More Disabled Workers Report Job Discrimination

Complaints of job discrimination from disabled workers have skyrocketed in Idaho - as they have nationally - since the Americans With Disabilities Act took effect three years ago.

Complaints filed with the Idaho Human Rights Commission have jumped from 47 in 1991 to 128 last year to make claims of disability discrimination in the workplace second only to those of sexual discrimination.

Commission Director Marilyn Shuler said that reflects a growing awareness of the laws protecting workers with disabilities but she admits the complexity of the law creates problems for employers.

“There is a lot of confusion about who is protected,” she said.

And that may be reflected in resolution of the complaints.

Last year, 36 percent of the complainants could not prove their cases.

Another 29 percent were settled and less than 25 percent ended up in court.

The 1992 federal law, which now applies to businesses with 15 or more employees, prohibits discrimination against disabled workers who can perform essential functions of a job with some reasonable accommodations such as making facilities accessible.

But to prove discrimination, disabled workers have to show they lost their jobs because of their disabilities and not because they simply could not perform.

Some small businessmen claim the burden is excessive.

“My biggest gripe about the ADA is the huge expense of increased rules and regulations to change buildings and hiring practices,” says Boyd Hill, a former state legislator who runs a plumbing company.

“It also puts a businessman in jeopardy if he doesn’t know how to comply with the law. There isn’t any way I can know all the intricacies.”

One of the most extensive claims under the law is the $7.7 million discrimination suit filed against Zilog Inc. of Nampa.

Employees there claim they became ill or disabled due to exposure to chemicals in the workplace and then were discriminated against by the company.

That claim is scheduled for trial early next year.