Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)

2821 Words12 Pages
In 1990, Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that protects the rights of people with disabilities. The purpose of the ADA is to give access to employment, state and local government programs and services, places of public accommodation (i.e. businesses), transportation, and non-profit service providers. The scope of the ADA is to address the obstacles for participation by people with disabilities in society. The ADA mirrors the civil rights act that was previously established by the federal government for minority groups there were women or had an ethnic/religious characteristics. The analysis of ADA and its provisions indicated that there has been increasing opposition from several communities due to the growing costs…show more content…
Norwegian Cruise Line Ltd., the United States Supreme Court determined that the ADA applies to foreign cruise ships in American waters. The petitioners, disabled individuals and their companions, who purchased tickets for round-trip cruises from Houston, sued the cruise line under Title III of the ADA (Findlaw, 2011). Douglas Spector’s argument was based on disability discrimination in places of public lodging, and in "specified public transportation services," which required covered entities to make "reasonable modifications in policies, practices, or procedures" to accommodate disabled persons, and to remove "architectural barriers, and communication barriers that are structural in nature" where the removal is possible. Spector had purchased premium tickets, which were marketed as more handicap friendly. However, the ship was not easily accessible (Findlaw, 2011). He had limited or no access to swimming pools, restaurants, restrooms, etc. because of physical barriers. He was also not allowed to participate in emergency drills and no emergency exit plan was laid out for disabled persons. The petitioner’s argument was not accepted by a federal court in Florida and by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals because the federal agencies charged with disseminating ADA guidelines had not done so for cruise ships (Findlaw, 2011). However, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the ruling of the lower courts on the basis that Norwegian Cruise Lines was a business headquartered in the United States whose clients were predominantly Americans and, more importantly, operated out of port facilities throughout the United States (Findlaw,

More about Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)

Open Document