Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) is the short title of United States Public Law 101-336, 104 Stat. 327 ( July 26, 1990), codified at et seq., signed into law on July 26, 1990 by President George H. W. Bush. The ADA is a wide-ranging civil rights law that prohibits, under certain circumstances, discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which made discrimination based on race, religion, sex, national origin, and other characteristics illegal. Disability is defined as "a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity." The determination of whether any particular condition is considered a disability is made on a case by case basis. Certain specific conditions are excluded as disabilities, such as current substance abusers. Title I of the ADA was found unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett as violating the states' Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution sovereign immunity rights insofar as it allowed the states to be sued for money damages.

Title I - Employment
The ADA states that a covered entity shall not discriminate against a qualified individual with a disability. This applies to job application procedures, hiring, advancement and discharge of employees, worker's compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment. Covered entity can refer to an employment agency, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee, and is generally an employer engaged in interstate commerce and having 15 or more workers. Discrimination, among other things, may include limiting or classifying a job applicant or employee in an adverse way, denying employment opportunities to people who truly qualify, or not making reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of disabled employees, not advancing employees with disabilities in the business, and/or not providing needed accommodations in training. Employers can use medical entrance examinations for applicants, after making the job offer, only if all applicants (regardless of disability) must take it, and if it is treated as a confidential medical record. Qualified individuals do not include any employee or applicant who is currently engaging in the illegal use of drugs when that usage is the basis for the employer's actions.

Title II - Public Services (and public transportation)
Title II has two sections. One covers public agencies (local, county, state, etc., government and their units). That section generally requires the agencies to comply with regulations similar to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. These rules cover access to all programs offered by the entity. Access includes physical access described in the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards or the ADA Standards for Accessible Design and access that might be obstructed by discriminatory policies or procedures of the entity.

The other section of Title II is specific to public transportation provided by public entities. It includes the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, along with all other commuter authorities. This section requires the provision of paratransit services by public entities.

Both sections state that no qualified individual with a disability shall be subjected to discrimination or excluded from the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of a public entity, or be subjected to discrimination by any such entity due to his or her disability. A "public entity" can be any state or local government or any department or agency thereof. The lack of accessibility or certain services can be considered discrimination, regardless of who it actually affects. For example, a lack of wheelchair accessibility in passenger cars, or even the leasing of wheelchair inaccessible ones without a "good faith" attempt to lease wheelchair accessible ones is considered discrimination under the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Title III - Public Accommodations (and Commercial Facilities)
Under Title III, no individual may be discriminated against on the basis of disability with regards to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any person who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation. "Public accommodations" include most places of lodging (such as inns and hotels), recreation, transportation, education, and dining, along with stores, care providers, and places of public displays, among other things.

Most of the lawsuits filed under Title III of the ADA deal with the physical conditions or "accessibility" of physical places. Under Title III of the ADA, all "new construction" (construction, modification or alterations) after the effective date of the ADA (approximately July of 1992) must be fully compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines ("ADAAG") found in the Code of Federal Regulations at 28 C.F.R., Part 36, Appendix "A." Perhaps even more importantly is the fact that Title III also has application to already existing facilities. One of the definitions of "discrimination" under Title III of the ADA is a "failure to remove" architectural barriers in existing facilities. See 42 U.S.C. section 12182(b)(2)(A)(iv). This means that even facilities that have not been modified or altered in any way after the ADA was passed still have obligations. The standard is whether "removing barriers" (typically defined as bringing a condition into compliance with the ADAAG) is "readily achievable," defined as "easily accomplished without much difficulty or expense." The statutory definition of "readily achievable" calls for a balancing test between the cost of the proposed "fix" and the wherewithal of the business and/or owners of the business. Thus, what might be "readily achievable" for a sophisticated and financially capable corporation might not be readily achievable for a small "mom-n-pop" outfit.

