On July 26 of 1990, American President George H.W. Bush signed ‘The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)’ into law. The ADA, as civil rights legislation, makes sure that there is no discrimination of people with disability, allowing them to have equal rights and possibilities to take part in American life as everyone. It gives disabled people the opportunity to be employed, to use State and local government services and programs.
One of the cases involving ADA is Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc against Williams. Ella Williams, who was an assembly line worker in the company, was a plaintiff, while Toyota Motor Manufacturing company was a defendant. The reason for the lawsuit was that the company fired Ella Williams after she got injured and was not able to perform her work. Williams sued the company for failing to provide “reasonable accommodation,” which was required by ADA (“Toyota Motor Mfg. v. Williams”, n.d.). The outcome of the case was that the Supreme Court decided that Williams could not be defined as ‘disabled’ since she is able to perform daily ‘major life activities.’
ADA is a positive addition to the today’s society since it ensures that people who suffer from disabilities are able to get a proper education. For example, Jason Camacho, being a blind person, sued fifty different colleges for not providing a website for blind people (McKenzie, 2018). Also, in 2015, MIT and Harvard were sued for not providing online content suitable for deaf people. Those cases clearly show that the ADA is working towards the betterment of educational conditions for all individuals.
In my opinion, all people, including individuals with special needs, have a right to equal access to everything that is being offered. It is very important for everyone to feel like a part of society. Hence, it is of utmost importance to make sure that disabled individuals do not feel discriminated against and can be integrated into society. Therefore, ADA is one of the most important civil right legislations.
References
McKenzie, L. (2018). Fifty colleges sued in barrage of ADA lawsuits over web accessibility. Insidehighered.com. Web.
Toyota Motor Mfg. v. Williams. Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund. Web.
