ADAAA Summary

Summary of ADAAA

Americans with Disabilities Act Amendment is a part of the American law that aims at protecting individuals with disabilities from discrimination. The chief role of the policy is to define the confines within which individuals with disabilities are protected. It, therefore, defines disability and what entails to discrimination of such people. ADAAA defines disability as a condition that limits an individual’s normal life activities. For a person to qualify for the protection accorded by ADAAA the disability must be recorded or the person is known to live with the condition ("An Employer View of the Changes from the ADA Amendments Act | ADA National Network", 2018). The most significant difference between ADAAA and its predecessor

This amendment resulted from a long stream of changes aimed at integrating PLWD into the society. In the 19th century, the evolution of integrating PLWD into the society began ("ADA - Findings, Purpose, and History | ADA Anniversary Tool Kit", 2018). During the colonial period, it had been the prerogative of the family to cater for the disabled. This was often to tasking. Out of shame and burden, most families locked up the disabled and allowed them to die. As an attempt to alleviate the burden for vulnerable families without sufficient resources, programs I which more able families could take care of the disabled were established. The government provided incentives by giving welfare benefits to families caring for the disabled ("ADA - Findings, Purpose, and History | ADA Anniversary Tool Kit", 2018). However, this led to the misuse of the disabled to defraud the government. Individuals used the disabled to get the benefits from the state and later lock up them into the

With the passing of ADA, employers began to find loopholes that would be used to discredit claims by PLWD. The primary was the definition of disability and other concepts such as reasonable accommodation, major life activities and substantial limits ("Guides: A Brief History of Civil Rights in the United States: ADA Amendments Act of 2008", 2018). Businesses forced people to prove that they were disabled enough to qualify for ADA protection. For example, it the case of Sutton et al. v. United Airlines, the ruling of the court made it possible for employers to terminate the employment of PLWD and claim that their conditions did not fit the definition of disabled ("Guides: A Brief History of Civil Rights in the United States: ADA Amendments Act of 2008", 2018). The ruling for U.S. Airways, Inc. v. Barnett implied that the clause of ‘reasonable accommodation’ afforded PLWD more advantages than regular people and therefore increased the shunning of ADA ("Guides: A Brief History of Civil Rights in the United States: ADA Amendments Act of 2008",