{"id":1944,"date":"2021-12-15T12:49:15","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T17:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/?p=1944"},"modified":"2022-10-24T15:59:20","modified_gmt":"2022-10-24T19:59:20","slug":"eeoc-issues-guidance-on-covid-19-and-disability-protections-under-the-americans-with-disabilities-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/2021\/12\/15\/eeoc-issues-guidance-on-covid-19-and-disability-protections-under-the-americans-with-disabilities-act\/","title":{"rendered":"EEOC Issues Guidance on COVID-19 and Disability Protections Under the Americans with Disabilities Act"},"content":{"rendered":"

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued new guidance<\/a> on Tuesday, December 14th, clarifying under what circumstances COVID-19 may be considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).<\/p>\n

Under the ADA, employees are entitled to a reasonable accommodation when their disability requires it, unless the requested accommodation would be an undue hardship for their employer. The EEOC\u2019s new guidance recognizes that COVID-19, like other medical conditions, may constitute a \u201cdisability\u201d under the ADA in one of three ways: \u201cactual\u201d disability (i.e., physical\/mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity); \u201crecord of\u201d a disability (i.e., the person has a history or \u201crecord of\u201d an actual disability); and \u201cregarded as\u201d an individual with a disability (i.e., a person is subject to adverse action because of an impairment or a perceived impairment by the person\u2019s employer).<\/p>\n

In assessing whether a person with COVID-19 has an actual disability, the EEOC requires the same individualized assessment required for all medical conditions under the ADA. Namely, looking at whether the \u201cphysical or mental\u201d impairment is one that \u201csubstantially limits one or more major life activities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The EEOC offered several examples that can help guide employers. For instance, employees who are asymptomatic or who have mild COVID-19 symptoms (e.g. fever, sore throat, headaches, etc.) that resolve in a matter of weeks are not considered to have an impairment that substantially limits a major life activity, and therefore, do not have an \u201cactual\u201d disability.<\/p>\n

However, an employee diagnosed with COVID-19 may be considered to have an \u201cactual\u201d disability if the effects do substantially limit a major life activity. The EEOC provided the following (non-exhaustive) list of circumstances related to COVID-19 that would meet the definition of a disability under the ADA:<\/p>\n