One great aspect of life in the 21st century in America is that we strive to treat everyone equally when it comes to working life. Everyone deserves the opportunity to work and make a decent living for themselves, regardless of gender, race, and even disability. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) enforces the latter under United States law. There are some reasons that gaining support for the Americans with Disabilities act proved to be harder than it should have been. In fact, the ADA was not established until 1990 — over 25 years after the act that prohibited discrimination based on race, gender, or ethnicity. The main logic behind arguments against the act is straightforward: it is not discrimination if disabled people are not hired because they cannot do the work. Surely people are hired based on their ability to do work, and if a disability would logically hinder their performance, than employers should not be forced to hire them.

This logic seems reasonable, yet the ADA was enforced because the issue had exceeded what could reasonably be expected by this logic: Americans with disabilities were facing discrimination even for jobs that they could perform despite their disabilities. This discrimination was widespread and obviously unfounded. Being confined to a wheelchair does not in any way hinder a person’s ability to perform most office jobs, and similarly many other types of jobs such as customer service, receptionist jobs, careers in academia, and more. Also under the protection of the ADA is people lacking in the use of senses such as vision or hearing. A condition does not need to be permanent or particularly severe for it to qualify a person to have protection under the ADA.

Many workers found that once they had experienced an injury on the job that had crippled them in any number of ways, finding another job was close to impossible. Luckily, with the help of Personal Injury Lawyers in Brooklyn New York, many injured workers today are able to get compensation for medical bills and physical therapy that can diminish their disabilities in many cases. If you or a member of your family has recently become disabled due to a personal injury on the job, Brooklyn NY personal injury lawyers can help. Contact them today for a free case evaluation.