...Critique of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Affirmative Action Amaris Joy, Yahoo Contributor Network Jul 11, 2011 "Share your voice on Yahoo websites. Start Here." * ------------------------------------------------- More: * ------------------------------------------------- Americans with Disabilities Act * ------------------------------------------------- Americans with Disabilities Flag Close Post a comment Incidents of discrimination and matters of civil liberties often instigate changes in laws, statutes, and public policies. This paper will address the history of the American with Disabilities Act and Affirmative Action along with the pros and cons associated with each act. Americans with Disabilities Act The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed into law in 1990 and prohibits employers and universities from discriminating against individuals with disabilities. The act also requires institutions to make reasonable accommodations at the request of the disabled employee or student. Requests that place "undue hardship" on institutions are exempt from the law; institutions are not legally required to comply. The law states that individuals must inform the institution of all possible means of accommodation; the institution may choose the most convenient and financially feasible option (The U.S. Equal, 2008). Pros of Americans with Disabilities Act The ADA permits disabled individuals to receive an education and obtain employment thereby...
Words: 1714 - Pages: 7
...The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is one of the most significant laws in American History. Before the ADA was passed, employers were able to deny employment to a disabled worker, simply because he or she was disabled. With no other reason other than the person's physical disability, they were turned away or released from a job. The ADA gives civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities similar to those provided to individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, and religion. The act guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in public accommodations, employment, transportation, State and local government services, and telecommunications. The ADA not only opened the door for millions of Americans to get back into the workplace, it paved the road for new facilities in the workplace, new training programs, and created jobs designed for a disabled society (Frierson, 1990). This paper will discuss disabilities covered by the ADA, reasonable accommodations employers must take to accommodate individuals with disabilities, and the actions employers can take when considering applicants who have disabilities. Any company with 15 or more employees must be in full compliance with the ADA. The ADA, "prohibits private employers, state and local governments, employment agencies, and labor unions from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities in job application procedures, hiring, firing, advancement, compensation...
Words: 1443 - Pages: 6
...The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) makes it unlawful for an employer with 15 or more employees to discriminate against a qualified individual with a disability. The Michigan Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act, which is similar to the ADA in many respects, covers employers with one or more employees. This article addresses a number of disability law issues relevant to employers. The ADA applies to a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities (like walking, standing, or breathing). Examples include individuals who have physical conditions such as epilepsy, diabetes, severe forms of arthritis, hypertension, or carpal tunnel syndrome, as well as individuals with mental impairments such as major depression, bipolar (manic-depressive) disorder, and mental retardation. An individual with a disability must be able to perform the essential functions of the job, with or without an accommodation, in order to be protected by the ADA. The individual must also be otherwise qualified for the position. This means that an individual must be able to satisfy the job requirements for educational background, employment experience, skills, licenses, and any other job-related qualification standards. Essential functions are the fundamental job duties of the position. Relevant factors include: whether the reason the position exists is to perform that function; the number of other employees available to perform the function;...
Words: 431 - Pages: 2
...Argosy University M2A2 American Disabilities Act Cultural Diversity in the Workplace | MGT450 A01 Faculty: Dr. Karen Marando M2A2 American Disabilities Act Cultural Diversity in the Workplace | MGT450 A01 Faculty: Dr. Karen Marando The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law on July 26, 1990. With the goal to make American Society readably available to people with disabilities. In 2008, the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) was passed. The intention of this act was to widen the definition of disability, a definition that had been narrowed by decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. The Americans with Disabilities Act has five section referenced as “Titles”: 1. Title 1, “Employment” Title I requires effected employers to provide reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities and guards against discrimination on the basis of a disability in all areas of employment. According to the act examples of reasonable accommodation includes, making work-sites and/or workstations accessible, restructuring jobs, modifying schedules, providing interpreters, modifying equipment and creating accommodation policies. 2. Title 2, “Public Services” Under Title II, public services must provide equal services to individuals with disabilities cannot deny services to people with disabilities as they do to people without disabilities. Also, public transportation systems, must be accessible to individuals with disabilities. 3. Title 3 “Public Accommodations” ...
