Labor & Employment Law

Senate passes ADA Restoration Act

Senate Passes Bill Protecting Disabled People is an important September 11, 2008 New York Times article. It reports that the Senate passed the ADA Restoration Act without dissent that the House passed earlier this year. The Bill now goes to a conference committee and President Bush is expected to sign it. As the article states:

"This is the most important piece of disability legislation since the enactment of the ADA in 1990 and we are close enough to the finish line that we can see over," said Andrew Imparato, head of the American Association of People with Disabilities.

The 1990 law requires employers to make accommodations for disabled employees. The new bill, the ADA Amendments Act, addresses Supreme Court decisions that critics say restricted the law. The court has ruled that mitigating measures -- such as medication or a prosthesis -- make a person ineligible for coverage.
Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat and a chief sponsor of the bill, said the Supreme Court rulings put the disabled in an untenable position.

"The erosions of rights created by these court cases have created a bizarre Catch 22 where people with serious conditions like epilepsy or diabetes could be forced to choose between treating their conditions and forfeiting their protections under the ADA, or not treating their conditions and being protected," Harkin said.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

Harvey Randall comments: The text of the bill, HR 3195, is posted on the Internet at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/gpoxmlc110/h3195_ih.xml

Full post as published by New York Public Personnel Law on September 16, 2008 (boomark / email).