Beyond ramps and restrooms: what's due the disabled.

• Author: Couch, Robin L.
• Position: Americans with Disabilities Act

As of January 26, 1992, many U.S. businesses that have yet to comply with the requirements of Title III of the new Americans with Disabilities Act could face costly discrimination suits. And the deadline for complying with Title I of the Act quickly approaches.

According to a study conducted by the Philadelphia-based law firm of Blank, Rome, Comisky & McCauley and Alexander & Alexander Consulting Group, at the end of 1991, 25 percent of the mid-Atlantic businesses surveyed had taken no action to prepare for the ADA.

The most recent legislation is not entirely new ground for companies, explains Greg Parliman, a partner in the Labor and Employment Law Department of Pitney, Hardin, Kipp & Szuch, a New Jersey law firm. Previous laws in essence asked companies to hire the disabled, provided the hiring didn't disrupt the workplace in any way. That may be a reason some employers are dragging their feet - they believe they already comply. But the new legislation is tougher, Parliman warns.

Title III of the Act, already in effect, demands physical access for the disabled to workplaces and commerical facilities, and Title I demands equal access to employment in the public and private sectors. Employers with 25 or more employees must satisfy Title I by July 26, 1992, and employers with 15 to 24 employers have until July 26, 1994.

Most experts on disability law agree that the vagueness of the wording of the legislation is another problem. For instance, who's considered disabled? Parliman explains the definition is fairly broad: "In the statute, it's defined as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, such as walking, talking, seeing, or hearing." Some estimates say one-fifth of the nation fits this description.

One of the biggest changes in the legislation, Parliman points out, is that a larger employer now will find it virtually impossible to prove that making a physical change to a public space within the business will cause the firm "undue hardship." Under earlier legislation, he explains, demonstrating that a construction job cost as little as $1,000 could earn a company relief from the obligation. "The new Act radically modifies the definition of undue hardship," says Parliman, and takes into consideration the size and financial wherewithal of a company.

Also targeting larger companies are support groups for the disabled.

"We found that advocates for the disabled are galvanizing their...