EEOC Issues Notice of Proposed Rules under 2008 ADA Amendments

Today, shortly before lunch, the EEOC announced that it would issue a "notice of proposed rulemaking" (NRPM) that will conform the existing ADA to the changes made by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008.

I previously posted on most of the ADA amendments and on the "regarded as" changes.

The NPRM should be formally issued next week. I'll post a link to the formal notice in the federal register then.

The EEOC posted a Q and A section on its website. The EEOC Announcement about the NPRM is also available. The Q and A illuminates some of the issues but doesn't say much more than what is in the statute. One key question was how would the EEOC define when an impairment substantially limits a major life activity. The Q and A simply (and unhelpfully) states that the

determination of whether an individual is experiencing a substantial limitation in performing a major life activity is a common-sense assessment based on comparing an individual’s ability to perform a specific major life activity (which could be a major bodily function) with that of most people in the general population.