(b)
Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act--
(1) to provide a clear
and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination
of discrimination against individuals with disabilities;
(2) to provide clear,
strong, consistent, enforceable standards addressing
discrimination against individuals with disabilities;
(3) to ensure that the
Federal Government plays a central role in enforcing the
standards established in this Act on behalf of
individuals with disabilities; and
(4) to invoke the sweep
of congressional authority, including the power to
enforce the fourteenth amendment and to regulate
commerce, in order to address the major areas of
discrimination faced day-to-day by people with
disabilities.
SEC. 3.
DEFINITIONS. As used in this Act:
(1) Auxiliary aids and
services.--The term "auxiliary aids and
services" includes--
(A) qualified
interpreters or other effective methods of making
aurally delivered materials available to individuals
with hearing impairments;
(B) qualified readers,
taped texts, or other effective methods of making
visually delivered materials available to individuals
with visual impairments;
(C) acquisition or
modification of equipment or devices; and
(D) other similar
services and actions.
(2) Disability.--The
term "disability" means, with respect to an
individual--
(A) a physical or
mental impairment that substantially limits one or more
of the major life activities of such individual;
(B) a record of such an
impairment; or
(C) being regarded as
having such an impairment.
(3) State.--The term
"State" means each of the several States, the
District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,
Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, the Trust
Territory of the Pacific Islands, and the Commonwealth
of the Northern Mariana Islands.
SEC.
101. DEFINITIONS. As used in this title:
(1) Commission.--The
term "Commission" means the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission established by section 705 of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e-4).
(2) Covered
entity.--The term "covered entity" means an
employer, employment agency, labor organization, or
joint labor-management committee.
(3) Direct threat.--The
term "direct threat" means a significant risk
to the health or safety of others that cannot be
eliminated by reasonable accommodation.
(4) Employee.--The term
"employee" means an individual employed by an
employer.
(5) Employer.--
(A) In general.--The
term "employer" means a person engaged in an
industry affecting commerce who has 15 or more employees
for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar
weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, and any
agent of such person, except that, for two years
following the effective date of this title, an employer
means a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce
who has 25 or more employees for each working day in
each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or
preceding year, and any agent of such person.
(B) Exceptions.--The
term "employer" does not include--
(i) the United States,
a corporation wholly owned by the government of the
United States, or an Indian tribe; or
(ii) a bona fide
private membership club (other than a labor
organization) that is exempt from taxation under section
501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(6) Illegal use of
drugs.-- (A) In general.--The term "illegal use of
drugs" means the use of drugs, the possession or
distribution of which is unlawful under the Controlled
Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812). Such term does not
include the use of a drug taken under supervision by a
licensed health care professional, or other uses
authorized by the Controlled Substances Act or other
provisions of Federal law.
(B) Drugs.--The term
"drug" means a controlled substance, as
defined in schedules I through V of section 202 of the
Controlled Substances Act.
(7) Person, etc.--The
terms "person", "labor
organization", "employment agency",
"commerce", and "industry affecting
commerce", shall have the same meaning given such
terms in section 701 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42
U.S.C. 2000e).
(8) Qualified
individual with a disability.--The term "qualified
individual with a disability" means an individual
with a disability who, with or without reasonable
accommodation, can perform the essential functions of
the employment position that such individual holds or
desires. For the purposes of this title, consideration
shall be given to the employer's judgment as to what
functions of a job are essential, and if an employer has
prepared a written description before advertising or
interviewing applicants for the job, this description
shall be considered evidence of the essential functions
of the job.
(9) Reasonable
accommodation.--The term "reasonable
accommodation" may include--
(A) making existing
facilities used by employees readily accessible to and
usable by individuals with disabilities; and
(B) job restructuring,
part-time or modified work schedules, reassignment to a
vacant position, acquisition or modification of
equipment or devices, appropriate adjustment or
modifications of examinations, training materials or
policies, the provision of qualified readers or
interpreters, and other similar accommodations for
individuals with disabilities.
(10) Undue
hardship.--
(A) In general.--The
term "undue hardship" means an action
requiring significant difficulty or expense, when
considered in light of the factors set forth in
subparagraph (B).
(B) Factors to be
considered.--In determining whether an accommodation
would impose an undue hardship on a covered entity,
factors to be considered include--
(i) the nature and cost
of the accommodation needed under this Act;
(ii) the overall
financial resources of the facility or facilities
involved in the provision of the reasonable
accommodation; the number of persons employed at such
facility; the effect on expenses and resources, or the
impact otherwise of such accommodation upon the
operation of the facility;
(iii) the overall
financial resources of the covered entity; the overall
size of the business of a covered entity with respect to
the number of its employees; the number, type, and
location of its facilities; and
(iv) the type of
operation or operations of the covered entity, including
the composition, structure, and functions of the
workforce of such entity; the geographic separateness,
administrative, or fiscal relationship of the facility
or facilities in question to the covered entity.
