With several important disability rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court this term, a book that examines disability policy in the workplace could not be more timely. Or necessary. It has been more than a decade since the Americans With Disabilities Act was promulgated to provide, as the statute itself states, “a clear and comprehensive prohibition of discrimination on the basis of disability.” Anyone familiar with the issue knows that the record of the ensuing 12 years has been far from clear. Basic terms of the law, such as what constitutes a disability and what an employer is compelled to do under the statute’s “reasonable accommodations” mandate, are subject to disparate, and at times contradictory, interpretation. As a result, people with similar disabilities or circumstances can face inequitable treatment.
Certainly everyone involved – those directly impacted by the law, disability rights advocates and the lawyers advising corporations on compliance with the statute – can use some clarity. Unfortunately, “Crippled Justice” sheds little light on this burgeoning issue.