Words: 712 - Pages: 3
...different personalities, situations, and races. The topic that will be discussed today is the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). The topics that will be covered will consist of the law itself, any amendments, and most importantly ADA rights to the employee. First lets discuss the ADA act of 1990. According to Snell and Bohlander’s book Managing Human Resources “the ADA, prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals with physical and mental disabilities and the chronically ill.” This law is to be enforced to any employer with 15 or more employees. According to Snell’s and Bohlander’s book “The law defines a disability as “(a) physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major activities; (b) a record of such impairment; or (c) being regarded as having such an impairment.” Note the law also protects people “Regarded” as having a disability- for example, individuals with disfiguring burns. (1) This is particularly important for one to know especially in a management role. Since the regarded part of the ADA act of 1990 can be very broad and subjective. Another important piece of information is that the law says that as a hiring manager or company one is not allowed to ask the potential employee what their disability is. In addition one can not ask the potential employee to conduct any medical examination in regards to their disability. One is able to ask the potential employee to explain how he/she will perform a specific task...
Words: 782 - Pages: 4
...The Americans With Disabilities Act The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) The rights of handicapped persons to enjoy equal employment opportunities were established on the federal level with the enactment of the “Rehabilitation Act of 1973” (29 U.S.C. 701-794). Although “not designed specifically as an employment discrimination measure but rather as a comprehensive plan to meet many of the needs of the handicapped” (Twomey, 2001, p.540). The Rehabilitation Act provided three sections (sections 501,503,504) that prevented discrimination in employment. Section 501 was applicable to the federal government itself. Section 503, applied to federal contractors. Finally, section 504 applied to the recipients of federal funds. On Tuesday, the 23rd of January 1990, a “clear and comprehensive prohibition of discrimination on the bases of disability” was established by the One Hundred First Congress of the United States of America in its second session (D.O.L, 2003). The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, which is estimated to cover over, 43 million Americans with disabilities, went into full effect in January of 1992. Considered a “Bill of Rights for Americans with a wide variety of disabilities” the act applies to employment, public accommodations, transportation, telecommunications, State and the federal government (Holley, Jennings, Wolters, 2001, p. 424). The passage of the ADA “expanded the scope and impact of laws and regulations” on...
Words: 2973 - Pages: 12
...Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 The American Disabilities Act of 1990 is “one of the farthest-reaching acts concerning the management of human resources.” (Noe) The act extends to the disabled protections against discrimination similar to those provided to individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, and religion by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, State and local government, public accommodations, commercial facilities, transportation, and telecommunications. People with disabilities represent a talent pool that too often goes under- utilized. ”People with disabilities experience discrimination because of negative attitudes regarding their ability to perform work and because of physical barriers imposed by organizational facilities.” (Bohlander) Barriers placed on them undermine their efforts to get an education, find a job, and become a productive member of society. By breaking down some of these barriers the ADA benefits society by enabling it to take advantage of the skills, talents, and purchasing power of this often under-utilized pool of talent. Discrimination against the disabled was first prohibited in federally funded activities by the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This act required private employers with federal contracts over $2500 to take affirmative action to hire individuals with mental or physical disabilities. However the disabled were not listed among...
Words: 5788 - Pages: 24
...The American Disability Act or ADA is a civil rights law protects people who have disabilities from potential discrimination. This law protects those with mental, physical, or those with impairments that affect or limit life activities (Edie,2016, p,135). This law has five sections to protect individuals with disabilities in all areas of their lives in public. The employment section protects people with disabilities have fair opportunities to employment and benefits made available to those without disability. In terms of job opportunities employers cannot discriminate based on the applicant’s disability (Edie,2016, p.135). The job must provide if needed accommodations for the person to do their job. Accommodations can be many things like adjusting...
Words: 301 - Pages: 2
...The Americans Disability Act (ADA) was a piece of legislation that helped protect the Civil Rights of disabled. like many other Civil Rights movements, change does not happen over night, but with the perseverance of its advocates true change can happen over time. The ADA with its advocates has been at the for front of the first world in its protection of the Civil Rights of disabled people around the world. The ADA protects, among many things, the Civil Rights to recreation. Recreation is an important of human life no matter your socio economic status. The United Nations (U.N.) has also put forth its own version of the ADA. Although the U.S. has not ratified the document for fear of those U.N. laws trumping the laws of the U.S. already has in place....
