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Help Build a Case for ADA Restoration!
These stories will help make Congress see that the Supreme Court's interpretations of the Americans with Disabilities Act have harmed people with disabilities.
UCP, in conjunction with the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, would like to share your personal stories with members of Congress in coming weeks in a way that can be readily understood.
Please share a brief summary of your story - what happened, when it happened, and how it was resolved - if at all.
We will not share your contact information with anyone without your consent.
What's At Stake?
Help Build a Case for ADA Restoration
Background:
In recent years, a number of Supreme Court decisions have significantly reduced the protections available under the ADA to people with disabilities within employment settings.
Courts are quick to side with businesses and employers, deciding against people with disabilities who challenge employment discrimination 97% of the time, often before the person has even had a chance to show that the employer treated them unfairly. Courts have created an absurd Catch-22 by allowing employers to say that a person is too disabled to do the job but not disabled enough to be protected by the ADA.
People with conditions like epilepsy, diabetes, HIV, cancer, hearing loss, mental illness - or even cognitive or intellectual disabilities or Cerebral Palsy - who can manage their disabilities with medication, prosthetics, technology or other "mitigating measures" could be considered "too functional" to have a disability and denied the ADAs protection from employment discrimination.
People denied a job or fired because an employer mistakenly believes they cannot perform the job, or because the employer just does not want "people like that" in the workplace, are also denied the ADAs protection from employment discrimination.
This is not what the Congress intended when it passed the ADA in 1990.
Who can help: Anyone who has experienced employment discrimination on the basis of disability.
- Both those who have AND haven't brought their claims to court.
- Those who don't even bother to take action because they've been told they do not have a disability or believe they cannot prove they have a disability
- Veterans with disabilities who have experienced discrimination and/or who may have been told they do not have a disability or believe they may not be able to prove they have a disability
- Hiring discrimination
- Denial of reasonable accommodations
- Discrimination in promotions, salary or benefits
- Discrimination in firing or layoffs
- Harassment
When you should do it: NOW. Our champions in the Congress need these stories immediately, so please send them ASAP!
We will not use your name or details of your story without first receiving your express permission!
Where to send your stories:
Please e-mail, fax or snail mail your stories or questions to:
Janna Starr, Director of Disability Rights, Technology and Family Policy
The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy Disability Policy Collaboration
1660 L St. NW -- Suite 701
Washington, DC 20036
jstarr@ucp.org
Fax: 202-776-0414
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