Complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Understanding the Definition of Disability
Jeannine LeCompte, Compliance Research Specialist
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 compels employers to provide what it calls “reasonable accommodations” to “employees with disabilities,” and imposes accessibility requirements on all public-access areas. The ADA states that a “covered entity”—which is any employer with more than 15 employees—shall not discriminate against “a qualified individual with a disability” with regard to job application procedures, hiring, advancement and discharge of employees, job training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment.
There are strict limitations on when a covered entity can ask job applicants or employees disability-related questions or require them to undergo medical examination, and all medical information must of course be kept confidential.
It is important to understand exactly what is meant by disabilities to achieve compliance with this legislation. Disabilities as defined by the ADA includes both mental and physical medical conditions, and a condition does not need to be severe or permanent to qualify as a disability.
According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), disabilities include blindness, an intellectual disability (formerly termed mental retardation), partially or completely missing limbs or mobility impairments requiring the use of a wheelchair, autism, cancer, cerebral palsy, diabetes, epilepsy, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and schizophrenia. Other mental or physical health conditions can also be included, depending on individual symptoms which appear in the absence of mitigating measures such as medication, therapy, assistive devices, or other means of restoring function; or if the condition is episodic.
The term “disability” does not include—
- Transvestism, transsexualism, pedophilia, exhibitionism, voyeurism, gender identity disorders not resulting from physical impairments, or other sexual behavior disorders;
- Compulsive gambling, kleptomania, or pyromania; or
- Psychoactive substance use disorders resulting from current illegal use of drugs.
While the definition of disability excludes any employee or applicant currently using illegal drugs, it does include an individual who has successfully completed a supervised drug rehabilitation program, or has otherwise been rehabilitated successfully, and is no longer engaging in the illegal use of drugs.
Although an alcoholic is considered to be an individual with a disability under the ADA, an employer may discipline, discharge, or deny employment to an alcoholic whose use of alcohol impairs job performance.
In 2008, the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) further defined a disability as a “physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a history of having such an impairment, or being regarded as having such an impairment.”
The EEOC had earlier defined an impairment that “severely or significantly restricts” a major life activity, but was directed by the ADAAA to replace “severely or significantly” with “substantially limits,” a more lenient standard.
The ADAAA also added to the ADA examples of “major life activities” including, but 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” as well as the operation of several specified major bodily functions.
Finally, the ADAAA overturned a 1999 US Supreme Court ruling that held that an employee was not disabled if the impairment could be corrected by mitigating measures.
Any company preparing a compliance program with the ADA/ADAAA should have a checklist prepared of all these factors to be used by the personnel department.
References:
“The ADA: Your Responsibilities as an Employer,”
https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/publications/ada17.cfm
“Disability Discrimination,”
https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/disability.cfm
“Facts About the Americans with Disabilities Act,”
