I Want Out of This Chair

The importances of this Act to serve as a national model to people that both employees and customers with disabilities must be accommodated

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, or ADA, employers cannot discriminate against disabled employees in hiring, promotions, pay or termination. The court ruled that the repeated taunts, teasing and name-calling created a ?hostile work environment? for the disabled employee.

Under the ADA, employers must make reasonable accommodations for employees with a disability. Reasonable accommodations might include providing a phone with a volume control for a hearing impaired employee, or a ramp for a wheelchair employee. In this case, reasonable accommodations were not the issue ? childish insults were.

The ADA was enacted on July 26, 1990 and 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.

?All individuals deserve the freedom to compete and advance in the workplace on a level playing field ? including individuals with disabilities.? According to EEOC Supervisory Trial Attorney Suzanne M. Anderson. ?Employers should proactively prevent disability discrimination by putting policies and procedures in place to ensure that employees and managers clearly understand and abide by the letter and spirit of the law.?

Disability discrimination is more common than most people realize. Since 1992, the EEOC has received more than 235,000 complaints alleging disability discrimination. The EEOC has filed more than 700 lawsuits and obtained just over $665 million for disabled employees.

The ODEP is the nation?s first assistant secretary-led office that specifically addresses policies that impact the employment of people with disabilities.

In recent years, the ODEP has developed innovative methods for the 3,500 One-Stop Career Centers nationwide to serve people with barriers to employment, including individuals with disabilities. It has established DPNs, or Disability Program Navigators,

The Office of Disability Employment Policy provides national leadership by developing and influencing disability-related employment policy as well as practice affecting the employment of people with disabilities. Its vision is ?A world in which people with disabilities have unlimited employment opportunities.?