Alert: Take Action On Sovereign Immunity
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From the New York Association on Independent Living ... https://ilny.us
We're in the final days of the legislative session. The bill will restore the original protections that employees with disabilities had under the ADA, which barred states from practicing discrimination against employees with disabilities. The Supreme Court struck down these protections back in 2001. We need you to contact your State Senator and ask them to support S.1164A (Sanders) / A.6541 (Kelles), a bill to waive the state's sovereign immunity. Historically, this bill has failed to pass the Senate so your outreach can make a big difference.
Click Here to Take Action on Sovereign Immunity!
Read more about this issue from our memo of support. (PDF)
Background:
A February 2001 US Supreme Court decision (Board of Trustees v. Garrett) ruled that states are immune to claims brought under Title I of the ADA by state employees with disabilities who have been subjected to discrimination. The Court ruled that the U.S. Congress had exceeded its power to authorize lawsuits by residents against their own states under the 11th Amendment. Similar cases have also limited the rights of state workers under the ADEA, FLSA, and FMLA.
We have heard that some in the State are worried that this bill would cost huge sums of money by requiring the state to retrofit state buildings for accessibility. The bill does nothing of the kind, and furthermore, state buildings are already required to be accessible by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (regulations went into effect in 1977), the ADA (1990), and the state Human Rights law (2015).
If you are interested in disability advocacy issues like this one, contact Colleen Downs, Systems Advocate at:
518-563-9058 Ext. 110
The Mission of the North Country Center for Independence is to help people with disabilities to live more independent and productive lives, and promote better policies and community understanding of disability issues. NCCI serves people with disabilities, families, and the community on issues related to physical and mental disabilities. NCCI is led and staffed mostly by people with disabilities. It is one of the 41 Independent Living Centers in New York State. There are also hundreds of similar centers throughout the United States. NCCI serves Clinton and Essex Counties, New York.
