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Guide to Disability Civil Rights
Laws
Table of Contents
Overview
This guide, prepared by the National Council on Disability and
the National Urban League, provides a summary of federal civil rights
laws that ensure equal opportunity for people with disabilities.
The original source for this information is the U.S. Department
of Justice (DOJ). To find out more about how these laws may apply
to you or your family and friends, please contact the agencies and
organizations listed in this summary.
Americans With Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination
on the basis of disability in employment, state and local government,
public accommodations, commercial facilities, transportation, and
telecommunications. The act also applies to the U.S. Congress.
To be protected by 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 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. ADA does not specifically name all the impairments
that are covered.
ADA Title I: Employment
Title I requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide
qualified individuals with disabilities with an equal opportunity
to benefit from the full range of employment-related opportunities
available to others. For example, it prohibits discrimination in
recruitment, hiring, promotions, training, pay, social activities,
and other privileges of employment. It restricts questions that
can be asked about an applicant's disability before a job offer
is made, and it requires that employers make reasonable accommodation
to the known physical or mental limitations of otherwise qualified
individuals with disabilities, unless the accommodation results
in undue hardship for the employer. Religious entities with 15 or
more employees are covered under Title I.
Title I complaints must be filed with the U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC) within 180 days of the date of discrimination,
or within 300 days if the charge is filed with a designated state
or local fair employment practice agency. Individuals may file a
lawsuit in federal court only after they receive a right-to-sue
letter from EEOC.
Charges of employment discrimination on the basis of disability
may be filed at any EEOC field office. Field offices are located
in 50 cities throughout the United States and are listed in most
telephone directories under "U.S. Government." For the
appropriate EEOC field office in your geographic area, call:
(800) 669-4000 (voice)
(800) 669-6820 (tty)
www.eeoc.gov
You can obtain publications and information on EEOC-enforced laws
by calling
(800) 669-3362 (voice)
(800) 800-3302 (tty)
For information on how to accommodate a specific individual with
a disability, contact the Job Accommodation Network at
(800) 526-7234 (voice/tty)
www.jan.wvu.edu
ADA Title II: State and Local Government Activities
Title II covers all activities of state and local governments,
regardless of the government entity's size or whether it receives
federal funding. Title II requires that state and local governments
give people with disabilities an equal opportunity to benefit from
all of their programs, services, and activities, such as public
education, employment, transportation, recreation, health care,
social services, courts, voting, and town meetings.
State and local governments are required to follow specific architectural
standards in the new construction and alteration of their buildings.
They also must relocate programs or otherwise provide access in
inaccessible older buildings, and they must communicate effectively
with people who have hearing, vision, or speech disabilities. Public
entities are not required to take actions that would result in undue
financial and administrative burdens. They are required to make
reasonable modifications to policies, practices, and procedures
where necessary to avoid discrimination, unless they can demonstrate
that doing so would fundamentally alter the nature of the service,
program, or activity being provided.
Complaints of Title II violations may be filed with DOJ within
180 days of the date of discrimination. In certain situations, cases
may be referred to a mediation program sponsored by DOJ. DOJ may
bring a lawsuit where it has investigated a matter and has been
unable to resolve violations. For more information, contact:
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Civil Rights Division
Disability Rights Section - NYAV
Washington, DC 20530
(800) 514-0301 (voice)
(800) 514-0383 (tty)
www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm
Title II may also be enforced through private lawsuits in federal
court. It is not necessary to file a complaint with DOJ or any other
federal agency, or to receive a right-to-sue letter, before going
to court.
ADA Title II: Public Transportation
The transportation provisions of Title II cover public transportation
services, such as city buses, and public rail transit, such as subways,
commuter rails, and Amtrak. Public transportation authorities
may not discriminate against people with disabilities in the provision
of their services. They must comply with requirements for accessibility
in newly purchased vehicles, make good-faith efforts to purchase
or lease accessible used buses, remanufacture buses in an accessible
manner, and, unless it would result in an undue burden, provide
paratransit where they operate fixed-route bus or rail systems.
Paratransit is a service through which persons who are unable to
use the regular transit system independently (because of a physical
or mental impairment) are picked up and dropped off at their destinations.
Questions and complaints about public transportation should be directed
to:
Federal Transit Administration
U.S. Department of Transportation
400 Seventh Street, SW
Washington, DC 20590
(888) 446-4511 (voice/relay)
(202) 366-2285 (voice)
www.fta.dot.gov/office/civ.htm
ADA Title III: Public Accommodations
Title III covers businesses and nonprofit service providers that
are public accommodations, privately operated entities offering
certain types of courses and examinations, privately operated transportation,
and commercial facilities. Public accommodations are private
entities that own, lease, lease to, or operate facilities such as
restaurants, retail stores, hotels, movie theaters, private schools,
convention centers, doctors' offices, homeless shelters, transportation
depots, zoos, funeral homes, day care centers, and recreation facilities,
including sports stadiums and fitness clubs. Transportation services
provided by private entities, such as taxicabs, are also covered
by Title III.
Public accommodations must comply with basic nondiscrimination
requirements that prohibit exclusion, segregation, and unequal treatment.
They also must comply with specific requirements related to architectural
standards for new and altered buildings; reasonable modifications
to policies, practices, and procedures; effective communication
with people with hearing, vision, or speech disabilities; and other
access requirements. Additionally, public accommodations must remove
barriers in existing buildings where this can be done without much
difficulty or expense, given the public accommodation's resources.
Courses and examinations related to professional, educational,
or trade-related applications, licensing, certifications, or credentialing
must be provided in a place and manner accessible to people with
disabilities, or alternative accessible arrangements must be offered.
Commercial facilities, such as factories and warehouses, must comply
with ADA's architectural standards for new construction and alterations.
Complaints of Title III violations may be filed with DOJ. In certain
situations, cases may be referred to a mediation program sponsored
by DOJ. DOJ is authorized to bring a lawsuit where there is a pattern
or practice of discrimination in violation of Title III or where
an act of discrimination raises an issue of general public importance.
Title III may also be enforced through private lawsuits. It is not
necessary to file a complaint with DOJ or any federal agency, or
to receive a right-to-sue letter, before going to court. For more
information, contact:
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Civil Rights Division
Disability Rights Section - NYAV
Washington, DC 20530
(800) 514-0301 (voice)
(800) 514-0383 (tty)
www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm
ADA Title IV: Telecommunications Relay Services
Title IV addresses telephone and television access for people
with hearing and speech disabilities. It requires common carriers
(telephone companies) to establish interstate and intrastate telecommunications
relay services (TRS) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. TRS enables
callers with hearing and speech disabilities who use text telephones
(TTYs) and callers who use voice telephones to communicate with
each other through a third-party communications assistant. The Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) has set minimum standards for TRS.
Title IV also requires closed captioning of federally funded public
service announcements. For more information about TRS, contact the
FCC at:
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554
(888) 225-5322 (voice/tty)
www.fcc.gov/cgb/dro
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