An employee or applicant who currently engages in the illegal use of drugs is not considered qualified when a covered entity takes adverse action based on such use.

Other requirements exist, based on pool size, include providing a certain number of accessible means of entry and exit, which are outlined in Section 242 of the standards.

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to adopt rules requiring closed captioning of most television programming.

This section requires that all telecommunications companies in the U.S. take steps to ensure functionally equivalent services for consumers with disabilities, notably those who are deaf or hard of hearing and those with speech impairments.

When Title IV took effect in the early 1990s, it led to the installation of public teletypewriter (TTY) machines and other TDD (telecommunications devices for the deaf).

Among the disincentives to independence the Council identified was the existence of large remaining gaps in civil rights coverage for people with disabilities in the United States.

In early 1989 both Congress and the newly inaugurated Bush White House worked separately, then jointly, to write legislation capable of expanding civil rights without imposing undue harm or costs on those already in compliance with existing rules and laws.

[34] Over the years, key activists and advocates played an important role in lobbying members of the U.S. Congress to develop and pass the ADA, including Justin Whitlock Dart Jr., Patrisha Wright and others.

[29] Church groups such as the National Association of Evangelicals testified against the ADA's Title I employment provisions on grounds of religious liberty.

[3] Testifying before Congress, Greyhound Bus Lines stated that the act had the potential to "deprive millions of people of affordable intercity public transportation and thousands of rural communities of their only link to the outside world."

While there are those who do not attribute much overall importance to this action, the "Capitol Crawl" of 1990 is seen by some present-day disability activists in the United States as a central act for encouraging the ADA into law.

We've all been determined to ensure that it gives flexibility, particularly in terms of the timetable of implementation; and we've been committed to containing the costs that may be incurred.... Let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down.

[50] The ADAAA also added to the ADA examples of "major life activities" including, but not limited to, "caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, and working" as well as the operation of several specified "major bodily functions".

In 2001, for men of all working ages and women under 40, Current Population Survey data showed a sharp drop in the employment of disabled workers, leading at least two economists to attribute the cause to the Act.

Unless a state law, such as the California Unruh Civil Rights Act,[61] provides for monetary damages to private plaintiffs, persons with disabilities do not obtain direct financial benefits from suing businesses that violate the ADA.

Moreover, there may be a benefit to these private attorneys general who identify and compel the correction of illegal conditions: they may increase the number of public accommodations accessible to persons with disabilities.

[63]However, in states that have enacted laws that allow private individuals to win monetary awards from non-compliant businesses (as of 2008, these include California, Florida, Hawaii, and Illinois), "professional plaintiffs" are typically found.

[68] Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett[69] was a United States Supreme Court case about Congress's enforcement powers under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

It decided that Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act was unconstitutional insofar as it allowed private citizens to sue states for money damages.

[70][71] Bates v. United Parcel Service, Inc (UPS; begun in 1999) was the first equal opportunity employment class action brought on behalf of Deaf and Hard of Hearing workers throughout the country concerning workplace discrimination.

The court added, "Confinement in an institution severely diminishes the everyday life activities of individuals, including family relations, social contacts, work options, economic independence, educational advancement, and cultural enrichment."

Therefore, under Title II no person with a disability can be unjustly excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of services, programs or activities of any public entity.

This case was significant because it set a precedent for the uniform distribution of accessible seating and gave the DOJ the opportunity to clarify previously unclear rules.

[77] One of the first major ADA lawsuits, Paralyzed Veterans of America v. Ellerbe Becket Architects and Engineers (PVA 1996) was focused on the wheelchair accessibility of a stadium project that was still in the design phase, MCI Center (now known as Capital One Arena) in Washington, D.C.

Previous to this case, which was filed only five years after the ADA was passed, the DOJ was unable or unwilling to provide clarification on the distribution requirements for accessible wheelchair locations in large assembly spaces.

Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. v. Williams,[81] was a case in which the US Supreme Court interpreted the meaning of the phrase "substantially impairs" as used in the Americans with Disabilities Act.

It reversed a Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision to grant partial summary judgment in favor of the respondent, Ella Williams, that classified her inability to perform manual job-related tasks as a disability.

This case[84][85] held that even requests for accommodation that might seem reasonable on their face, e.g., a transfer to a different position, can be rendered unreasonable because it would require a violation of the company's seniority system.

[91][92][93][94][95][96][97][98][99][excessive citations] Campbell v. General Dynamics Government Systems Corp. (2005)[100] concerned the enforceability of a mandatory arbitration agreement contained in a dispute resolution policy linked to an e-mailed company-wide announcement, insofar as it applies to employment discrimination claims brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Tennessee v. Lane,[101] 541 U.S. 509 (2004), was a case in the Supreme Court of the United States involving Congress's enforcement powers under section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment.