The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced that it has published guidance on how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects people with opioid use disorder (OUD) who are in treatment or recovery, including those who take medication to treat their OUD. The publication, “The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Opioid Crisis: Combating Discrimination Against People in Treatment or Recovery,” is intended to help people with OUD who are in treatment or recovery understand their rights under federal law and to provide guidance to entities covered by the ADA about how to comply with the law.
The guidance document explains how the ADA protects people with OUD who are in treatment or recovery from discrimination in a number of settings, including employment, healthcare and participation in state or local government services and programs. The publication is part of the department’s response to the opioid crisis, which intends to promote prevention, enforcement and treatment.
For more information on the Civil Rights Division, please visit www.justice.gov/crt. For more information on the ADA, please visit www.ada.gov. For AGC resources on Drug & Alcohol Use and Testing or ADA, visit AGC’s Labor & HR Topical Resources library and select either “Other HR Issues” as the main category and “Drug & Alcohol Use and Testing” as the subcategory or “EEO” as the main category and “Americans with Disabilities Act” as the subcategory. You must be logged in as an AGC member to access the materials.
For more information, contact Claiborne Guy at claiborne.guy@agc.org or 703-837-5382.