"The debate over the ADA has been framed by the extemes: pessimists who feel the law will cripple businesses and optimists who feel it will liberate the disabled...Just as the 1964 Civil Rights Act did not make a colorblind society, neither will the ADA fully integrate the disabled into the mainstream".
- CQ Researcher (CQ Press) December 27, 1991
- CQ Researcher (CQ Press) December 27, 1991
Commercial Reactions
Though governmental ADA support was nearly unanimous, many businesses reactions were initially negative.
- all 4 quotes from the CQ Researcher (CQ Press) December 27, 1991
"Never heard of it"
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"I'm
grandfathered" |
"They can go ahead and sue me"
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"I'll just shut down"
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"We're all floundering in a sea of confusion. The lack of knowledge about how to comply is tremendous."
- Wendy Lechner, legislative representative for the National Federation of Independent Business
- Wendy Lechner, legislative representative for the National Federation of Independent Business
Disability activists worked quickly to address the confusion.
This caused many businesses to fear "the law...could spell staggering costs and liabilities that few businesses [could] afford". - Rodman D. Griffin, disabilities historian
Yet truthfully, "Cheap and easy is what we are interested in. What the feds are looking for are patterns of good-faith compliance, not patterns of discrimination. In most places, accommodations are very modest." -Barbara Bode, vice president of the Council of Batter Business Bureaus |
"According to a survey published by the Job Accommodation Network, one of several federally funded ADA clearinghouses, 31 percent of all modifications cost nothing and two thirds can be done for under $500". - U.S. News & World Report, July 20, 1992
Original Caption: Retrieving out of reach items and describing items for sale are ways to provide assistance to customers with disabilities. (U.S. Department of Justice: A Primer for Small Businesses)
"Small firms will fare quite well under the ADA." - Barbara Bode, vice president of the Council of Better Business Bureaus.
And they aren't the only ones.
"A lot of this country's bigger corporations - IBM, Hewlett Packard, McDonald's, Wells Fargo - have experience to show that this law is not onerous. They have developed model programs to integrate disabled people into their work force....They weighed the costs and concluded that it is genuinely worth it to integrate 43 million Americans into society."
- Marilyn Golden, a policy analyst at DREDF
- Marilyn Golden, a policy analyst at DREDF
Click Images Below to Enlarge
Hundreds of businesses, recognizing the importance of integrating the disabled into society, eagerly obeyed ADA regulations.
"Most of the disabled [who have taken jobs after the passage of the ADA] did not have the opportunity to work before, and they appreciate the job, which in turn causes them to be extremely loyal."
- Glen Hughes and Brian Kleiner, writers on disability - Regina Stankaitis, Employer of Workers with Disabilities for Travelers
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"Initially, I had the same stereotypical concerns most employers have. [With my first disabled employee,] I focused on what he couldn't do, not what he could. But that changed quickly because of his enthusiasm." - Phil Kosak, owner of Carolina Fine Snacks in Greensboro, North Carolina
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Kosak's story is one of monumental success. Before hiring disabled workers, "Our efficiency was 60 percent of capacity; the turnover rate was 80 percent every six months. Absenteeism was 20 percent, and tardiness was 15 percent to 20 percent... We were at our wits' end just trying to maintain a basic, semi-skilled work force..."
"[The workers with disabilities] were just very interested in the company, its productivity, and what their job responsibilities were. Their positive attitude rubbed off on coworkers as well. Productivity increased to over 90 percent of capacity and turnover ceased to be a problem." - Phil Kosak
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- Job Interview with Woman with Down Syndrome (UK Department of Work and Pensions)
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Most people remain optimistic about the ADA's commercial effect.
The bill... will open the doors of society, not close the doors of business". - Pat Wright, director of governmental affairs at DREDF
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"If they can get to the stores, business is going to increase".
- Nancy Fulco, US Chamber of Commerce |
"The ADA will provide opportunities for employers, employees and public officials to work together to creat a more productive and decent American workplace, [where the disabled will] enter the marketplace both as employees and as consumers".- Paul Hearne, president of the Dole Foundation for the Employment of People with Disabilities
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- The Connecticut Department of Social Security's program Connect-Ability
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