Words: 501 - Pages: 3
...Additionally, Section 504 also makes clear that imposing harsher sanctions than those that nondisabled students receive for the same misconduct are prohibited discrimination under. ( 34 CFR 104.4 (a); Marshall County (KY) Sch. Dist., 20 IDELR 556 (OCR 1993). Americans with Disabilities Act The ADA is another antidiscrimination law and applies to both public and private programs regardless of whether the entity accepts federal funds. The ADA specifies that students are entitled to protection from discrimination, including protection from retaliation and harassment on the basis of disability. Dear Colleague Letter, 58 IDELR 79 (OCR 2012). Specifically, the ADA provides that "no qualified individual with a disability shall, by reason of such...
Words: 328 - Pages: 2
...The use of the voluntary form results will not benefit everyone applying for the jobs in this case scenario. Getting to know the motives of the employer can be complex in this case. Chances are that they are asking for disability details so that they can exclude the disabled from some important job roles. Clearly, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibit businesses, especially those that transact business with the Federal Government, from asking specific questions about whether an applicant has a disability. It is already stated that whereas laws have been put in place to ensure 7% representation of workforce with disabilities, the rate of unemployment among disabled people are still quite high (Acemoglu & Angrist, 2001). If the employers...
Words: 325 - Pages: 2
...Introduction The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) is a law that was enacted by the United States Congress in 1990. The law aims to prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities in the areas of transportation, communications, governmental activities, public accommodation, and employment (Retrieved from http://www.ada.gov/ada_intro.htm). Employers that have 15 or more employees are prohibited from discriminating against those with disabilities by Title I of the ADA (Retrieved from http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/disability/employersresponsibilities.htm). The stipulations in employment related matters of the ADA have the following requirements: 1. Equal Opportunity in selecting, testing, and hiring qualified applicants with disabilities...
Words: 511 - Pages: 3
...Americans Disability Act of 1990 The main reason for the American Disability Act (ADA) is to is to give equal opportunity for the disabled Americans living in the United States. In May of 1990, the Congress approved the Americans with Disabilities Act, that provides disabled Americans with increased access to jobs and services. The history of the ADA did not begin on July 26, 1990 at the signing ceremony at the White House. It did not begin in 1988 when the first ADA was introduced in Congress. The National Council on Disability had drafted a bill which was later introduced to the House and Senate 1988 when they recommended enactment of a Americans with Disabilities Act. President George H. W. Bush signed it into a law on July 26,1990. With changes made by President George W. Bush which went into effect on January 1, 2009. The ADA is now a wide ranging rights law that prevents any discriminating actions against anyone with a disability. It has similar protection as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That act made race, national origin, sex, or any other characteristic illegal. However, unlike the Civil Rights Act, the ADA requires accommodations and accessibility requirements on public accommodations from employers for any employee with disabilities. The American Disability Act also protects disabled employees from being discriminated from employers. Under the ADA employers may not limit advancement opportunities for disabled employees. Secondly, employers cannot use test...
Words: 870 - Pages: 4
...decades after the passage of the Civil Right Act of 1964, a federal law passed giving people with disabilities the same rights as minorities and women. This law, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, gives people with disabilities the right to compete fairly for jobs. ADA also gives people with disabilities the right to shop where they please, stay in whatever hotel they choose, and patronize any establishment open to the public; the right to use public transportation; and many other rights. Before the ADA became law, it was legal for most employers to look a person with a disability in the eye and say,” you have dyslexia. I will not hire you.” Today, employers (with 15 or more employees) cannot do that. The goal of the law is simple. It is to eliminate discrimination against people with disabilities. Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibits private employers, state, local governments, employment agencies and labor unions from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities in job application procedures, hiring, firing, advancement, compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment. The ADA covers employers with 15 or more employees, including state and local governments. It also applies to employment agencies and to labor organizations. The ADA’s nondiscrimination standards also apply to federal sector employee under section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act, as amended and its implementing rules...
Words: 1016 - Pages: 5
...Running Head: Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 1 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 Gary L. Spaulding Indiana Wesleyan University Professional Communication Conrad Davies July 9, 2012 Running Head: Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 2 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush on July 26, 1990. The law was enacted to keep people from being discriminated against for having a physical or mental disability. One thing that I didn’t know about the law was that it requires public schools to treat students with disabilities equally to other students. The law requires public schools to provide as nonrestrictive a setting as possible to students with disabilities and ensure that these students are able to have access to the same activities, services, and areas as other students. Public schools are required to install ramps, lifts for wheel chair users, disabled toilets, and automatic doors which will allow students with disabilities into all areas of the school. The ADA puts an extreme interest on equal services for disabled students. The act states, “No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States.. shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be...
Words: 356 - Pages: 2
