What Qualifies as a Disability After the ADAAA
For the first fifteen years after the ADA was enacted, courts made it remarkably difficult to qualify as disabled. The Supreme Court's narrow interpretations of "substantially limits a major life activity" meant that plaintiffs with serious conditions — cancer in remission, epilepsy, diabetes, severe depression — were routinely found not disabled enough to be protected by the law designed to protect them.
For the first fifteen years after the ADA was enacted, courts made it remarkably difficult to qualify as disabled. The Supreme Court's narrow interpretations of "substantially limits a major life activity" meant that plaintiffs with serious conditions — cancer in remission, epilepsy, diabetes, severe depression — were routinely found not disabled enough to be protected by the law designed to protect them. Congress responded. The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) rewrote the definition of disability and explicitly rejected the Court's restrictive approach. Understanding the post-ADAAA standard is essential to evaluating any ADA claim.
The Three Definitions of Disability
The ADA defines disability in three ways. A person has a disability if they: (1) have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; (2) have a record of such an impairment; or (3) are regarded as having such an impairment. These are sometimes called the "actual disability," "record of," and "regarded as" prongs. The ADAAA significantly expanded all three prongs but made the most dramatic changes to the "actual disability" and "regarded as" definitions.
What "Substantially Limits" Means Now
Before the ADAAA, the Supreme Court interpreted "substantially limits" to mean a severe restriction — a significant or severe limitation compared to most people. Under this standard, a person with correctable vision could not claim disability because corrective lenses eliminated the limitation. A person with carpal tunnel syndrome might not qualify because the restriction on hand use wasn't sufficiently severe. The ADAAA rejected this approach explicitly. "Substantially limits" is now a lower threshold — it means the person is limited compared to most people in the general population, but courts are not to demand severe or significant limitations. The EEOC's implementing regulations state that the term should not be "demanding," and list a broad range of conditions that virtually always constitute a disability: cancer, diabetes, HIV infection, autism, bipolar disorder, PTSD, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and others. Mitigating measures — medication, prosthetics, learned behavioral modifications — are generally not considered in the analysis. The question is whether the condition, in its uncorrected state, substantially limits a major life activity.
What Counts as a Major Life Activity
The ADAAA also expanded the definition of "major life activities" to include not just activities like walking, seeing, hearing, and working, but also major bodily functions: immune system functioning, cell growth, neurological functioning, circulatory function, and others. This expansion is significant for conditions that affect bodily systems but may not visibly limit external activities. Cancer that is in remission but affected cell growth is a disability. A chronic condition affecting the immune system is a disability.
Episodic Conditions and Conditions in Remission
The ADAAA explicitly provides that conditions which are episodic or in remission are disabilities if they would substantially limit a major life activity when active. A person with multiple sclerosis whose symptoms are currently mild is still disabled. A person whose cancer is in remission is still disabled. A person with bipolar disorder who is stable on medication is still disabled. The employer cannot escape ADA obligations simply because the condition isn't currently severe. Workers whose conditions are episodic — PTSD, migraines, anxiety disorders, Crohn's disease — often assume they don't qualify because they have good periods. The ADAAA was specifically designed to cover these workers.
Key takeaways
- The Three Definitions of Disability
- What "Substantially Limits" Means Now
- What Counts as a Major Life Activity
- Episodic Conditions and Conditions in Remission
Citations
- ADA Amendments Act of 2008, Pub. L. 110-325 — Cited authority
- 29 C.F.R. Part 1630 (EEOC ADA regulations) — Cited authority
- Toyota Motor Mfg., Ky., Inc. v. Williams, 534 U.S. 184 (2002) (pre-ADAAA, rejected by statute) — Cited authority
Next deep dive
The "Regarded As" Prong: How Perceived Disabilities Create Claims
Informational only — not legal advice. Cases and statutes cited reflect federal law as of publication; consult counsel for application to your situation.