On September 25, 2008, President Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 ("ADA Amendments Act"). This Act makes important changes to the definition of the term "disability" by rejecting several Supreme Court decisions and portions of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) ADA regulations.

The Act retains the ADA's basic definition of "disability" as an impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a record of such an impairment, or being regarded as having such an impairment.  However, it changes the way that these statutory terms should be interpreted.

Read the entire EEOC notice with specific information about the Act or learn more about this amendment by reading an article by Jenny Cromie, certified human resources specialist. Please note that the article was written before the Act was signed into law.