There are exceptions to this title; many private clubs and religious organizations may not be bound by Title III. With regard to historic properties (those properties that are listed or that are eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, or properties designated as historic under State or local law), those facilities must still comply with the provisions of Title III of the ADA to the "maximum extent feasible" but if following the usual standards would "threaten to destroy the historic significance of a feature of the building" then alternative standards my be used. Nonetheless, as Frank Bowe predicted when he testified as the lead witness on Title III in the Senate hearings leading up to enactment, the fact that Title III calls for accessibility in, and alterations to, many thousands of stores, restaurants, hotels, etc., in many thousands of communities across the U.S. means that this Title probably has had more effect on the lives of more Americans with disabilities than any other ADA title.

Some of the best resources (and a checklist) for determining whether a business complies with Title III of the ADA is found on the Department of Justice's website located at http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm.

Title IV - Telecommunications
Title IV of the ADA amended the landmark 1934 Communications Act by requiring that all of the 1,600 some-odd telecommunications companies in the U.S. take steps to ensure functionally equivalent services for consumers with disabilities, notably those who are deaf or hard of hearing and those with speech impairments. When Title IV took effect in the early 1990s, it led to installation of public Teletypewriter (TTY) machines and other TDDs (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf). Title IV also led to creation, in all 50 States and the District of Columbia, of what were then called dual-party relay services and now are known as Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS). Today, many TRS-mediated calls are made over the Internet by consumers who use broadband connections. Some are video relay service (VRS) calls, while others are text calls. In either variation, communication assistants translate between the signed/typed words of a consumer and the spoken words of others. In 2006, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), VRS calls averaged two million minutes a month. That statistic captures the tremendous impact of Title IV. It has made it not only possible, but very easy, for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, and/or speech-impaired to call friends and co-workers, order a pizza, or make a doctor appointment.

Title V - Miscellaneous Provisions
Title V includes technical provisions. It discusses, for example, the fact that nothing in the ADA amends, overrides or cancels anything in Section 504.

Groups that worked to pass the ADA
The ADA is notable because many disparate groups came together for a common purpose. In addition, other civil rights groups outside the disability community helped. The late Justin Dart worked tirelessly, traveling to all 50 States, to bring these many groups together in common cause.
 * AIDS Action Council
 * AIDS National InterFaith Network
 * American Civil Liberties Union
 * American Foundation for the Blind
 * Americans Disabled for Accessible Public Transit (ADAPT)
 * Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Handicapped
 * Association for Retarded Citizens
 * Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities
 * Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund
 * Dole Foundation
 * Easter Seals
 * Eastern Paralyzed Veterans of America
 * Epilepsy Foundation of America
 * Human Rights Campaign Fund
 * Institution for Rehabilitation and Research
 * Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
 * Legal Action Center
 * Mental Health Law Project
 * National Association of the Deaf
 * National Association of Developmental Disabilities Councils
 * National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems
 * National Center for Law and the Deaf
 * National Council of Independent Living
 * National Council on Disability
 * National Disability Action Center
 * National Organization Responding to AIDS
 * National Organization on Disability
 * Paralyzed Veterans of America
 * President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities
 * Society for Accessible Travel & Hospitality
 * Spina Bifida Association of America
 * United Cerebral Palsy Association

Quote
On signing the measure, George H. W. Bush said, "'I know there may have been concerns that the ADA may be too vague or too costly, or may lead endlessly to litigation. But I want to reassure you right now that my administration and the United States Congress have carefully crafted this Act. We've all been determined to ensure that it gives flexibility, particularly in terms of the timetable of implementation; and we've been committed to containing the costs that may be incurred.... ''Let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down.'" [Emphasis added, see References for the URL]

Criticism
The ADA is frequent target of criticism. For example, some claim that Individuals who are diagnosed with one of the, "lesser disabilities," including clinical depression or minor neck or back pain (see neuropathy) are being accommodated when they should not be. Second, the ADA has created one "professional plaintiffs" who makes a living out of collecting monetary damages from noncompliant businesses. The Miami attorney filed 700 complaints in a three-year period, typically settling each case for $3000 to $5000 dollars and a promise to remedy the violation. The criticism is limited, however, because the ADA allows private plaintiffs to receive only injunctive relief and attorney fees. Moreover, there is benefit to these "private attorney generals" who identify and compel the correction of illegal conditions.

