EEOC's ADAAA Regulations More Bad News For Employers

It has been a rough year for employers so far after several adverse decisions from the Supreme Court.  Not wanting to be left out, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its final rule implementing regulations under the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) on March 25, 2011.  The new regulations go into effect on May 24, 2011.  There has been a lot of discussion online about the meaning of the regulations but they are not surprising and are for the most part consistent with the ADAAA itself.  The essence is that employers can forget about challenging a plaintiff’s claim that he or she is disabled in all but the most extreme cases.  As just about everyone previously concluded when the ADAAA became law, disability discrimination cases now turn on the reason for adverse employment action, the interactive process and/or the reasonableness of accommodations.  If you are interested in details, some specifics points from the regulations follow. 

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