Access to all aspects of the college experience is a critical component of the work we do in higher education. Since the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act 26 years ago, all campuses have seen an increase in accommodations—mobility ramps, adjusted restrooms, braille signage, and more—leading to a more diverse campus population. But recent, successful law suits brought by students against several universities across the country should remind us there is much more to be done, and it begins with being open to thinking about access in all its many forms.
The National Technical Institute for the Deaf, one of the nine colleges of Rochester Institute of Technology, was established nearly 50 years ago as the first and largest technological college in the world for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. It was designed with accessibility in mind and can serve as a model for other campuses to follow.
Read the full Inside Higher Ed story here.
Showing posts with label Americans with Disabilities Act. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Americans with Disabilities Act. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
EEOC Sues McDonald’s Franchise for Disability Discrimination
Bentonville Restaurant Management Companies Fired Employee Because of His HIV Status, Agency Charges
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A McDonald's restaurant owned and operated by Mathews Management Company and Peach Orchard, Inc. in Bentonville, Ark., violated federal law when it fired an employee because of his HIV-positive status, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed today.
EEOC's suit alleges the companies violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when they terminated the employee within days of learning of his HIV status. The suit also alleges the companies maintain a policy of requiring all employees to report the use of prescription medication, also in violation of the ADA.
Read more here.
Monday, April 25, 2016
Lessons Learned From the Latest List of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Settlements
Fisher & Phillips , Lexology
Several recent settlements between the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) and employers in Pennsylvania underscore the importance of proper policies and procedures in the context of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”), and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”). While neither the court nor a jury of fact-finders reached the merits of the following cases, the alleged facts and claims—and disclosed settlement amounts—remind employers to review policies and procedures to ensure that employers are compliant with the law and following best practices in their industry as to employment-related decisions.
Read the story here.
Is obesity a “per se” disability? One court says no.
Constangy Brooks Smith & Prophete LLP, Lexology
A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled this week that obesity is not a “disability” within the meaning of the Americans with Disabilities Act — even as amended in 2009 — unless the condition was caused by some underlying physiological disorder.
Read the story here.
Related content:
Monday, April 11, 2016
Recognizing and Handling Accommodation Requests in the Workplace
Royal PC, Lexology
The Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) requires that employers provide reasonable accommodation to employees with disabilities. Employers often find recognizing and handling requests for accommodations challenging. Following the steps below will enable employers to confidently recognize and handle accommodation requests in the workplace.
Read the story here.
Monday, February 8, 2016
Students with Disabilities More Likely to Drop out of High School
By Frank Kineavy, DiversityInc
Students with disabilities are lagging behind their able-bodied peers when it comes to high school graduation. As the U.S. is on track to reach 90 percent graduation rates by 2020, students with disabilities only graduate at a rate of 61.9 percent, according to the 2015 Building a Grad Nation Report released by the America’s Promise Alliance.
Students with disabilities are lagging behind their able-bodied peers when it comes to high school graduation. As the U.S. is on track to reach 90 percent graduation rates by 2020, students with disabilities only graduate at a rate of 61.9 percent, according to the 2015 Building a Grad Nation Report released by the America’s Promise Alliance.
This outlook is grim, especially considering that students with disabilities account for approximately 13 percent of all public school students nationwide. But since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 25 years ago, some steps have been taken in an attempt to increase graduation rates.
Read the story here.
Monday, January 11, 2016
Don’t Be Chained To “Fears, Biases or Stereotypes” Against People With Disabilities
FisherBroyles, Lexology
The EEOC’s Strategic Enforcement Plan (“SEP”) has, as one of its six national priorities, the elimination of barriers in recruitment and hiring. Lately, the EEOC has seemed to focus upon deafness as a barrier to hiring — or as a reason for termination.
Read the story here.
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Most New York City Elementary Schools Are Violating Disabilities Act, Investigation Finds
By Bejnamin Weiser, The New York Times
A two-year federal investigation has concluded that 83 percent of New York City’s public elementary schools are not “fully accessible” to children with disabilities, in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act.
A two-year federal investigation has concluded that 83 percent of New York City’s public elementary schools are not “fully accessible” to children with disabilities, in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Read the story here.
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
EEOC provides ADA guidance for employees’ doctors
Constangy Brooks Smith & Prophete LLP, Lexology
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission came out this week with some guidance about the rights of individuals with AIDS and HIV. The guidance is unremarkable for anyone who is familiar with the Americans with Disabilities Act, although it never hurts to get a refresher, and in any event it’s aimed at employees, not employers.
Read the story here.
Read the official EEOC press release, EEOC Issues Publications on the Rights of Job Applicants and Employees Who Have HIV Infection.
Related content:
- EEOC issues guidance directed specifically to HIV positive employees and their physicians (Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP)
- EEOC issues guidance on rights of applicants and employees infected with HIV (Foley & Lardner LLP)
- EEOC guidance on accommodating employees with HIV/AIDS provides excellent perspective for all employers (SmithAmundsen LLC)
- EEOC issues additional guidance on job rights for employees with HIV (Barnes & Thornburg LLP)
- “Deaf culture” expert to testify at trial? Judge allows EEOC to test the limits (Ogletree Deakins)
Fired U of Southern California Coach Sues University for Discrimination
Inside Higher Ed
Steve Sarkisian, the former head football coach of the University of Southern California who was fired in October after he appeared to be intoxicated at a game and during team meetings, sued the university Monday, alleging that he was discriminated against on the basis of a disability.
