Disa Disabilit bility y & Civil & Civil Rights Rights Protest, Litigation, and Research Roundtable discussion at the 2017 Annual Research Conference of AcademyHealth New Orleans, LA June 26, 2017
This session recognizes the 40 th anniversary of the regulations that implemented Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 2
Dale Dahl advocating for Section 504 Berkeley, California, 1980 Photo by Ken Stein, Published by US DOL 2008
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States … shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance or under any program or activity conducted by any Executive agency or by the United States Postal Service. 4
Disability Definition Any person who a) has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more of such person’s major life activities b) has a record of such an impairment, or c) is regarded as having such an impairment Where major life activities include self-care, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, working, performing manual tasks, and learning 5
Reasonable Accommodation With respect to employment the law further specified that it applied to people who: Can perform the essential functions of the job for which they have applied or have been hired to perform, with reasonable accommodations . Reasonable accommodations were any reasonable steps to accommodate a person’s disability that would not cause an employer undue hardship. 6
Section 504 Timeline 1973: Rehabilitation Act passes 1975: Lawsuit filed to force HEW to act 1976: Federal district court orders that regulations be issued “with no further unreasonable delays.” April 1977: Protests Outside Secretary Califano’s home Protests around the country 26-day occupation of Federal Building in San Francisco April 27, 1977 regulations signed 7
Civil Rights 1977: Section 504 regulations issued 1984: Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped 1986: Air Carriers Access Act 1988: Fair Housing Amendments Act 1990: Americans with Disabilities Act 8
Protest, Litigation, and Reserach • All three were important then • All three are still important 9
Speakers • Marsha Katz: Researcher, Protestor, Advocate, and Litigant – Rural Institute for Inclusive Communities, Missoula, Montana • W. Alan Coutler: Associate Professor and the Director of Education Initiatives at the LSU Health Sciences Center • Susan Meyers: Managing Attorney, Advocacy Center of Louisiana 10 10
For More Information • Craig Thornton – CThornton@mathematica-mpr.com 11 11
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