January 06, 2016
The EEOC regulations provide that there are some conditions that will “virtually always” be a disability. These “predictable assessments” include:
- Deafness (hearing)
- Blindness (seeing)
- Intellectual disability (brain function)
- Missing limbs and mobility/wheelchair use (musculoskeletal)
- Autism (brain function)
- Cancer (normal cell growth)
- Cerebral palsy (brain function)
- Diabetes (endocrine function)
- Epilepsy (neurological function)
- HIV infection (immune function)
- Multiple sclerosis (neurological function)
- Major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and schizophrenia (brain function) 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(j)(3).
Because it would be apparent that a person with an impairment on the above list “virtually always” has a disability, employers generally are not supposed to consider the condition, manner, or duration of the limitation to determine whether the individual is disabled. See id. § 1630.2(j)(4). To the extent that condition, manner, or duration are relevant, that inquiry may itself include many factors, including, among other things, the difficulty, effort, or time it takes the individual to perform a major life activity; whether the individual experiences pain when performing a major life activity; the time for which a major life activity can be performed; and/or the effect the impairment has on the operation of a major bodily function.