By Craig Smith
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, February 1, 2009

"I expect to see more employees come forward and say, 'I have a disability; accommodate me,' " said Joan W. Stein, president of Accessibility Development Associates Inc., a Pittsburgh ADA consulting firm that advises employers.

The change, which took effect Jan. 1, emphasizes the term "disability" be interpreted broadly by courts to include problems with reading, movement, communication and bodily systems, such as the immune, digestive, circulatory, respiratory, reproductive and bowel and bladder systems.

In the past, narrow interpretations of the law by lower courts and the U.S. Supreme Court resulted in many cases being dismissed because plaintiffs weren't considered disabled.

"Most litigation battles pre-Jan. 1, 2009 were about whether a person had a disability, and most people lost," said Terrence Murphy, a Pittsburgh attorney who represents employers. "It's almost certain that many more people will fall within the definition of a disability than before.

"There may be more cases that test the broadness of those definitions."

Between 1992 and 2007, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received more than 253,000 charges of disability discrimination. Nearly 60 percent of those were found to have "no reasonable cause." The Supreme Court ruled, for example, that a soldier who lost a leg and was given a prosthesis was no longer disabled.

"That's not what Congress intended," said former Rep. Tony Coelho, a Democrat from California who wrote the Americans with Disabilities Act, which became law in 1990. "The new law leaves no ambiguity."

Joyce Bender, founder and CEO of Bender Consulting Services, Downtown, wasn't considered disabled under the Supreme Court's interpretation of the law because she controlled her epilepsy with medication. Now, she meets the definition.

" 'Justice for all' means all people, including people with epilepsy or bipolar disorder, will be covered. The law was not written to exclude people like me," said Bender, who will assume the presidency of the National Epilepsy Foundation in May.

Employers will be required to make workplace accommodations, said Stein, although some will be simple changes. Diabetics, for example, might be allowed to eat at their desks.
 

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, with 50,000 employees, took steps in July to deal with an expected increase in requests for accommodations, said Mary Curet, UMPC's program director of community partnerships.

UPMC implemented a centralized process for managers to handle requests, she said. Most workplace accommodations cost about $500, said Curet.

The landmark Americans with Disabilities Act was designed to open up services and employment opportunities. It guarantees that people with=2 0disabilities have equal opportunities in employment, state and local government services, public accommodations, commercial facilities and transportation.

Congress intended the ADA to be a national mandate against discrimination with broad applications, Coelho said.

Restrictive high court rulings instead forced some lawyers to turn away cases, said Charles Lamberton, a Pittsburgh attorney who represents plaintiffs suing under the ADA.
 

"The prosthetic cases are the ones we'd shake our heads at and say: 'Is that really what Congress intended?' " he said.