On December 14, 2021, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued written guidance with respect to when the effects of COVID-19 may be considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The guidance is helpful because it clarifies that merely being diagnosed with COVID-19 is not, by itself, a disability that may require reasonable accommodations under the law. Rather, it is the extended effects of the condition that may give rise to disability status.
The guidance is clear: Each situation must be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Merely being diagnosed with the condition does not give rise to disability status.
Employers with 15 or more employees come within the reach of the ADA. But the guidance may be persuasive and helpful for businesses that have one or more employees, because the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act applies to those employers.
The guidance generally tracks what we already know about how to analyze physical or mental conditions that may be deemed a disability under the three basic ADA standards.
Clcik here for the new guidance information: https://www.eeoc.gov/wysk/what-you-should-know-about-covid-19-and-ada-rehabilitation-act-and-other-eeo-laws#N
