SPEAKER 1: Hello, welcome to "Ask About the ADA," the podcast where we try to answer your questions about the Americans with Disabilities Act and how it applies to your everyday life. These are often questions that we get at the Northeast ADA Center, so hopefully you'll find them useful for yourself as well.
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On this week's episode, we're going to explore questions about enforcing the law, as well as questions about other protections for people with disabilities outside of the ADA.
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Here's our first question for today. It asks, "Are there state laws that protect the rights of people with disability?" The answer to this is yes. It's important to keep in mind that the ADA, as a law, is really a floor. It's a minimum. It applies federally, so it applies in every state or US territory. Local laws, state laws, or territory laws can go above and beyond the ADA. Often this is the case, but not always. Here in our region that we serve at the Northeast ADA, which covers New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands, we do have state and territory nondiscrimination laws that apply to people with disabilities. For example, in New Jersey, the law against discrimination protects rights of individuals who have disabilities as defined by that law, and the same is true with the New York State Human Rights Law.
Keep in mind, though, that these state laws are going to be a little bit different than the ADA is. So for example, in New Jersey, the law against discrimination covers employers who have one or more employees, and if you remember, the ADA covers private employers with 15 or more employees and all state and local government employers. By way of contrast, the New York State Human Rights Law covers employers who have four or more employees. So again, each law is a little bit different, and you have to research and find out what applies in your area, in your state, or territory, and your local ADA Center is a good resource to reach out to to find out more about your local laws related to people with disabilities.
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Let's move to our second question. "Are there any state or federal agencies that actively enforce the ADA?" The answer is no. The Americans with Disabilities Act is a complaint driven law. That means that individuals who have complaints or have issues with whatever it may be, an employer, a public entity, a public accommodation, they have to file a claim. There isn't a federal agency that goes out and let's say for example investigates an employer to make sure that they're complying with that part of the ADA. As I said, people with disabilities have to file complaints, and there are different federal agencies that enforce different parts of the law.
So Title I, which deals with employment, is going to be enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Most of Title II and Title III of the law, which deals with public entities, that's state and local governments, or public accommodations, which essentially are businesses, is going to be enforced by the Department of Justice. Transportation issues often will have to be enforced by the Department of Transportation, and there are other federal agencies as well. But the primary and most commonly asked about resources in terms of enforcement are going to be the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Justice. It's also helpful to know that if you file a complaint with the Department of Justice and it should be enforced by a different federal agency, they will route your complaint to the appropriate agency.
Now, in the last question, we were talking about state nondiscrimination laws for people with disabilities. Those are actually going to be enforced by state or local agencies. For example, in our region, in New Jersey we have the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights, or in New York State, we have the New York State Division of Human Rights. Those are the enforcement agencies in those states who enforce the local nondiscrimination laws, and you have to find your local enforcement agency. Again, your ADA Center can be a great resource to help you locate those places.
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And we're going to do some bonus questions this week that are related to these first two that we've talked about. We are often asked, "If I decide to file a complaint, will it be anonymous?" And let me address the situation in terms of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Justice.
Let's first look at the Department of Justice. When you file a complaint with the Department of Justice, some of your personal information is required as part of the process. Now, the Disability Rights Section of the Department of Justice says that your name and other personally identifiable information will not be shared unless it's needed for enforcement activity against an alleged violation of federal law-- in this case, the Americans with Disabilities Act. The other exceptions, when your information may become known, is if it is covered by the Freedom of Information Act, or if it needs to be disclosed as part of the Privacy Act, or if there's other federal law that would require them to reveal your name or other identifying information. Generally, though, you do have some level of anonymity.
Now in terms of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission-- EEOC-- the process is a little different. Of course, remember that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enforces all of the employment provisions of the ADA, which is Title I of the law. Once you file a charge with the EEOC, they do let the employer know that an individual has filed a case against them. They have to do this so that the employer has an opportunity to address the charge.
Now, you do have the right to remain anonymous if you want. A third party, another person, or an organization can file a complaint on someone else's behalf. Now, when this happens, the EEOC typically will not reveal who the charge was filed on behalf of. However, they will share who was the person who actually did the filing itself-- that organization or that third party individual.
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So we covered quite a bit today in terms of state law and enforcement of the ADA. If you have questions about any of this or other questions related to the Americans with Disabilities Act, I hope you'll contact us here at the Northeast ADA. 1-800-949-4232. That telephone number will also lead you to your local ADA Center if you happen to live outside of our region. Please feel free to visit us on the web at northeastada.org. Look for us on social media. Thanks as always to Grace Fairchild for producing and editing the podcast. Thanks as well to Peter Quinn of the Yang-Tan Institute for doing final edits, and thank you all for being a part of our conversation together.
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