The Americans with Disabilities Act

Research indicates that discrimination against disabled persons is widespread in the United States. According to testimony from the disabled community received during hearings prior to the passage of the ADA: "Discrimination occurs in every facet of our lives. There is not a disabled American alive today who has not experienced some form of discrimination" (U.S. Congress, 1990, p. 114). Prior to passage of the ADA, anti-discrimnation legislation prohibiting discrimination against persons with disabilities was enacted in a piecemeal fashion.

The ADA marked the first comprehensive approach to disabled policy. The employment section of the law (Title I) bars employers from discriminating against qualified individuals with handicaps. Further, employers must provide reasonable accommodations for such individuals unless undue hardship would result from providing such accommodations.

The state and local government section of the ADA (Title II) prohibits

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f a case is brought by the Department of Justice, monetary damages can be assessed ranging from $50,000 for the first offense and $100,000 for each subsequent violation. III. Obstacles and Constraints to Government Intervention Congressional testimony was presented by various individuals and organizations concerned about disabled issues. Hearings were held by various committees, subcommittees, and task forces of both branches of Congress. The ADA was virtually unopposed, except for the protests of small businesses (U.S. Congress, 1990; Lord, 1992). As a result of these hearings, Congress concluded that discrimination still persists in critical areas of American society and that disabled people were continually subjected to inferior status. In conjunction with discrimination, attempts to isolate the disabled community were also widespread. Testimony was received from countless disabled individuals who had been denied access to schools, restaurants, public facilities, and entertainment establishments "based on false presumptions, generalizations, misperceptions, patronizing attitudes, ignorance, irrational fears, and pernicious mythologies" (U.S. Congress, 1990, p. 105). Small business representatives at the hearings ackn
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Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)

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