TheAmericans with Disabilities Act in Action
Mini-CaseOne:
Under the ADA,it is legal for mega-hotels to conduct drug tests as part of theirpre-employment screening process. First, drug testing is part of thehiring process. The employer is justified to conduct the screeningprocedure as far as employee work performance and workplaceconcentration is concerned. Depending on the type of job, the use ofillicit drugs can impact negatively on the employees’ lives,workplace concentration, performance, and judgement. In turn, thisscenario place employers at risk. It is estimated that over 90% ofFortune 200 Companies have embraced some kind of pre-employment drugscreening. It is important that this part of hiring process isadopted by all employers. On the other hand, all potential employeesshould be well-informed of the advantages they would experience forexample, better workplace performance, business profitability, andworkplace sobriety.
Mini-CaseThree:
Asthe restaurant owner, one does not have to provide braille menus to avisually impaired customer, but should avail other options that cansuit the situation. According to the ADA provisions, restaurants andhotels are not required to offer braille menus as long as thewaiters, servers, or any other worker for that matter, cansufficiently read out loud the contents in the menu. In this case,ADA demands that all enterprises in the hospitality sector must makesure that whatever level of accommodations they offer, the visuallyimpaired customers has to fully enjoy all the facilities andservices. Solutions to such cases will require the stakeholdersinvolved to make sure they read out the menus loud enough to allowsuch customers make sound choices or preferences.
Mini-CaseFour:
Establishinga policy to hire disabled individuals over nondisabled individualsfor purposes of protecting past discriminating practices is illegal.One reason is that every individual has a right to be employedirrespective of whether one is disabled or not. Again, covering upfor past discriminating practices should not form a basis to favorthe disabled individuals over the others. ADA provisions prohibitdiscrimination tendencies or acts in all practices of employment.Employment discrimination prohibits against both “qualified peoplewith disabilities.” The case is illegal because every individual asa right to be employed. Solutions to this issue require these megahotels to make sure every potential employee with necessaryqualifications is hired without having to look at his or her physicalconditions.
Mini-CaseSix:
Thecontradictory nature of my company regarding non-discriminationpolicy on the basis of disability in job application and compensationpolicy on performance is illegal. The fact that employment andpromotion is tied on job performance means that there will be nofairness on the side of disabled employees. For instance, a disabledemployee is hired based on nondiscrimination policy, but in reality,the same employee may fail to perform every function at theworkplace. ADA reiterates this illegality by emphasizing that bothnon-discrimination and compensation policies ought to gohand-in-hand.
Mini-CaseSeven:
Inthe hospitality sector, a test that determines the speed in which anapplicant can place orders is unlawfully discriminatory. First, it isbecause the test favors those applicants that are able to quicklyplace orders. In this case, test cuts across both disabled andnon-disabled applicants fighting for the cooking position. Inreality, how fast individuals operate or work differs. Again,disabled individuals tend to be slower than their counterparts. Itwill be unlawfully discriminatory to use this method in therecruitment process as far as fairness is concerned. A solution forsuch a case is for the recruiters to adopt another approach or methodin handling the whole process.