"Discrimination and social prejudice against people with physical or mental disabilities."
Discrimination based on a person's physical or mental disability, including examples of discrimination and strategies to combat it.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): A federal law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in several areas, including employment, transportation, public accommodations, and telecommunications.
Definition and types of disabilities: Understanding the definition of disability and the various types of disabilities recognized under the law, including physical, sensory, cognitive, and mental disabilities.
Reasonable accommodations: Employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities to enable them to perform the essential functions of their jobs.
Harassment and retaliation: Disability discrimination can also take the form of harassment and retaliation against individuals who assert their rights under the law.
Disparate treatment and disparate impact: Discrimination against individuals with disabilities can take different forms, including disparate treatment (intentional discrimination) and disparate impact (unintentional discrimination).
Direct threat defense: Employers can defend themselves against a discrimination claim by showing that an individual with a disability poses a direct threat to themselves or others in the workplace.
Interactive process: Employers must engage in an interactive process with employees to identify and provide reasonable accommodations that enable them to perform the essential functions of their jobs.
Job descriptions and essential functions: Employers must accurately describe the essential functions of a job and determine whether an individual can perform those functions with or without reasonable accommodation.
Undue hardship: Employers can only deny a reasonable accommodation if it would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the business.
Enforcement and remedies: Understanding the procedures for filing a disability discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the potential remedies available to individuals who have experienced discrimination.
Direct Discrimination: This happens when an individual with a disability is treated less favorably than a non-disabled person in a similar situation due to their disability.
Indirect Discrimination: This happens when a policy or rule applies to everyone but has a more significant impact on people with disabilities.
Failure to Make Reasonable Adjustments: This happens when employers or organizations refuse to make reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities, or if they are unwilling to make changes to their environment, policies, or procedures.
Discrimination by Association: This occurs when someone is discriminated against because they have an association or connection with someone who has a disability.
Harassment: This includes any behavior that creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment for someone with a disability.
Victimization: This happens when an individual is treated negatively because they have made a complaint or raised a concern about disability discrimination.