New ADA Fact Sheet-Reasonable Accommodation for Attorneys

New EEOC Publication Addresses Reasonable Accommodation for 
Attorneys with Disabilities

Latest ADA Fact Sheet Aims to Dispel Myths, Enhance Diversity 
in Legal Profession

WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission (EEOC) issued (May 23) a new fact sheet 
addressing the application of the reasonable accommodation 
obligation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to 
attorneys with disabilities and their employers. The new 
publication is available on the agency's website at:
www.eeoc.gov/facts/accommodations-attorneys.html

EEOC Chair Cari M. Dominguez unveiled the new fact sheet this 
morning during the First National Conference on Employment of 
Lawyers with Disabilities.  The unprecedented conference, 
cosponsored by the EEOC and the American Bar Association, 
highlights best practices for hiring lawyers with disabilities 
and provides practical advice on how to accommodate them.

"Many legal employers recognize the importance of flexibility 
to remain competitive in hiring the best attorneys. Providing 
reasonable accommodation is an extension of this successful 
strategy," said Chair Dominguez. "With employers competing 
fiercely for talent, those who win use recruitment strategies 
that reach out to attorneys with disabilities."

One goal of the fact sheet is to dispel the myth that attorneys 
with disabilities who need reasonable accommodation are less 
competent or less productive than attorneys without 
disabilities. Reasonable accommodation refers to any change in 
the work environment or in the way things are customarily done 
that enables an applicant or employee with a disability to
enjoy equal employment opportunities.

The fact sheet discusses the rights and responsibilities of 
both legal employers and attorneys with disabilities in 
addressing reasonable accommodation issues. It uses many real-
life examples to provide all kinds of legal employers - 
including law firms, government agencies, corporations, law 
schools, and nonprofit organizations - with specific ideas on 
the wide range of accommodations available for lawyers with 
various disabilities.

The publication, the latest in a series of recent ADA fact 
sheets by the EEOC, advances the goals of the President's New 
Freedom Initiative  a comprehensive strategy for the full 
integration of people with disabilities into all aspects of 
American life. The New Freedom Initiative seeks to promote 
greater access to technology, education, employment 
opportunities, and community life for people with disabilities. 
An important part of the New Freedom Initiative strategy for 
increasing employment opportunities involves providing 
employers with technical assistance on the ADA.
Information about other EEOC activities under the Initiative 
also is available on the agency's website at www.eeoc.gov.

In addition to enforcing Title I of the ADA, which prohibits 
employment discrimination against people with disabilities in 
the private sector and state and local governments, and the 
Rehabilitation Act's prohibitions against disability 
discrimination in the federal government, the EEOC enforces 
federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination based on 
race, color, sex (including sexual harassment and pregnancy), 
national origin, religion, and age, as well as retaliation.

______________________________________________________________

For more ADA in the News issues, see:
www.aapd.com/News/adainthe/indexada.php
	
# # #

DISCLAIMER: The JFA Listserv is designed to share information
of interest to people with disabilities and promote dialogue
in the disability community. Information circulated does not
necessarily express the views of AAPD. The JFA Listserv is
non-partisan. 

JFA ARCHIVES: All JFA postings from 1995 to present are 
available at: http://www.jfanow.org/jfanow/

MODERATOR, Gwen Gillenwater, JUSTICE FOR ALL -- A Service of
the American Association of People with Disabilities. To 
contact Gwen, please email her at JFAgwen@aol.com.

JOIN AAPD! There's strength in numbers! Be a part of a national
coalition of people with disabilities and join AAPD today at 
http://www.aapd.com.

                  Justice-For-All FREE Subscriptions
                     To subscribe or unsubscribe,
                send an email to majordomo@JFAnow.org
            with subscribe justice OR unsubscribe justice
                 in the body of your email message.