Civil and Human Rights Coalition Applauds Release of Bipartisan Disability Civil Rights Regulations

Washington, DC –Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and a leading advocate for the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA), issued the following statement commending the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) recently released regulations governing the Act’s implementation:

 “These regulations fill a gaping hole in civil rights protections for people with disabilities. The overly narrow interpretation of what it means to have a disability has stood in the way of productive employment for millions of Americans. Many people with disabilities can now go to work with the confidence that they have the full protections entitled to them under the law.

Both the business and the civil rights communities found common ground in the belief that limiting protections to people with disabilities was wrong. Without the amendments and implementing regulations, the diversity of talent available in the labor market was stifled, millions of jobseekers were put in a state of uncertainty, and the regulatory environment that employers had to operate within was obfuscated.

The unanimous, bipartisan support for these regulations shows that the EEOC is thriving as a collaborative and well-managed commission under Chair Berrien. The civil and human rights community applauds her work, that of her fellow new commissioners, Feldblum and Lipnic, and the rest of the commission for issuing these bipartisan regulations.”

More information on the new regulations is available at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Web site.

Nancy Zirkin is executive vice president of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference, visit www.civilrights.org.