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The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act

Decent Essays

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) took effect in 1990 under the auspices of president George Herbert Walker Bush. This act serves as an extension of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, in a sense, in that it ensures that those with disabilities could not be discriminated against in much the same way that people could not be discriminated against on the grounds of sex, race, religion, and other factors denoted in the former act. A key component of this act is the fact that disabilities included those related to both physical as well as mental impairment. Although certain conditions could certainly set a precedent for what constitutes as a disability, disabilities still must be proven on an individual basis. This act became amended during the presidency of George Walker Bush to give supplemental protection to workers who are disabled. The critical component of this action is its ramifications. A number of separate entities in a plethora of industries had to come up with accommodations to ensure that they were in compliance with this act once it became law. There are five main aspects of ADA (Linthicum, 1991, p. 1) which include ramifications specific to telecommunications (Title IV), public facilities (Title III), public entities and transportation (Title II), and employment (Title I). All of these disparate industries must come up with means in which those with disabilities can still utilize their products and services. For instances, ADA mandates that telephone companies

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