Americans with Disabilities Act

About Americans with Disabilities Act

Passed in 1990, the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) is a civil rights act that provides rights to people with disabilities. The ADA address five areas. The three most cited areas are: Employment, Public Entities and Transportation, Public Accommodations and Commercial Facilities.

Employment

Under the ADA a "covered entity shall not discriminate against a qualified individual with a disability." This standard applies to every part of employment from the initial applications and interviews to hiring and advancement decisions to discharge decisions. Equally broad, a covered entity can be any employer who engages in interstate commerce and has 15 or more workers. The ADA prevents employers from discriminating against applicants or employees based on their limitations. It also requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to their employees.

Public Entities and Transportation

This section prohibits discrimination because of a disability by all public entities at the local and state levels. This includes all programs and services offered by the public entity as well as both physical and pragmatic access to those services. This provision applies to both physical buildings and structures and transportation services that provide fixed route services.

Commercial Facilities

Under this provision, "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 accomdations of any place of public accommodation." A public accommodation is broadly defined in the statute to include hotels, recreation places, transportation, education, dining and other stores. Buildings erected after the ADA was passed are required to meet its accesibility specifications as are building erected before the enactment but are updated after it. There are some limited execeptions for private clubs, places of worship and places that are of architectural or historical importance.

Violations

Individuals with disabilities whose rights under the ADA have been violated may bring suit against the person violating their rights. This may include businesses who refuse to consider a person for employment or promote an employee because of their disability, public entities who refuse to serve a disabled person and businesses who refuse to meet the ADA requirements. If successful the plaintiff may be eligible for damages such as lost compensation or the position they were seeking or other monetary compensation but it will vary based on the individual's situation.

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