Even those who support the intent of the law worry that it might have unintended consequences. Among other arguments, they hypothesize that the Act creates additional legal risks for employers who then quietly avoid hiring people with disabilities to avoid this risk. And such researchers (e.g., DeLeire, 2000; Acemoglu & Angrist, 2001) claim to have documented a sharp drop in employment among Individuals with a disability after passage of the Act (see Schwochau & Blanck for counter arguments).

Others (see Schall, 1998) believe that the law has been ineffectual; presumably, even stronger legislation (or legislation that crafts a different reward structure) is needed to achieve the Act's intended goals.

Many libertarians believe accommodation laws restrict the free market.

Moreover, the ADA did not come with a guide for the cognitive, or, "mental," disabilities section and left employers and employees to fend for themselves. Psychologist Dr. John Fielder (1994) corrected this oversight by writing a manual for employers that has been used by many parties concerned with issues of cognitive disabilities."

Many people think that one of the major flaws or weaknesses of the Americans with Disabilities Act is that it puts almost the entire burden of enforcement on individual persons with disabilities. Thousands of people have submitted requests to the Department of Justice for investigation of barriers in older buildings and design and construction errors in brand new facilities. Most of these are ignored, because even if the government wanted to investigate all of them, they lack the staff or budget to do so. If the individual wants action, he or she had to hire an attorney and bring a civil suit. Because most business owners realized after a while that there was little chance that the DOJ would come after them, and thus put off making changes to remove barriers, some persons with disabilities brought multiple suits. And some attorneys, anxious to make money, exploited these persons with disabilities.

Many advocates, of access for all, believe that persons with disabilities are justified in being discouraged and disgusted with the slow pace of barrier removal and accessible construction since 1992, and are struggling to come up with ways to bring complaints against those who are deliberately violating their civil rights.

There have been some notable cases regarding the ADA. For example, Target Corp. a major retailer, was sued because their web designers failed to design its website to enable persons with low or no vision to use it (http://www.dralegal.org/cases/private_business/nfb_v_target.php). In addition, a major hotel room marketer with its business presence on the internet is being sued because its customers with disabilities cannot reserve hotel rooms through its website without substantial extra efforts that persons without disabilities are not required to perform (http://www.dralegal.org/search/). These represent a major potential expansion of the ADA in that this, and other similar suits (known as "bricks vs. Clicks"), seeks to expand the ADA's authority to cyberspace where entities may not have actual physical facilities that are required to comply.

Another example, Barden et al V. The City of Sacramento, filed in March 1999, claimed that the City of Sacramento failed to comply with the ADA when, while making public street improvements, it did not bring its sidewalks into compliance with the ADA. Certain issues were resolved in Federal Court. One issue, whether sidewalks were covered by the ADA, was appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals which ruled that sidewalks were a "program" under ADA and must be made accessible to persons with disabilities. The ruling was later appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court which refused to hear the case, letting stand the ruling of the 9th Circuit Court (http://www.dralegal.org/cases/public_entities/barden_v_sacramento.php).

Spector V. Norwegian Cruise Line, Ltd. was a complicated case that was decided by the United States Supreme Court in 2005. The defendant argued that as a vessel flying the flag of a foreign nation was exempt from the requirements of the ADA. This argument was accepted by a federal court in Florida and, subsequently, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. However, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the ruling of the lower courts on the basis that Norwegian Cruise Lines was a business headquartered in the United States whose clients were predominantly Americans and, more importantly, operated out of port facilities throughout the United States.

Related categories

 * Category:Disability legislation
 * Category:Disability rights