Opinion ID: 3064429
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: ADAAA Calls for Broad Construction of

Text: “Disability” The ADAAA explicitly rejects several Supreme Court decisions that defined “disability” more narrowly than many of the ADA’s original Congressional proponents had intended. See H.R. Rep. No. 110-730, at 5 (2008) (H. Comm. on Educ. & Labor). Beginning in January 2009, “disability” was to be broadly construed and coverage will apply to the “maximum extent” permitted by the ADA and the ADAAA. 122 Stat. at 3553. The ADAAA explains that “[w]hile [in enacting the ADA] Congress expected that the definition of disability under the ADA would be interpreted consistently with how courts had applied the definition of a handicapped individual under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, that expectation has not been fulfilled.” Further, “the holdings of the Supreme Court in Sutton v. United Air Lines, Inc., 527 U.S. 471 (1999) and its companion cases have narrowed the broad scope of protection intended to be afforded by the ADA, thus eliminating protection for many individuals whom Congress intended to protect.” 122 Stat. at 3553.