Employer guide to workers with disabilities
Diego Demaya spends most of his day answering questions about the federal Americans with Disabilities Act from the other side of a toll-free information and technical assistance telephone line.
Many of his calls are from employers hoping to learn more about how to comply with the law during the hiring process.
As a nonpracticing attorney, Demaya serves as the Southwest ADA Center’s human resources adviser, specializing in labor, education and health care issues for a five-state region that includes New Mexico.
“The world is ripe with inappropriate inquiries,” and especially in employment, Demaya said in a recent webinar on the disability law.
If you are interviewing a job applicant, he advised, don’t ask questions that have nothing to do with the job. For instance, if the job doesn’t involve driving, don’t ask or require job applicants to have a valid driver’s license.
And don’t list physical requirements in job descriptions — such as the ability to reach, bend, push, pull or lift — when the job doesn’t actually involve such movements.
It is illegal to ask job applicants about any health, physical or mental limitations. And the ADA prohibits employers from making any disability-related inquiries and medical examinations prior to making a job offer, even if the questions are job related, Demaya said.
Disability Life In Ten Years: Fears And Hopes For 2030
As we start a new decade, we can see hopeful signs of improvement for people with disabilities. At the same time, it’s hard not to notice more negative trends — evidence that in some ways we may be heading in the wrong direction on disability issues and culture.
What will life be like for disabled people ten years from now? Will today’s worrying trends turn into frightening realities? Or will we finally achieve some of the access, equality, and opportunity breakthroughs we have been working on for decades?
Superdome promises changes as it battles ADA lawsuits
The Mercedes-Benz Superdome’s managers have promised regularly that their massive $450 million renovation project, which is due to start early next year and be completed ahead of the 2024 Super Bowl, will bring big improvements for wheelchair users and other patrons with disabilities.
But at the same time, the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District, which is the state authority in charge of the stadium, and ASM Global (formerly SMG), its management company, are fighting two lawsuits brought against them in federal court under the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act.
Experts say that’s unusual, especially for a public body, given that ADA cases typically do not involve large money claims by plaintiffs and are almost always settled out of court, with the defendants pledging to make changes to accommodate the disabled.
Hold On, This School Paperwork Says I Can Have A ‘Mini Horse’ As A Service Animal?
As the principal of an alternative high school, Stacey Streussel deals with plenty of paperwork. Each year, the same document catches her attention.
It's the standard form for service animals at St. Vrain Online Global Academy in Longmont. Most years, one or two students apply to bring a dog to the school — always a dog.
But there's another option on the paperwork: miniature horse.