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Human Genome News, July-August 1995; 7(2):4
On March 15 the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released official guidelines clarifying the meaning of disability as used in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. The guidelines extend ADA protection to individuals who experience employment discrimination based on genetic information related to illness, disease, or other disorders.
Referring to the ruling as a positive step, National Center for Human Genome Research director Francis Collins said, ''the American people will receive the full medical benefit of genetic testing for predisposition to illness only when genetic discrimination barriers are lifted.''
The ADA defines a person with a disability as one who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity, has a record of impairment, or is regarded as having an impairment. Employers who make adverse employment decisions based solely on genetic predisposition are regarding the individual as having an impairment, which is covered in the third part of the definition. Thus, these employers would be in violation of ADA. [Copies of ADA Guidelines: Write to EEOC; Office of Communications and Legislative Affairs; 1801 L St., NW; Washington, DC 20507].
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The electronic form of the newsletter may be cited in the following style:
Human Genome Program, U.S. Department of Energy, Human Genome News (v7n2).
The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an international 13-year effort, 1990 to 2003. Primary goals were to discover the complete set of human genes and make them accessible for further biological study, and determine the complete sequence of DNA bases in the human genome. See Timeline for more HGP history.
Published from 1989 until 2002, this newsletter facilitated HGP communication, helped prevent duplication of research effort, and informed persons interested in genome research.
