Research Brief: Employer Characteristics Associated with Employment Discrimination Charges under the Americans with Disabilities Act

Abstract

Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has been in place for more than 20 years, requiring most employers to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities while prohibiting discrimination in employment against them. Each year, around 30, 000 individuals file charges citing disability discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or a State or Local Fair Employment Agency (FEPA). While not every filed ADA employment discrimination charge represents actual discrimination, and certainly not every case of perceived discrimination leads to a charge being filed, tracking trends in discrimination charges provides a unique source of data on perceived discrimination in the workplace. From 2005 through 2010, there was an annual increase in the number of employment discrimination charges filed under the ADA (see Figure 1); and according to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) tabulations this upward trend has continued through 2012.