Wheelchair User Sues Airline For Making Her Crawl Onto A Plane
ThinkProgress
What was supposed to be a commuter flight to San Diego quickly turned into an embarrassing experience for Theresa Purcell that propelled her to the front lines of a crusade against an airline.
Purcell — a rapper who has a neurological disorder named Charcot-Marie-Tooth’s disease that keeps her confined to a wheelchair — said agents told her that they couldn’t set up a ramp shortly before the plane’s departure. With no assistance from airplane staff, she crawled her way onto the plane and into her seat shortly after.
PublicCEO.com
The United States Supreme Court found that two police officers were immune from liability under 42 U.S.C. section 1983 even if the officers failed to accommodate the disability of a mentally ill person who was acting dangerously and uncooperatively. However, the Court did not address whether law enforcement officers are required, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, to provide accommodations to armed, violent and mentally ill suspects in the course of arrest.
Wrongful Termination Lawsuit Against Cornerstone Alliance Settled
WSJM
A wrongful termination lawsuit filed against Cornerstone Alliance will not be going to trial. A settlement has been reached between the economic development organization and former employee Reyna Price. She sued after her firing in the fall of 2013, accusing the organization of Americans with Disabilities Act violations. Cornerstone Alliance fired her from her job in Small Business Services citing nondiscriminatory reasons unrelated to the health of her disabled daughter, who suffers from Dravet Syndrome, which is a severe form of epilepsy. Price countered she was pushed out for being unavailable for after-hours events and needed time off to care for her little girl. Cornerstone argued they are not an “employer” as defined by the terms of the ADA, even while being subject to it. Terms of the settlement have not been disclosed. Price was fired shortly after Vicki Pratt took over as Cornerstone Alliance president, and alleged in her lawsuit that the new management told her to “stop acting like a victim,” and that economic development should be all-consuming in her life. Pratt resigned earlier this year.
Why the Americans With Disabilities Act Matters for Genetics
JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is arguably the most effective law in the United States protecting people from misuse of genetic information. Before discussing how this law works, it is necessary to understand why addressing concerns about genetics is important. The genome is frequently portrayed as particularly powerful in predicting health and disease, even going to the essence of what it means to be human. As a result, many people understandably fear that this type of information will be misused to deny them access to goods such as jobs and health insurance. Evidence, based largely on anecdotes and survey responses, suggests that these concerns lead some people to avoid useful genetic tests, raising concerns about whether the potential value of genomics research for human health will be fully realized. Yet in deciding what information should trigger protection, it is difficult to know where to differentiate between “genetic” and “nongenetic” because even though many genetic variants have little or no apparent effect on human characteristics, virtually every human trait has some genetic contribution.
The ADA and the Supreme Court: A Mixed Record
JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association
This Viewpoint discusses the history of the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
According to conventional wisdom, the Supreme Court has resisted the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) at every turn.1 The Court, the story goes, has read the statute extremely narrowly and, as a result, stripped away key protections that Congress intended to provide. Its departure from congressional intent, indeed, was so extreme that Congress passed a statute that overturned several key decisions and codified broad statutory protections. That statute, the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA), passed with widespread bipartisan support, and President George W. Bush signed it into law.
Impaired Physicians and the ADA
JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association
The year 2015 marks the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA),1 which prohibits disability-based discrimination and requires reasonable accommodation in employment, public accommodations, and public services. Many physicians, however, have been protected from disability-based discrimination since 1973 under the Rehabilitation Act,2 which has comparable provisions but less comprehensive coverage and remedies for physicians. This Viewpoint explores disability discrimination law in the context of impaired physicians. Although the term “impaired physician” is often used to refer to a disability from psychiatric illness, alcoholism, or drug dependence, the legal definition based on the ADA is much broader and includes the full range of physical, mental, and behavioral limitations. Because there have been relatively few cases involving physicians, instructive cases involving nurses and other health professionals also will be discussed.
JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association
This Viewpoint discusses the history and innovations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)1 is the nation's first comprehensive and broadly applicable law prohibiting discrimination in employment on the basis of disability. Adopting key language from the Rehabilitation Act of 1973,2 an earlier federal law with more limited coverage, as well as other federal and state employment discrimination laws, the ADA introduced a series of statutory innovations to advance the goal of ensuring greater employment opportunities for the millions of Americans with disabilities. This Viewpoint explores 3 notable innovations in the ADA relating to coverage, medical examinations and inquiries, and reasonable accommodation.
The Americans With Disabilities Act
JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law in 1990. This year marks the 25th anniversary of this landmark act.
The ADA, Disability, and Identity
JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association
This Viewpoint describes how the Americans with Disabilities Act has shifted the definition of disability, taking a broad approach to the protection and integration of persons with disabilities in US society.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. The civil rights approach to disability incorporated in the ADA challenges the all too prevalent views of US society that people with disabilities are to be the objects of pity, charity, and medical intervention. It also challenges the common view of what constitutes a disability.
The Americans With Disabilities Act at 25The Highest Expression of American Values
JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association
Twenty-five years ago, on July 26, 1990, President George H. W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a historic moment when the polity gave voice to the nation’s highest ideals. The ADA enshrined in law a social promise of equality and inclusion into all facets of life, while offering an inspiring model that much of the world would come to embrace. As a civil rights law coming in the wake of racial and gender equality legislation, the ADA has had profound symbolic meaning and real-world effects. Its promise of full participation in life stood in marked contrast to the often-impenetrable social and physical barriers that individuals with disabilities faced regarding inclusion in the workplace and public spaces. In sponsoring the ADA, Senator Edward Kennedy described life for persons with disabilities as an “American apartheid.”1 The ADA embodies the highest values of the United States—a compassionate nation with the vision to unleash the vast potential of persons with disabilities and to inspire global social change.
The Promise of the Americans With Disabilities Act for People With Mental Illness
This Viewpoint discusses the obstacles that America must overcome to achieve the ADA’s vision of opportunity and community inclusion for individuals with mental illness.
When Congress enacts civil rights laws, like the Voting Rights Act enacted in 1965, it adopts principles that represent US ideals and our best selves. When it enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990,1 among the principles it adopted was a commitment to include all individuals with mental illness, including serious mental illness, in the mainstream of society.
The Americans With Disabilities Act and HIV/AIDS Discrimination
Twenty-five years ago when the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and AIDS were significant sources of anxiety and public concern. There was only one transiently effective treatment, and HIV was the third leading cause of death in the United States among adults aged 25 to 44 years and the leading cause of death among black men and Hispanic men in this age group. Indeed, whether to include people living with HIV/AIDS under the umbrella of protection being established by this legislation was part of the congressional debate around the law.
Today, people with HIV who are diagnosed early, engaged in care, and able to continue treatment may live a normal lifespan.1 A broad array of effective, simple, and well-tolerated antiretroviral therapies (ART) are now available for treatment. Effective ART also has changed the prevention landscape as data have shown that viral suppression substantially decreases the risk of HIV transmission. Additionally, tenofovir/emtricitabine has been proven effective in preventing infection as preexposure prophylaxis. Despite remarkable progress in both treatment and prevention, however, stigma and discrimination are still pervasive, and the ADA remains an essential cornerstone of protection for people living with HIV.
Here's what the NYC subway map looks like to a disabled person
Business Inside
New York City has the world’s largest, continually-operating subway system.
For the most part, it makes getting around Gotham relatively easy, for not too much money.
But for those who can’t climb up or down stairs to reach the platforms, riding the subway can be difficult, if not impossible.