WI Celebrates 20 Years of Access: The Americans With Disabilities Act
Get the Flash Player to see this player.
July 26, 2010
MADISON, Wis. - When he signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law on this day 20 years ago, President George H.W. Bush said, "Let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down."
Looking back, an attorney with Disability Rights Wisconsin notes that the wall has cracked and crumbled. However, Monica Murphy says, it is not entirely down.
"The biggest obstacle I see for the people I work with remains the misconceptions and stereotypes of people with disabilities; people not understanding a particular disability."
Murphy finds there's much more acceptance of people with disabilities in the workplace, but she also says this economy has been brutal to them. Many who did finally find work became victims of the "last hired, first fired" syndrome, she says.
While the ADA protects against discrimination for people with disabilities, Wisconsin's Fair Employment Act is in some ways stronger than the federal law, according to Murphy.
"Wisconsin law in the employment area has a broader reasonable accommodation provision. It's not limited in the way that the ADA is, in terms of what can and cannot be accommodated."
Wisconsin also has state anti-discrimination laws in housing practices, particularly in the area of tenant rights. Landlords cannot refuse to rent or raise the rental cost based on a prospective renter's disability or use of a service animal. And public places in Wisconsin cannot refuse to serve people with service animals.