Americans with Disabilities Act Health Article

Definition

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was a bill passed by the United States Congress signed into law by President George Bush on July 26, 1990.

Description

The purpose of the ADA was to make society more accessible to people with disabilities. The ADA applies to qualified individuals with disabilities who (1) have physical or mental impairments that substantially limit one or more major life activities; (2) have a record of such impairments; or (3) are regarded as having such impairments. In addition, the ADA protects persons from discrimination based on an association or relationship with an individual with a disability.

A qualified individual with a disability is defined as a person who meets legitimate skill, experience, education, or other requirements for a position, and who is able to perform the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodation. Requiring that an individual be capable of performing essential functions assures that such an individual will not be disqualified simply due to an inability to perform marginal job functions. If the individual is qualified to perform essential job functions, except for limitations caused by a disability, the employer must consider whether the individual could perform these functions with a reasonable accommodation. A written job description, prepared prior to advertising or interviewing applicants for a job, may be considered evidence of the job's essential functions.

Examples of major life activities may include seeing, hearing, speaking, walking, breathing, performing manual tasks, learning, self-care, and working. The ADA covers, for instance, individuals with epilepsy, paralysis, HIV, AIDS, substantial hearing or vision impairment, mental retardation, or specific learning disabilities. It also covers the individual with a record of a disability— for example, a person who has recovered from cancer or mental illness.

The ADA protects individuals who are regarded as having a substantially limiting impairment, even though they may not have such an impairment. For example, the ADA protects a qualified individual with a physical disfigurement from being denied employment because an employer is concerned how customers or coworkers might react.

The ADA also protects individuals from company or organization actions based on assumptions that a employee/member's relationship with a person with a disability would affect his or her job performance, and from actions resulting from bias or misinformation concerning certain disabilities. For example, the ADA protects a person whose spouse has a disability from being denied employment because the employer assumes that the applicant would require excessive leave to care for the spouse. The individual who is involved in volunteer work with people who have AIDS is also protected from employment discrimination by the ADA, if such discrimination is motivated by that relationship or association.

Civil rights protections similar to other legislation that provides protection on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, and religion are also provided by the ADA; it also guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in public accommodations, employment, transportation, government services, and telecommunications. Discrimination in all employment practices, including job application procedures, hiring, firing, advancement, compensation, training, recruitment, advertising, tenure, layoff, leave, fringe benefits, and all other employment-related activities, is controlled by the ADA.

With regard to both private and public sector employment, including state and local government services, companies with 15 or more employees are also subject to the ADA. Specifically, businesses must accommodate employees or customers with disabilities unless doing so represents an undue hardship or a direct threat to the health or safety of others.

Although the ADA is intended to protect those with disabilities from discrimination, employers are not expected to give preference to a qualified applicant with a disability over other applicants. An employer remains free to select the most qualified applicant available and to make decisions based on reasons unrelated to a disability.