United States Employment Disability Discrimination Charges: Implications for Disability Management Practice

Abstract

It is 20 years since the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act, yet employment and economic inequities continue for people with disabilities. The purpose of this article is to inform and encourage disability management leading practices to contribute toward reducing these disparities. The approach is an examination of where in the employment process applicants and incumbent employees perceive employment disability discrimination, leading to the filing of charges against an employer. Employment disability discrimination claims filed by individuals over 15 years (1993–2007) with the United States (US) Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or state and local Fair Employment Practice Agencies are studied. The authors analyse employment discrimination charges by year, basis (i.e., protected class characteristics, such as disability, age, or race), issue (i.e., actions of the employer, such as discharge, hiring, or harassment), employer characteristics (i.e, size of business and industry sector), and joint filings under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (gender, race/ethnicity, and religious discrimination) and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). Special attention is paid to where in the employment process people with specific impairments are perceiving discrimination. Implications of these research findings for the practice and administration of disability management and employer policies are discussed.