US: EEOC issues guidelines clarifying when COVID-19 may qualify as disability

The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on 14 December updated its COVID-19 technical assistance. It added a new section to clarify the circumstances where the COVID-19 would be considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act. According to the new rules, US workers with mild symptoms of COVID-19 will not be covered under ADA disability.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) rules, a person with COVID-19 has an actual disability if the person’s medical condition or any of its symptoms is a “physical or mental” impairment that “substantially limits one or more major life activities.” Furthermore, a case-by-case determination will be applied to existing legal standards to a particular person's circumstances. As per the rule, a person infected with COVID-19 who is asymptomatic or a person who is having mild symptoms similar to those of the common cold or flu that resolve in a matter of weeks and no other consequence will not be eligible for ADA. 

New section clarifying when COVID-19 may be a disability

A person can be defined as having a disability if their symptoms of COVID-19 limit them mentally or physically from performing activities like walking, talking, seeing, hearing, learning or operating of bodily function, reported Sputnik citing EEOC guidance. The person can also qualify if they have a “record of” the disability which means their symptoms of COVID-19 come and go and if their existing condition is aggravated by symptoms that become a disability, even if it was not before. EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows in the press release informed that the new update to the COVID-19 information would help the employers and employees with additional regarding the rules related to coronavirus and their effects of COVID-19 that can lead to disability. 

“This update to our COVID-19 information provides an additional resource for employees and employers facing the varied manifestations of COVID-19,” said Charlotte A. Burrows in the press release. 

“Like effects from other diseases, effects from COVID-19 can lead to a disability protected under the laws the EEOC enforces. Workers with disabilities stemming from COVID-19 are protected from employment discrimination and may be eligible for reasonable accommodations," Charlotte A. Burrows added. 

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