Q&A: New law boosts anti-discrimination rights for disabled
WASHINGTON — Eighteen years and four Supreme Court rulings later, the Americans with Disabilities Act is not what it used to be. Its narrowed definition of disability now excludes any ailment that can be managed with medication or prostheses, including diabetes, epilepsy, cancer and more.
People with those conditions are not protected from discrimination in the workplace, a civil rights Congress intended them to have, according to Andrew Imparato, president of the American Association of People with Disabilities.
In an interview with Gannett News Service, Imparato explained how the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act would restore that right.
Question: Why is this bill important?
Answer: This bill restores protection for people with epilepsy, diabetes, depression, cancer. We had a case where somebody with an intellectual disability, what used to be called mental retardation, was told he wasn’t disabled enough for purposes of the ADA, even though he was getting Social Security benefits because he was trying to work. So this bill kind of refocuses the courts on the issue that should be the issue in any employment discrimination case, which is whether (people) were treated unfairly because of their disability.
Q: Where did the main opposition come from?
A: When the bill was first introduced in July 2007, it was broader than the current bill. It was so broad that some folks in the employment community said it wasn’t a restoration of the ADA, it was an expansion. And they were opposed to the expansion. And that included groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who supported the ADA the first time around.
It took us about five months of negotiation, but between February and June we worked out a compromise.
Q: What were some of the Bush administration’s concerns?
A: I think their bottom line concern is that they don’t want this bill to be interpreted in a way that protects people with very minor conditions and that was the concern that the employer community had when the bill was introduced. The employer community was afraid that it was going to protect people with a common cold, the flu, or an infected finger.
Q: What has changed for disabled people since the ADA was passed in 1990?
A: In terms of the brick and mortar changes, if you look at the built environment, there’s a lot more accessibility than there was 18 years ago. In everything from curb cuts, to automatic door openers, to elevators, I think our society has gotten used to accessibility and I don’t think we’re ever going to go backwards on that. I think people are just going to expect it more and more.
Q: Even with the passage of this bill, do you feel there would still be more change needed to give disabled people equal rights in the workplace?
A: All the studies that I’ve seen say that there has been no improvement in employment rates for people with disabilities in the past 18 years. About 70 percent of people with severe disabilities are not working. That was true in 1990, and it’s true today.
So I feel like one of our big challenges is how do we really open up the workplace so people who are already working and acquire a disability don’t feel like they have to go on to disability benefits and retire, but feel like they can stay at work and be productive and be valued. And how do we open it up so people who have never worked are able to get their foot in the door and demonstrate their capabilities.
Contact Rachel Kolokoff at rkolokoff@gns.gannett.com.