Workplace Discrimination and Visual Impairment: A Comparison of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Charges and Resolutions under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act

To guarantee equal opportunities and treatment in employment for individuals with disabilities, Congress enacted Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1992. This law states, "No covered entity shall discriminate against a qualified individual on the basis of disability in regard to job application procedures, the hiring, advancement, or discharge of employees, employee compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment" (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990). However, disability advocates expressed concern that Americans with disabilities appeared to be less protected in the workplace than was expected under Title I of the ADA. This raised concerns in Congress that the original intent of the ADA was not being upheld. To restore the intended purposes and protections of the ADA, Congress proposed the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) which was designed to have less emphasis on the evaluation of whether an individual was qualified for coverage and more emphasis on whether or not an employer had unlawfully discriminated against that individual (Vierling, 2009). The purpose of this study was to identify where to focus resources regarding specific aspects of employment based on perceived discrimination and outcome resolutions from individuals with visual impairments. The following research questions guided this study: (1) Are there differences between discrimination charges filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) before and after the enactment of the ADAAA regarding a visual impairment? and (2) Are there differences between outcome resolutions before and after the enactment of the ADAAA regarding a visual impairment?