Linda Chavez takes the low road in her attack on the Americans With Disabilities Act (“The ADA: A law gone haywire,” Op-Ed, Feb. 18), providing misleading and inaccurate information to support a strained conclusion that this employee-rights law is out of control.
Contrary to her statements, the ADA has been applied narrowly by the courts over the seven years since its inception, providing no more than minimal protection against disability discrimination.
Chavez’s assertions that the ADA is a burdensome law on employers and a gold mine for bad workers are belied by scrutiny of the misleading anecdotes she uses as support. The drunk airline pilot case she cites had nothing to do with the ADA. Rather, it involved FAA reinstatement rules and an arbitration decision and occurred years before the ADA was ever enacted.
Chavez’s citation of a $7.1 million jury verdict as an example that “courts have even gone further” in applying the ADA is also incorrect. She fails to mention that this verdict was thrown out by the court, which held that the ADA was not violated. Chavez also fails to recognize that, under the ADA, any such verdict would be reduced to the $300,000 maximum cap on punitive and compensatory damages.
Chavez misunderstands the ADA in warning that it has “become a haven for everyone from scam artists to disgruntled workers.” The law does not excuse or protect misconduct on the job. Instead, the law tells employers that they cannot refuse to hire disabled workers who can do the job and tells employers that they must cooperate modestly in making the workplace accessible to disabled workers.
Had Ms. Chavez chosen to present an accurate depiction of the ADA, she could have spoken to employment lawyers representing management or employees. Most all of these lawyers would have advised her that employees are not getting rich off the ADA and employers who wish to comply with the ADA are doing so with little difficulty.
