Disabilities and reasonable accommodations — Texas

Americans with Disabilities Act

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal law that prohibits discrimination against disabled individuals with regard to terms and conditions of employment if the individual is qualified to perform essential functions of a job with or without reasonable accommodation.

Enforcement

The ADA is enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and employees can recover the same types of damages as those available under Title VII, specifically, back wages, reinstatement or front pay, attorneys’ fees and limited compensatory and punitive damages. Jury trials are available to employees who bring suit against an employer for ADA violations.

Definition of disability

To be protected under the ADA, the individual must meet the statutory definition of disability. Under the ADA, a disability is defined as follows:

• a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities of an individual

• the record or history of such an impairment (the individual with physical or mental disability but no longer has or was misclassified as having an impairment)