Americans with Disabilities
Act(1990)
Courtney Cambria
Background
• The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
(ADA) was signed into law on July 26, 1990, by
President George H. W. Bush, and later
amended with changes effective January 1,
2009.
• www.disabled-world.com/disability/ada
The History of ADA
• The disability rights movement, over the last couple of
decades, has made the injustices faced by people with
disabilities visible to the American public and to politicians.
• From a legal perspective, a profound and historic shift in
disability public policy occurred in 1973 with the passage of
Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act. Section 504,
which banned discrimination on the basis of disability by
recipients of federal funds, was modeled after previous
laws which banned race, ethnic origin and sex based
discrimination by federal fund recipients.
• http://www.dredf.org/publications/ada_history.shtml
Purpose
• (1) to provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate
for the elimination of discrimination against individuals
with disabilities;
• (2) to provide clear, strong, consistent, enforceable
standards addressing discrimination against individuals
with disabilities;
• (3) to ensure that the Federal Government plays a central
role in enforcing the standards established in this chapter
on behalf of individuals with disabilities; and
• (4) to invoke the sweep of congressional authority,
including the power to enforce the fourteenth amendment
and to regulate commerce, in order to address the major
areas of discrimination faced day-to-day by people with
disabilities.
Purpose
• Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990 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, 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.
Definition of Disability
• The term "disability" means, with respect to
an individual…
• a physical or mental impairment that
substantially limits one or more major life
activities of such individual;
• a record of such an impairment; or
• being regarded as having such an impairment
Congress finds that…
• (1) in enacting the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA),
Congress intended that the Act “provide a clear and comprehensive
national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against
individuals with disabilities” and provide broad coverage;
• (2) in enacting the ADA, Congress recognized that physical and
mental disabilities in no way diminish a person’s right to fully
participate in all aspects of society, but that people with physical or
mental disabilities are frequently precluded from doing so because
of prejudice, antiquated attitudes, or the failure to remove societal
and institutional barriers;
• (3) while Congress expected that the definition of disability under
the ADA would be interpreted consistently with how courts had
applied the definition of a handicapped individual under the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, that expectation has not been fulfilled
Title III - Public Accommodations
•
a failure to design and construct facilities for first occupancy later
than 30 months after July 26, 1990, that are readily accessible to
and usable by individuals with disabilities, except where an entity
can demonstrate that it is structurally impracticable to meet the
requirements of such subsection in accordance with standards set
forth or incorporated by reference in regulations issued under this
subchapter
• Elevator
-shall not be construed to require the installation of an elevator for
facilities that are less than three stories or have less than 3,000
square feet per story unless the building is a shopping center, a
shopping mall, or the professional office of a health care provider or
unless the Attorney General determines that a particular category
of such facilities requires the installation of elevators based on the
usage of such facilities.
Pros and Cons
• Opposition from Christian groups
• -Some Christian groups, such as the Association of Christian
Schools International, opposed the ADA in its original form. ACSI
opposed the Act primarily because the ADA labeled religious
institutions “public accommodations,” and thus would have
required churches to make costly structural changes to ensure
access for all.
• Opposition from business interests
• -Many members of the business community opposed the passage
of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Testifying before Congress,
Greyhound Bus Lines stated that the Act had the potential to
“deprive millions of people of affordable intercity public
transportation and thousands of rural communities of their only
link to the outside world.”
Benefits
• People with disabilities are “protected” under
the ADA
• Are now offered more opportunities of
permanent employment under ADA
regulations