Ethics and the Ada

The Americans with Disabilities Act requires firms to make reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities. In order to understand the ADA better, consider this excerpt from the 2005 publication, A Guide to Disability laws:

The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, State and local government, public accommodations, commercial facilities, transportation, and telecommunications. It also applies to the United States Congress.

To be protected by the ADA, one must have a disability or have a relationship or association with an individual with a disability. An individual with a disability is defined by the ADA as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment. The ADA does not specifically name all of the impairments that are covered (U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, 2005).

In order to determine if such conditions as obesity, depression, dyslexia, arthritis, hearing loss, high blood pressure, facial scars, and the fear of heights are eligible for accommodations under the ADA, it is important to look to the definition offered by statute. The law says, An individual with a disability is defined by the ADA as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment (U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, 2005). Unfortunately, the definition is one that is open to interpretation. I interviewed Attorney Trice W. Okrzynski in order to gain better understanding of how to interpret the definitions offered by ADA. He offered this suggestion: Be Reasonable (Okrzynski, 2012). He stated that due to the areas of ambiguity in definition...