The ADA Helps—But Not Much

Abstract

Currently there are more than 43 million Americans that have one or more physical or mental disabilities, accounting for nearly 17 percent of our population. The percentage of persons with disabilities continues to grow as a result of the aging “baby boom” generation that is now entering their 50's. The idea of legislation to protect the rights of the disabled was first introduced in 1988 and was then re-introduced in 1989. Finally, after much debate, President George Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26, 1990. The Act took effect in July, 1992. It bans discrimination against the “disabled” and requires businesses with 25 or more employees (from July 26, 1994, with 15 or more) to provide reasonable accommodations” for qualified disabled workers and job applicants. Penalties can reach $500,000 and the EEOC says 17,355 charges have been filed, but only five (5) EEOC-sponsored suits have been filed.¹ This paper attempts to point out the ADA does help, but not much. Congress intentionally left the definition of disability under ADA open-ended to ensure that as many people as possible are protected. ADA has generated action and confusion. Because of social legislation, Congress kept it vague and ambiguous. This has created problems. Although the employer is not required to lower quality or quantity standards, the employer must make a “reasonable accommodation”. Reasonable accommodation might include providing or modifying equipment or training materials or policies, establishing part-time or modified work schedules, reassigning a disabled employee to a vacant position, providing readers and interpreters, and making the work environment readily accessible and usable by individuals with disabilitie.². The problem seems to stem from the vague terms used in the law such as “essential function”, “reasonable accommodation”, “readily achievable”, etc. Employers are scared of the law and are holding tight until the terms of the law are defined in the courts. The courts must settle a number of test cases before employers will readily hire the persons with disabilities. Only then will we know if the law meets its goal of mainstreaming persons with disabilities.