October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month
This October, the Department of Justice (DOJ) honors National Disability Employment Awareness Month by highlighting the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which celebrated its 25 birthday this summer, and recognizes the Act as a fundamental gateway to equal opportunity in the workplace. To focus on disability employment, the Department of Justice wants to highlight Titles I and II of the ADA.
Title I
Title I of the ADA prohibits private employers with 15 or more employees, state and local governments, employment agencies, and labor unions from discriminating against qualified individuals in applying for jobs, advancing in jobs, compensation, or training based on their disability.
Title I is enforced by the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Department of Justice. Complaints alleging employment discrimination on the basis of a disability should be first filed directly with the EEOC.
The EEOC will handle suits against private employers, while the DOJ handles suits against state and local governments.
Title II
Title II protects qualified individuals with disabilities from discrimination in services, programs, and activities provided by state and local government entities. Under this section, government entities the provide employment and vocation services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities must provide those services in the most integrated setting appropriate.
Under Title II, the DOJ has fought for the rights of individuals with disabilities in enforcing the Supreme Court’s decision in Olmstead v. L.C., a ruling that requires state to eliminate unnecessary segregation of persons with disabilities to ensure that they receive the government services.
Please take time this month to reflect on the Americans with Disabilities Act, and if you feel that you, or anyone you know of has been discriminated against because of a physical, mental, or emotional disability, please give us a call.
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