Road to Freedom

Road to Freedom Tour - Contact Congress

In response to the dramatic narrowing of the ADA in the courts, ADA Watch encourages you to contact Congress and urge them to to pass a bipartisan "ADA Restoration Act" that would restore vital civil right protections for children and adults with physical, mental, cognitive and developmental disabilities.

Fill out the form below with your information. Just as important, edit the content of the letter below to make it your own.

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November 22, 2009

Subject:

PASS THE ADA RESTORATION ACT OF 2007 — H.R. 3195 / S. 1881

EVERY AMERICAN WANTS THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK AND TO BE JUDGED BASED ON ABILITY.
   
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush in order to give people with disabilities a chance to be judged fairly.

Unfair discrimination harms all Americans.  People with disabilities want to work to their full ability and not have to turn to public assistance to live.  The ADA creates a level playing field so everyone who wants a job has an equal opportunity to work.

Just as other civil rights laws prohibit employers from basing decisions on characteristics like race or sex, Congress wanted the ADA to stop employers from making decisions based on disability.

BUT THIS IS NOT HAPPENING FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES.
   
* The employment rate of people with disabilities has not improved since passage of the ADA. 
*  Two-thirds of people with disabilities who do not have a job indicate they would work if they could find employment. 
*  Courts decide against people who challenge disability discrimination 97% of the time, often before the person has even had a chance to show that the employer treated them unfairly.

STOP EMPLOYERS AND COURTS FROM TREATING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES UNFAIRLY.
   
The courts have created an absurd Catch-22 by allowing employers to say a person is “too disabled” to do the job but not “disabled enough” to be protected by the law.  The case is thrown out of court and the individual is never given the chance to do the job. This is wrong!

*  People with conditions like epilepsy, diabetes, HIV, cancer, hearing loss, and mental illness who manage their disabilities with medication, prosthetics, hearing aids, etc. – or “mitigating measures” – are viewed as “too functional” to have a disability and are denied the ADA’s protection from employment discrimination.   
*  People denied a job or fired because an employer mistakenly believes they cannot perform the job – or because the employer does not want “people like that” in the workplace – are also denied the ADA’s protection from employment discrimination.

Please support passage of the ADA Restoration Act of 2007 — H.R. 3195 / S. 1881
   
The ADA Restoration Act ensures the right to be judged based on performance.  It restores the original intent of Congress, harmonizing the ADA with other civil rights laws and requiring the courts to interpret the law fairly.

Thank you!

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