a) Private employers “affecting” interstate commerce, employing more than 15 workers each working day is each of 20 weeks in the current or preceding calendar year.
b) Public Sector Employers:
(i) State and local governments, state agencies.
(ii) State colleges and public school districts.
c) Employment agencies.
d) Labor organizations.
e) Joint labor-management committees.
f) Covered entities in foreign countries.
2) The ADA does not apply to the following employers
a) Bona fide membership clubs.
b) Indian tribes.
c) The federal government, corporations owned by the United States recipients of federal financial assistance, and federal contractors, which are all covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
3) A qualified individual with a disability is protected under the ADA.
b) “Disability” is “(A) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of an individual, (B) having a record of such an impairment, (C) being regarded as having such an impairment.”
c) Excluded from the definition of “disability” is the current use of illegal drugs or the use of alcohol at the workplace. But former drug users who have completed a supervised drug rehabilitation program are protected. Also excluded from “disability” are homosexuality, bisexuality, transvestitism, pedophilia, exhibitionism, voyeurism, sexual behavior disorders, compulsive gambling, kleptomania, psychiatric substance abuse disorders.
d) A “major life activity” is a function such as “functions such as caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working. Mental and emotional processes such as thinking, concentrating, and interacting with others are major life activities.
e) Determining if an individual is “substantially limited” in a major life activity turns on the nature, severity and duration of the impairment. The individual must be significantly restricted in a class or broad range of jobs. Courts must consider whether the individual can correct or “mitigate” the disability.
f) A disabled individual is “qualified” where she can, “with or without a reasonable accommodation” “perform the essential functions of the job.”
g) The “essential functions” of the job are the fundamental duties actually performed by incumbents.
American Bar Association // Section of Labor and Employment Law Equal Employment Opportunity Committee //EEO Law Basics// Spring 2006
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