Monday, July 30, 2007

New Legislation Aims To Restore ADA's Teeth

Unfortunately, the promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act is still unfulfilled for too many Americans. Over the years, the courts have chipped away at ADA protections, ruling that employers can find a person “too disabled” to do the job but “not disabled enough” to be protected by the law. This is especially burdensome for individuals with epilepsy, diabetes, HIV, cancer, hearing loss and mental illness who manage their disabilities with medication, prosthetics and hearing aids. Under this rationale, they are viewed as “too functional” to have a disability and thus are denied ADA’s protection from employment discrimination. This “catch-22” has seriously eroded the rights of people with disabilities under the ADA.

On July 26, 2007, Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Congressman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) introduced legislation to correct this problem. The ADA Restoration Act would require the courts to focus on whether a person has experienced discrimination “on the basis of disability,” rather than forcing the person with a disability to first demonstrate that they are substantially limited in some major life activity.