Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990: The Basics

On July 26, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”), a comprehensive civil rights law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability. The law was amended on September 25, 2008, when President George W.Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008 (ADA Amendments Act), Public Law 110–325. The ADA Amendments Act amended the ADA definition of disability to clarify its coverage of persons with disabilities and to provide guidance on the application of the definition. Congressional findings in the 2008 amendment expressly rejected cases narrowing the protections afforded in the ADA for individuals with disabilities. Case holdings rejected by Congress include Sutton v. United Air Lines, Inc., 527 U.S. 471 (1999); and Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. v. Williams, 534 U.S. 184 (2002). Congress reinstated the reasoning  regarding the ADA’s coverage in School Board of Nassau County v. Arline, 480 U.S. 273 (1987) which set forth a broad view of the third prong of the definition of handicap under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

To be protected by the ADA, one must have a disability or have a relationship or association with an individual with a disability. An individual with a disability is defined by the ADA as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment.

Earlier this year, in Augusta Judicial Circuit v. Hodges-Peets, 899 S.E.2d 363 (Ga. App. 2024), the Court of Appeals reversed a long-standing decision finding that Georgia has not waived its sovereign immunity regarding disability claims.