This year will deliver employment law challenges for corporate counsel, none more pressing than those resulting from the Americans With Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) of 2008. Recall that the law’s effective date was Jan. 1, 2009, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulations became effective on May 29, 2011. Attorneys are just now feeling the aftershocks.

What exactly is going on? The amendments changed everything. Once, employees were disabled only if their physical or mental impairments interfered with their ability to function on a daily basis. An employee could have a terrible condition, but if she could get up in the morning, brush her teeth and drive to work, then she was not disabled. In Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) legalese, the plaintiff had to have substantial limitation to a major life function to qualify as disabled. That’s the way the courts interpreted the ADA.

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