What is the Americans with Disabilities Act?
Title I of the ADA makes it illegal to discriminate in employment against qualified individuals with disabilities. Employers have an obligation to make reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of an individual, unless the employer can show that the accommodation imposes an undue hardship or the person poses a significant risk of substantial harm to himself or others. A leave of absence may constitute a reasonable accommodation.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal law enacted in 1990, which prohibits discriminatory hiring and personnel practices against “qualified individuals with disabilities.” It requires employers to make “reasonable accommodations” to the employees with qualified disabilities unless the requested accommodation presents an “undue hardship” upon the employer or poses a “direct threat” to other employees. The ADA is intended to remove barriers, which prevent individuals with disabilities from enjoying the same employment opportunities available to persons without disabilities. The ADA doesn’t guarantee equality for disabled persons, but it does require employers to ignore any disability of a qualified individual when making hiring and firing decisions.
