury Administrators
National Association of the Deaf
National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD)
National Congress of Black Women, Inc.
National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare
National Council of Churches in the USA
National Council of Jewish Women
National Council of La Raza (NCLR)
National Council on Independent Living (NCIL)
National Disability Rights Network (NDRN)
National Down Syndrome Congress
National Down Syndrome Society
National Education Association (NEA)
National Employment Lawyers Association
National Fair Housing Alliance
National Family Caregivers Association
National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA)
The National Foundation for Ectodermal Dysplasias
National Health Council
National Health Law Program
National Industries for the Blind (NIB)
National Kidney Foundation
National Legal Aid and Defender Association
National Marfan Foundation
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
National Organization for Women
National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (NOFAS)
National Psoriasis Foundation
National Women’s Law Center
Naval Reserve Association
Nevadans for Equal Access, Inc.
NISH
Non-Commissioned Officers Association
Northwestern Mutual
Organization of Chinese Americans
Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation
Our Children Left Behind
The Paget Foundation
Paralyzed Veterans of America
Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy
Precision Metalforming Association
Prevent Blindness America
Reserve Enlisted Association
RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association
Ryder System, Inc.
SEIU – Service Employees International Union
Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF)
Sjogren's Syndrome Foundation
Society of Human Resource Management
Spina Bifida Association
Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children
Textile Rental Services Association of America
United Cerebral Palsy
United Food and Commercial Workers International Union
United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society
United Jewish Communities
United Spinal Association
Uniweld Products Inc
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
U.S. Psychiatric Association
Us TOO International
Veterans of Modern Warfare
Vietnam Veterans of America
Women of Reform Judaism
The Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring
World Institute on Disability