The ADAAA Enactment: Solution or Dilemma?
The United States is known as the land of opportunity. Millions of immigrants have flocked to its shores in order to escape persecution and in order to start a new life in a country free from harassment, discrimination, and intolerance. This too became true for Americans with disabilities in the early 1970’s with the passing of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and then more specifically with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It was then that employees with disabilities were officially recognized as having protectable rights against unfounded discrimination.
However, despite the “good intentions” behind the ADA, the National Law Journal in a June 30, 2008 article describes the shortcomings of the bill, and pushes for Senate approval of the ADA Amendment Act (ADAAA). The article describes the inadequacies of the ADA, citing the dilemma Americans with disabilities face: if they attempt to mitigate their disabilities, they can no longer be considered disabled; however, if they do not, they can be considered unfit to perform their job.
The article acknowledges the potential problem that people will take advantage of the ADAAA in order to obtain monetary compensations for concocted disabilities; however, the article states how individuals who are truly disabled will get the opportunities they deserve to have a role in the workforce.
