Comparison of Employment Disability Discrimination Claims with Other Statutes Across U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission and Fair Employment Practice Agencies Nationally

Abstract

Although 15 years have passed since the employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) became effective, significant employment disparities for persons with disabilities persist. It is important to assess how employer policies and practices may contribute to this disparity. Analyses of employment-related discrimination claims and subsequent legal outcomes are an important source of information about where and how disability employment discrimination is perceived to be happening. Examining the disability employment discrimination charges filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Fair Employment Practice Agencies (FEPAs) within states can inform an understanding of where specific issues continue. This research uses the EEOC's Charge Data System (CDS) (later called the Integrated Mission System, IMS) to explore difference between the filing of discrimination claims at EEOC offices and state FEPA offices. To date, most analyses of these charges have occurred on the EEOC charge data only. Yet of the 328,001 disability employment discrimination charges filed across both agencies during 1993 – 2003, almost half (46 percent) of these charges have been filed in FEPA offices. Analyzing both sets of data provides a fuller picture of disability employment discrimination claims nationally and subsequently further informs our understanding of where problems may be occurring in the implementation of the ADA Title I provisions. For more information, Contact Susanne Bruyère: smb23@cornell.edu