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Americans with Disabilities Act

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The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was designed to protect workers with disabilities against employer discrimination. In actual practice, how well does the Act achieve this goal? Explain. Support your answer with examples from recent court decisions.

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Solution Summary

This solution evaluates whether or not the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) meets its goal to protect workers with disabilities against employer discrimination. Answer is supported with examples from recent court decisions.

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Interesting and complex question, indeed. Please see response attached (also below). I hope this helps and take care.

RESPONSE:

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was designed to protect workers with disabilities against employer discrimination. In actual practice, how well does the Act achieve this goal? Explain. Support your answer with examples from recent court decisions.

After readings some of the literature and the court cases, THIS TOPIC IS clearly controversial. THIS DEMANDS THAT YOU TAKE A POSITION. Without sounding trite, the best I could come up with was, it depends.

I. ADA protects some areas, but not others:

For example, although The ADA protects:
Against discrimination for persons who have a disability
...there are still areas for potential discrimination because the ADA does not protect:
Against discrimination based on genetic conditions that do not yet show symptoms
Potential workers from employer requests to provide genetic information after a conditional offer of work has been extended but before they begin work
Workers from employer requirements to provide medical information that is job related and consistent with business necessity

Limited power of EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)
- a federal agency, has limited power as to what it can protect: - which often works against the persons with disabilities. For example, EEOC issued guidance in 1995 in an attempt to address genetic discrimination in the workplace. However, the EEOC's guidance does not have the same legal, binding effect as a regulation and is thus limited in what it can protect (http://www.sph.unc.edu/nccgph/phgenetics/legislation.htm#workplace). This is serious, because when the Court rulings do NOT favor the plaintiff, EEOC has limited powers of what it can protect.

II. Large Number of case
- based on the number of discrimination cases that come before the courts suggests that discrimination is sill occurring and

ADA may not be working. For example, for July and August (2005) some of cases are as follows:
Seventh Circuit
Diabetic plaintiff was a "direct threat" even though he had previously worked ten months at the same plant without incident. (July ...

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