The Americans with Disabilities Act essay

Even though the rate of discrimination against the differently abled has gone down, there is still a wide gap left to fill. There is need to educate and make the public aware of the negative effects of discrimination against the people who are differently abled. The Americans with Disability act of 1990 is a civil rights law that makes it illegal for anyone to discriminate a person based on their disability. This law also ensures that employers give the people with disability living areas that are easy for them to access. It also imposes accessibility requirements for public spaces, e. this law was a response to the widespread and inhumane way that the people with disabilities were being treated. A judge in New York had described the people with disabilities as the most discriminated against minority in the entire United States.

There was also the case of discrimination against children with disabilities. The children with disabilities in the early 1970s were approximately four million. Approximately one million of these children were totally barred from the public education system, and the other three million attended public schools but were not given services to meet their basic education needs. Many employers chose not to employ them as they saw them as a liability that would only increase expenses and not profits. This resulted in a majority of the people with disabilities to be unemployed and unable to care for themselves. This made some of them result in using their disability to beg on the street even if they had had good lives before ending up disabled.

In 2008 President George W. Bush signed into law The Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008. Ahmet had been late because as a result of his disability, he was not able to look over the top of the workstation to find an empty station. He had to check every workstation individually until he found an empty one. Initially, Ahmet had a workstation reserved for him, but the management was changed. Ahmet's new supervisor refused to reserve a workstation for him. Despite his numerous requests, the supervisor was adamant about giving him a specific workstation. His request was denied, and the company terminated his employment on June 27, 2002. Ahmet filed a petition with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The case was taken to court and proceeded to trial.

The jury found the company to be acting against the rules of the Americans with Disability Act of 1990 and 2008. Ahmet was awarded $14265 in lost wages and another one hundred thousand dollars in damages. While this might reduce the productivity of the company, if the company does not adhere to the regulations it might have a lawsuit, like the one above, in their hands. The business might also have to ensure that it employs more people. This is to at least improve the productivity. The business might also see improved profits when it employs the disabled. This is because by employing the disabled, the image of the business improves dramatically and with it the profits. This will help the company improve its productivity too.

The employment of disabled people might not be the best thing to do in some sectors, e. g. the military, construction sites and drivers in the transport industry. Employing them will result in untold losses and risk of life. Personally, I believe that the law has achieved its intended purpose. Back when the law had not been passed, there was a lot of children that were not going to school because the schools were not equipped to cater for the disabled children. Today most schools are able to accommodate and teach the children with disabilities, and this is all thanks to the act. The public transport sector is also another place that the effects of the law are clearly visible. There are special seats in buses and train reserved for the people with disabilities.