Read the story here.
Monday, November 23, 2015
Claims brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Equal Pay Act
Sirote & Permutt PC, Lexology
In this week's Alabama Law Weekly Update, we report on a case from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama discussing the accommodations requirement under the Americans with Disabilities Act and a case from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama examining a claim brought under the Equal Pay Act.
In this week's Alabama Law Weekly Update, we report on a case from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama discussing the accommodations requirement under the Americans with Disabilities Act and a case from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama examining a claim brought under the Equal Pay Act.
Read the story here.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Remarks by the President on 20th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
July 26, 2010
Remarks by the President on 20th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act
South Lawn
6:26 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Good evening, everybody. (Applause.) Thank you so much. Well, we have a gorgeous day to celebrate an extraordinary event in the life of this nation. Welcome, all of you, to our White House. And thank you, Robert, for the wonderful introduction. It is a pleasure and honor to be with all of you on the 20th anniversary of one of the most comprehensive civil rights bills in the history of this country -- the Americans with Disabilities Act. (Applause.) I see so many champions of this law here today. I wish I had time to acknowledge each and every one of you. I want to thank all of you. But I also want to thank our Cabinet Secretaries and the members of my administration here today who are working to advance the goals of the ADA so that it is not just the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law, that's being applied all across this country. (Applause.) I want to thank the members of Congress in attendance who fought to make ADA possible and to keep improving it throughout the years. (Applause.) I want to acknowledge Dick Thornburgh, who worked hard to make this happen as Attorney General under President George H.W. Bush. (Applause.) And by the way, I had a chance to speak to President Bush before I came out here, and he sends heartfelt regards to all of you. And it’s -- he’s extraordinarily proud of the law that was passed. He was very humble about his own role, but I think it’s worth acknowledging the great work that he did. (Applause.) We also remember those we’ve lost who helped make this law possible -- like our old friend, Ted Kennedy. (Applause.) And I see Patrick here. And Justin Dart, Jr., a man folks call the father of the ADA -- whose wife Yoshiko, is here. (Applause.) Yoshiko, so nice to see you. (Applause.) I also notice that Elizabeth Dole is here, and I had a chance to speak to Bob Dole, as well, and thank him for the extraordinary role that he played in advancing this legislation. (Applause.) Let me also say that Congressman Jim Langevin wanted to be here today, but he’s currently presiding over the House chamber -- the first time in our history somebody using a wheelchair has done so. (Applause.) Today, as we commemorate what the ADA accomplished, we celebrate who the ADA was all about. It was about the young girl in Washington State who just wanted to see a movie at her hometown theater, but was turned away because she had cerebral palsy; or the young man in Indiana who showed up at a worksite, able to do the work, excited for the opportunity, but was turned away and called a cripple because of a minor disability he had already trained himself to work with; or the student in California who was eager and able to attend the college of his dreams, and refused to let the iron grip of polio keep him from the classroom -- each of whom became integral to this cause. And it was about all of you. You understand these stories because you or someone you loved lived them. And that sparked a movement. It began when Americans no longer saw their own disabilities as a barrier to their success, and set out to tear down the physical and social barriers that were. It grew when you realized you weren’t alone. It became a massive wave of bottom-up change that swept across the country as you refused to accept the world as it was. And when you were told, no, don’t try, you can’the -- you responded with that age-old American creed: Yes, we can. (Applause.) AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Inaudible.) THE PRESIDENT: Yes, we can! Sit-ins in San Francisco. Demonstrations in Denver. Protests in Washington, D.C., at Gallaudet, and before Congress. People marched, and organized, and testified. And laws changed, and minds changed, and progress was won. (Applause.) Now, that’s not to say it was easy. You didn’t always have folks in Washington to fight on your behalf. And when you did, they weren’t as powerful, as well-connected, as well-funded as the lobbyists who lined up to kill any attempt at change. And at first, you might have thought, what does anyone in Washington know or care about my battle? But what you knew from your own experience is that disability touches us all. If one in six Americans has a disability, then odds are the rest of us love somebody with a disability. I was telling a story to a group that was in the Oval Office before I came out here about Michelle’s father who had MS. By the time I met him, he had to use two canes just to walk. He was stricken with MS when he was 30 years old, but he never missed a day of work; had to wake up an hour early to get dressed -- AUDIENCE MEMBER: So what. THE PRESIDENT: -- to get to the job, but that was his attitude -- so what. He could do it. Didn't miss a dance recital. Did not miss a ball game of his son. Everybody has got a story like that somewhere in their family.
