Congress wants to make Americans with disabilities second-class citizens again. By Tammy Duckworth10/20/2017 The following Opinion Piece is forwarded to you by the Great Lakes ADA Center (www.adagreatlakes.org) for your information. The opinions stated below are that of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions/position of Access Ohio or the Great Lakes ADA Center or its funding sources. This information is provided to you as information only.
Opinion The Washington Post October 17, 2017 Congress wants to make Americans with disabilities second-class citizens again By Tammy Duckworth (Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat, represents Illinois in the U.S. Senate) On May 28, 1988, Lisa Carl went to her local movie theater, something millions of Americans can do with ease and comfort. Yet when Lisa tried to go into the theater, the manager refused her ticket, denying her entry because Lisa had cerebral palsy and used a wheelchair. When an advocate called the theater owner about the incident, the manager coldly stated, “I don’t want her in here, and I don’t have to let her in.” Lisa later testified before Congress, “I was not crying on the outside, but I was crying on the inside. I just wanted to watch the movie like everyone else.” While the cruelty is heartbreaking, the true outrage was that in 1988, the law actually sided with the theater owner, who was free to legally discriminate against Lisa and deny her access to a public theater because she was born with a disability. Fortunately, millions of Americans with disabilities and their families refused to accept this discrimination. They shared their stories and pushed and prodded a bipartisan coalition of legislators to end decades of legally sanctioned discrimination through passage of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. At the signing ceremony, President George H.W. Bush noted that before the ADA, “tragically, for too many Americans, the blessings of liberty have been limited or even denied. The Civil Rights Act of ’64 took a bold step towards righting that wrong. But the stark fact remained that people with disabilities were still victims of segregation and discrimination, and this was intolerable.” Bush declared, “Let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down.” Decades later, the forces of discrimination are working hard to rebuild that wall. Led by the hospitality and retail industries, special interests want to shift the burden of ADA compliance away from business owners and onto individuals with disabilities. They’re backing a bill that has already passed the House Judiciary Committee, the so-called ADA Education and Reform Act, which would reward businesses that fail to comply with the law. The bill would allow businesses to wait until they are notified of their failure to meet legal obligations before they even have to start removing barriers that prevent Americans with disabilities from leading independent lives. This offensive legislation would segregate the disability community, making it the only protected class under civil rights law that must rely on “education” — rather than strong enforcement — to guarantee access to public spaces. As the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Rights Task Force and other civil rights organizations wrote in opposing this bill, “We know of no other law that outlaws discrimination but permits entities to discriminate with impunity until victims experience that discrimination and educate the entities perpetrating it about their obligations not to discriminate.” For decades, from enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through passage of the ADA, Congress has worked to enshrine the principle in law that no American should be denied access to a public space because of who they are, be it their race, nationality, religion, gender or disability. The ADA Education and Reform Act betrays this bipartisan legacy. Businesses have had 27 years to comply with the ADA public-access protections. Yet rather than investing time and energy to achieve this goal, they are waging a propaganda campaign to convince Congress that their own lack of accessibility isn’t the problem — so-called drive-by lawsuits are. Notably, supporters of the ADA Education and Reform Act often do not dispute that they are violating the law. Rather, they simply resent being sued for what they believe are “minor” ADA infractions. Ever since I lost my legs when an RPG tore through the cockpit of the Black Hawk helicopter I was flying over Iraq, getting around has been difficult. I can’t always enter restaurants or other public spaces. I have to spend a lot of time planning how to get from one place to the next. An incline that is a few degrees too steep or an entrance that is a few inches off the ground can determine whether I am able to access an area without assistance. Being unable to independently enter a movie theater, store, hotel or restaurant is not only humiliating, it limits the freedom to pursue certain jobs, to access necessary services and to enjoy basic conveniences that most Americans don’t think twice about. I understand that not everyone thinks about these things because, for most of my adult life, I didn’t either. But the truth is that everyone, whether they realize it or not, is just one bad day away from needing accessible options to help them get around their community. While I understand people might not think of some ADA violations as significant at first glance, I can assure you they are more significant for those of us with disabilities than you know. If Congress passed this misguided legislation, it would send a disgraceful message to Americans with disabilities that their civil rights are not worthy of strong enforcement. It is not too late to defeat this dangerous legislation and keep every American living with a disability from becoming a second-class citizen. Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/congress-is-on-the-offensive-against-americans-with-disabilities/2017/10/17/f508069c-b359-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-f%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.054d01878dec
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The following information is forwarded to you by the Great Lakes ADA Center (www.adagreatlakes.org) for your information. The report can be found on-line at: http://www.talentinnovation.org/publication.cfm?publication=1590
