Who Is Handicapped? Defining the Protected Class Under the Employment Provisions of Title v of tHe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

• Date: 01 September 1981
• DOI: 10.1177/0734371X8100200105
• Published date: 01 September 1981
• Author: Harriet McBryde Johnson
• Subject Matter: Articles

49

WHO

IS

HANDICAPPED?

DEFINING

THE

PROTECTED

CLASS

UNDER

THE

EMPLOYMENT

PROVISIONS

OF

TITLE

V

OF

THE

REHABILITATION

ACT

OF

1973

Harriet

McBryde

Johnson

College

of

Charleston

Introduction

During

the

last

two

decades,

our

society

has

come

to

recognize

that

people

with

certain

physical

and

mental

impairments

are

handicapped

‘ not

only

by

their

own

impairments

but

also

by

social

patterns

of

prejudice

and

discrimination

similar

to

those

experienced

by

other

minority

groups.

Legal

commentators

(e.g.,

Burgdorf

and

Burgdorf,

1975)

and

disabled

advocates

(Bowe,

1978;

Roberts,

1979)

have

documented

the

systematic

exclusion

of

handicapped

people

from

many

areas

of

American

social,

economic,

and

political

life.

One

of

the

most

important

areas

in

which

handicapped

people

have been

denied

opportunity

is

employment.

Reduction

of

opportunity

for

employment

has

devastating

effects

upon

those

handicapped

people

who

seek

full

participation

in

our

very

work-oriented

soci-

ety.

Likewise,

it

is

harmful

to

that

society

to

be

denied

the

use

of

the

talents

of

a

substantial

group

of

its

members

and

to

be

forced

to

bear

the

financial

and

social

costs

of

dependency.

Like

other

minority

groups

before

them,

hand-

icapped

Americans

have

come

to

attach

particular

importance

to

securing

ac-

cess

to

public

employment,

both

for

the

symbolic

recognition

which

such

representation

affords

and

for

the

practical

importance

of

participating

in

bureaucratic

decision-making.

Handicapped

people

and

their

allies

are

looking

to

public

managers

to

take

a

key

role

in

changing

the

pattern

of

discrimination

and

exclusion.

Agitation

by

a

disability

lobby

for

expanded

opportunity

for

handicapped

people

coalesced

with

the

passage

of

Title

V

of

the

Rehabilitation

Act

of

1973.

Described

by

President

Carter

as

a

&dquo;Bill

of

Rights

for

the

Handicapped&dquo;

(White

House

Conference

on

Handicapped

Individuals,

1977:99),

Title

V

was

model-

ed

after

earlier

civil

rights

laws

and

includes

three

sections

with

direct

impact

on

public

employment.

Section

501

requires

that

the

federal

government

take

affirmative

action

in

employing

handicapped

people.

Section

503

provides

for

affirmative

action

by

federal

contractors.

Section

504,

which

prohibits

discrimination

on

the

basis

of

handicap

in

programs

receiving

federal

financial