Full Remarks: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-20th-anniversary-americans-with-disabilities-act
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
July 26, 2010
Remarks by the President on 20th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act
South Lawn
6:26 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Good evening, everybody. (Applause.) Thank you so much. Well, we have a gorgeous day to celebrate an extraordinary event in the life of this nation. Welcome, all of you, to our White House. And thank you, Robert, for the wonderful introduction. It is a pleasure and honor to be with all of you on the 20th anniversary of one of the most comprehensive civil rights bills in the history of this country -- the Americans with Disabilities Act. (Applause.) I see so many champions of this law here today. I wish I had time to acknowledge each and every one of you. I want to thank all of you. But I also want to thank our Cabinet Secretaries and the members of my administration here today who are working to advance the goals of the ADA so that it is not just the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law, that's being applied all across this country. (Applause.) I want to thank the members of Congress in attendance who fought to make ADA possible and to keep improving it throughout the years. (Applause.) I want to acknowledge Dick Thornburgh, who worked hard to make this happen as Attorney General under President George H.W. Bush. (Applause.) And by the way, I had a chance to speak to President Bush before I came out here, and he sends heartfelt regards to all of you. And it’s -- he’s extraordinarily proud of the law that was passed. He was very humble about his own role, but I think it’s worth acknowledging the great work that he did. (Applause.) We also remember those we’ve lost who helped make this law possible -- like our old friend, Ted Kennedy. (Applause.) And I see Patrick here. And Justin Dart, Jr., a man folks call the father of the ADA -- whose wife Yoshiko, is here. (Applause.) Yoshiko, so nice to see you. (Applause.) I also notice that Elizabeth Dole is here, and I had a chance to speak to Bob Dole, as well, and thank him for the extraordinary role that he played in advancing this legislation. (Applause.) Let me also say that Congressman Jim Langevin wanted to be here today, but he’s currently presiding over the House chamber -- the first time in our history somebody using a wheelchair has done so. (Applause.) Today, as we commemorate what the ADA accomplished, we celebrate who the ADA was all about. It was about the young girl in Washington State who just wanted to see a movie at her hometown theater, but was turned away because she had cerebral palsy; or the young man in Indiana who showed up at a worksite, able to do the work, excited for the opportunity, but was turned away and called a cripple because of a minor disability he had already trained himself to work with; or the student in California who was eager and able to attend the college of his dreams, and refused to let the iron grip of polio keep him from the classroom -- each of whom became integral to this cause. And it was about all of you. You understand these stories because you or someone you loved lived them. And that sparked a movement. It began when Americans no longer saw their own disabilities as a barrier to their success, and set out to tear down the physical and social barriers that were. It grew when you realized you weren’t alone. It became a massive wave of bottom-up change that swept across the country as you refused to accept the world as it was. And when you were told, no, don’t try, you can’the -- you responded with that age-old American creed: Yes, we can. (Applause.) AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Inaudible.) THE PRESIDENT: Yes, we can! Sit-ins in San Francisco. Demonstrations in Denver. Protests in Washington, D.C., at Gallaudet, and before Congress. People marched, and organized, and testified. And laws changed, and minds changed, and progress was won. (Applause.) Now, that’s not to say it was easy. You didn’t always have folks in Washington to fight on your behalf. And when you did, they weren’t as powerful, as well-connected, as well-funded as the lobbyists who lined up to kill any attempt at change. And at first, you might have thought, what does anyone in Washington know or care about my battle? But what you knew from your own experience is that disability touches us all. If one in six Americans has a disability, then odds are the rest of us love somebody with a disability. I was telling a story to a group that was in the Oval Office before I came out here about Michelle’s father who had MS. By the time I met him, he had to use two canes just to walk. He was stricken with MS when he was 30 years old, but he never missed a day of work; had to wake up an hour early to get dressed -- AUDIENCE MEMBER: So what. THE PRESIDENT: -- to get to the job, but that was his attitude -- so what. He could do it. Didn't miss a dance recital. Did not miss a ball game of his son. Everybody has got a story like that somewhere in their family.
Full Remarks: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-20th-anniversary-americans-with-disabilities-act
Monday, June 14, 2010
White House Launches Celebration Of 20th Anniversary Of Americans With Disabilities Act
Posted by Kareem Dale on June 08, 2010 at 02:40 PM EDT
Sunday night, Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Obama, kicked off the President’s and White House’s celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act while delivering remarks to over 2,000 people from around the World at the VSA International Festival at the Kennedy Center. Valerie’s remarks, which you can find below, noted the significance of this historic landmark civil rights legislation, highlighted some of the President’s initiatives thus far related to people with disabilities and previewed that senior administration officials will be commemorating this historic anniversary in the weeks to come with new policies and events.
So, stay tuned for more announcements and information in the upcoming weeks.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/08/white-house-launches-celebration-20th-anniversary-americans-with-disabilities-act
Sunday night, Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Obama, kicked off the President’s and White House’s celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act while delivering remarks to over 2,000 people from around the World at the VSA International Festival at the Kennedy Center. Valerie’s remarks, which you can find below, noted the significance of this historic landmark civil rights legislation, highlighted some of the President’s initiatives thus far related to people with disabilities and previewed that senior administration officials will be commemorating this historic anniversary in the weeks to come with new policies and events.
So, stay tuned for more announcements and information in the upcoming weeks.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/08/white-house-launches-celebration-20th-anniversary-americans-with-disabilities-act
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