USBLN Press Release: (http://usbln.org/global-untapped-talent-pool-employees-disabilities/) October 12, 2017 A Global Untapped Talent Pool: Employees with Disabilities NEW YORK, October 12, 2017— A first-of-its-kind study published by the Center for Talent Innovation (CTI) in partnership with US Business Leadership Network (USBLN) finds that far more people than expected have a disability: In the U.S., 30 percent of college-educated employees working full-time in white-collar professions. CTI’s report Disabilities and Inclusion has uncovered that employees with disabilities make up an enormous global talent pool that employers overlook far too often- to their own detriment. The study also uncovered reasons that employees with disabilities have remained under the radar. Sixty-two percent of employees with disabilities have “invisible disabilities”—people can’t tell they have a disability upon meeting them. Millennials make up 44% of employees with mental health conditions. “From our interviews and focus groups, we learned that people with disabilities are particularly innovative. In order to navigate the world with a disability, they have to problem-solve each day. They can contribute this gift to their employers, but only if they know they will be recognized and rewarded for it,” says Julia Taylor Kennedy, executive vice president and director of publications at CTI. The study also explores what it is like to be an employee with a disability (or an employer of individuals with disabilities) in five key markets for multinational companies: Brazil, Germany, India, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The study provides government definitions of disability, most recent legislation, and legal requirements for employers in each of the five markets. The study provides valuable global insights. In India, the incidence of visible disabilities among survey respondents in India is higher compared to the US (49% vs. 13% in the US), which may be why the disclosure rates to HR are also high. In Brazil, because of federal quotas, college-educated people with disabilities are highly sought after in Brazil—and are likely to disclose to HR. The UK seems to be ahead of the curve when it comes to invisible disabilities. There are higher disclosure rates to HR for invisible disabilities than in the US (29% in the UK sample vs. 13% in the US), and 34% of those in the UK sample who have mental health conditions feel they’re being promoted quickly. “How do we build great products and services with disability in mind? Disability is part of being human. We’re creating products for humans. We need to find ways for all humans to use our technology to support their work every day,” says Jenny Lay-Flurrie, Chief Accessibility Officer at Microsoft. The implications of the research for companies is clear. Employers who want to elicit the best ideas from their people should rely on inclusive leadership—and this carries extra relevance for leaders of people with disabilities. “Whether it’s within the workforce, or through supplier diversity, there are many opportunities to tap into this global talent pool,” says Jill Houghton, President and Chief Executive Officer at USBLN. “We live in an increasingly interconnected world, and as we grow business, we should ensure inclusivity and the opportunity to hire innovative talent.” How? The study recommends inclusive leadership, disclosure training, understanding signals of support, and the Disability Equality Index (DEI). The DEI is a leading benchmarking tool that provides an objective score and roadmap on disability inclusion policies and practices for Fortune 500-1000 companies. “Now that we know employees with disabilities make up nearly a third of the white-collar workforce, employers simply can’t afford to ignore this crucial talent cohort,” says Laura Sherbin, co-president of CTI and a managing partner of Hewlett Consulting Partners. “By understanding employees with disabilities—and listening to their ideas—companies can unlock enormous potential.” CTI’s Disabilities and Inclusion report highlights additional ways employers can signal inclusion to employees with disabilities, and showcases best practices from USBLN corporate partners. USBLN’s sponsorship was generously supported by: 3M, General Motors, McKesson, Merck, Microsoft, and Walgreens Boots Alliance. For more information on Disabilities and Inclusion, please visit www.talentinnovation.org. Research Sponsors: Accenture, Aetna, Bloomberg LP, Johnson & Johnson, Lime Connect, Prudential, PwC, Wells Fargo, KPMG, McKesson, Unilever, USBLN Research Authors:
The U.S. survey was conducted online and over the phone in October and November 2016 among 3,570 respondents (1,605 men and 1,965 women; 1,083 people with disabilities) between the ages of 21 and 65 currently employed full-time in white-collar occupations, with at least a bachelor’s degree. Data were weighted to be representative of the U.S. population on key demographics (age, sex, education, race/ethnicity, and Census Division). The base used for statistical testing was the effective base. The international survey was conducted online in April 2017 among 500 respondents (100 in Brazil, 100 in Germany, 100 in India, 100 in Japan, and 100 in the U.K.) between the ages of 21 and 64 currently employed full-time in white-collar occupations, with at least a bachelor’s degree and classified as having disabilities according to the U.S. federal definition. The U.S. and international surveys were conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago under the auspices of the Center for Talent Innovation, a nonprofit research organization. NORC was responsible for the data collection, while the Center for Talent Innovation conducted the analysis. The in-company surveys were conducted by the Center for Talent Innovation. In the charts, percentages may not always add up to 100 because of computer rounding or the acceptance of multiple responses from respondents. Unless otherwise cited, all quantitative data contained in the report are derived from the US or international surveys. |
AboutA news blog on issues in the community of people with disabilities and accessibility. The Center for Disability Empowerment Archives
July 2022
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