In accordance with its Strategic Enforcement Plan ("SEP"), the EEOC is addressing these issues in a new Question and Answer Series. Both employers (and their HR advisors) and employees can benefit from reading this.  See: http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/disability.cfm.

The EEOC Chairwoman states that "Nearly 34 million Americans have been diagnosed with cancer, diabetes, or epilepsy, and more than 2 million have an intellectual disability.  Many of them are looking for jobs or are already in the workplace.  While there is a considerable amount of general information available about the ADA, the EEOC often is asked questions about how the ADA applies to these conditions."

The EEOC press release describes these documents as “ reflect[ing] the changes to the definition of disability made by the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) that make it easier to conclude that individuals with a wide range of impairments, including cancer, diabetes, epilepsy, and intellectual disabilities, are protected by the ADA. Each of the documents also answers questions about topics such as: when an employer may obtain medical information from applicants and employees; what types of reasonable accommodations individuals with these particular disabilities might need; how an employer should handle safety concerns; and what an employer should do to prevent and correct disability-based harassment.”