Disability Discrimination
Let’s say I run a company. My company contracts out a service to shovel coal. All of our employees shovel coal all day long. A disabled candidate wants to interview. The candidate has no arms, they can’t wield a shovel. How is this handled under the law. If I refuse the application, how is this not discrimination of a disability? Am I an “equal opportunity” employer?
Just chalk it up to culture fit. That’s how it works in the real world. Interestingly, the civil rights act improved employment for minorities, but the ADA (Americans with disabilities act) resulted in worse employment outcomes for people with disabilities. Economists believe this is because of the required accommodations which are overly onerous compared to the “as needed” accommodations previously provided.
Let's modify your example a bit to make it more realistic. Say the disabled person has no legs but has hands. Your company needs people such as office managers, receptionist, HR etc - which is more realistic than 100% coal shovelers. Can you not accommodate this disabled into one of the office jobs if there was an opening ? Assume you outsourced all of the work , still you would need an employee to manage the outsourced contracts, oversee things.. etc.
One thing you’re forgetting is that you *can* discriminate based on the job’s basic qualifications. If I have a person who can’t lift 50 pounds and that’s a requirement for the job, that person won’t get hired—disability or not. What ADA and such help to do is prevent discrimination when the person *can* perform the basic qualifications of the job. Then, reasonable requirements are required.
This is hilarious question. Let's say I am cognitively impaired, with an IQ of 60. I want to interview for a research scientist position. Does ADA protect me? Of course not! This isn't about putting disabled people into roles they can't fulfill. This is about being reasonable with accommodations to help capable disabled people be a part of society, and for society to get to take advantage of their contributions too.
So you have an armless code monkey?
There was an article about a developer at amazon who is blind. An amazing story. And from what I heard he is a badass coder too. He just needs a little bit of technology to accommodate that.
Thanks. That is a good story. Here is the link: https://www.google.com/amp/s/blog.aboutamazon.com/working-at-amazon/blind-since-birth-writing-code-at-amazon-since-2013%3f_amp=true
You have to make reasonable accommodations. If no reasonable accommodation can be made, you aren't held liable. In the real world, accommodations can be made 99% of the time so it usually doesn't come up.