Walmart’s most recent violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) is indicative of a need for nationwide education on protections afforded to Americans with disabling conditions.
On March 28, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued Walmart for violating the rights assured by the ADA in their 2017 firing of an employee with Crohn’s Disease from a Charlotte, North Carolina store. The EEOC’s press release states that Walmart denied requests of “reasonable accommodation” for the employee’s disability-related absences and fired her for accruing too many “unexcused absences” that included documented doctor’s visits and an emergency hospitalization.
Crohn’s Disease, a chronic illness that chiefly causes inflammation, malnutrition, weight loss and abdominal pain, falls under the category of inflammatory bowel diseases and is protected by the ADA as a disease that “substantially limits one or more major life activities.”
Despite its protections under the ADA, such accommodations were ignored. The EEOC has previously sued Walmart for ADA violations in June 2022 for workplace discrimination based on disability and additional failures to provide reasonable accommodation and again in August 2022 for another failure to provide reasonable accommodation and retaliation for an employee’s reporting of such failure to provide reasonable accommodation.
The repeated violations of federal legislation meant chiefly to protect the civil rights of Americans with disabling conditions are indicative of the limits of legislation and of the need for increased awareness education. The language of the ADA is modeled after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and should be held with similar importance and political weight, yet repeated violations of the legislation have not drawn outrage. The ADA is one of the most important pieces of legislation in American history and the disregard for repeated violations of it by a prominent company are suggestive that Americans are unaware of the protections afforded to those who require accommodation and that despite legislation to prevent it, discrimination relating to disabling conditions still occurs.
Americans, even those who do not have any disabling conditions, should educate themselves on the ADA and the ADA’s content should be included in primary education for all in order to reduce the likelihood of discrimination as investigated by the EEOC. Civil rights protections should be understood by all Americans and the understanding of specific protections regarding accommodations for Americans in the workplace need not be limited to those who require them or are required to provide them.
While the EEOC’s existence is to investigate and enforce federal laws as it pertains to discrimination of job applicants or employees, the most accessible way to look for potential ADA violations is through outreach. If Americans are knowledgeable about what the law demands in “all areas of public life,” they will be more able to spot potential violations and bring them to public attention.
The ADA is one of the most important pieces of legislation and should be treated as such. Violations of the ADA should draw more ire from both state and the federal government and elected officials should work to highlight the problems faced combating discrimination on the grounds of disabling conditions to their constituents.
The discussions of reasonable accommodation should not be limited to work-related settings as outlined by Title I of the ADA; the act applies to all areas of public life and such awareness is critical in places where accommodation may be needed for Americans with disabling conditions, such as public transportation and secondary education. The ADA should be highly lauded for the equality it provides and violations of it should be discussed prominently in conversation.
