Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”)(42 U.S.C. §12101) prohibits employers with at least 15 employees from discriminating against a “qualified persons with a disability,” with respect to job application procedures, hiring, advancement, discharge, compensation and other terms and conditions of employment. The ADA prohibits discrimination not only against persons who actually have a “disability” - but also prohibits discrimination by an employer against an employee who is regarded as having a disability. In other words, an adverse employment action based upon an employer’s belief or perception that an employee suffers from a disability is also illegal, under the ADA. In addition, to the extent that a qualified person with a disability is able to perform the core functions of a particular job without an accommodation, an employer may be obligated to make an “reasonable” accommodation that would help the employee to perform all functions of the job.
As with virtually all discrimination claims, an ADA claim must first be filed “administratively,” with the PHRC and/or EEOC, before a court action can be filed. Claims generally must be filed with the Agency within either 180 days (claims under state law) or 365 days (claims under federal law). If the administrative agency is unable to resolve the claim after a period of time (180 days under the ADA; 1 year under the Pa. Human Relations Act), a complainant may then sue in court.
The ADA is a relatively new (enacted July 26, 1992), and very complicated law, which a few paragraphs here cannot begin to interpret or explain; and with which the courts continue to struggle to outline its boundaries. Like all discrimination claims, disabilit discrimination is often extremely difficult to prove. Unfortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court has now made it harder to even file disability discrimination claims, with a series of several recent decisions that severely limit the reach of the law, primarily by limiting the definition of “qualified persons with a disability,” by excluding many moderately disabled persons from the protection and benefits of the law.
The ADA is also generally administered by the EEOC. For more informaiton on EEOC processing of claims of disability discrimination, see the EEOC web site at www.eeoc.gov