When it comes to operating a successful business the people you employ are almost equally as important as what you do. In most businesses the human resource department is in charge of employee recruitment, hiring and firing, and most everything personnel related. Every company wants to employ only the best and brightest and avoid those who could potentially be liabilities. As business in the United States becomes more developed laws have been established to protect certain groups of people from discrimination. One that I find extremely important is the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law July 26, 1990. The ADA is an important piece of civil rights legislation that prohibits discrimination. This law guarantees people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else, not just in the business place but also in everyday American life. It insures those with disabilities have the right to enjoy equal employment opportunities, purchase goods and services, and participate in all government programs and services. For one to be protected by the ADA, they must have a qualifying disability, defined by the ADA as, "a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity" (Introduction to the ADA).
Before the ADA was signed into law, businesses could avoid hiring those with disabilities, public businesses did not have to provide adequate access, and there was no code to which buildings, public property, or anything for that matter had to be built to accommodate those with physical impairments. As if dealing with a disability of any kind isn't hard enough on its own, those with disabilities had very few options in ways to earn a living and or places they could obtain goods and services. I'll be honest, this law is of particular importance to me because back in 2010 I sustained a severe accident where I broke my back and unfortunately it left me confined to a wheelchair, paralyzed and physically unable to use anything below my waist.
