The Disability Rights Program, which includes the LIBRA Project and the Educational Access Project seeks to expand the employment and educational opportunities for people with physical and mental disabilities by enforcing and advancing federal and state laws. The program's ultimate goal is that articulated by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): to reduce poverty among persons with disabilities by facilitating their total integration into the labor force and society. The program uses legal advice and counseling, community outreach and education, litigation, public education and legislative reform to further several objectives:

• _ preventing unemployment by opposing on-the-job discrimination and harassment, and by securing the right to necessary workplace accommodations, for persons with traditional and non-traditional disabilities;


• _ contesting discrimination against persons with known disabilities in the hiring process;


• _ expanding access to higher education - a critical prerequisite for employment - particularly for persons with functional limitations;


• _ challenging disability-based discrimination in employment-related benefits; and


• _ opposing unnecessary intrusions into the private medical information of working people.

A recent survey conducted for the National Organization on Disability found that only 31 percent of disabled people age 16 to 64 were working full- or part-time. When researchers spoke with unemployed disabled persons, 66 percent said they wanted to work.

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The LIBRA Project

The LAS-ELC established this Project, the first of its kind in the country, to provide legal representation to poor persons with mental disabilities who experience stigma, prejudice and discrimination in the workplace.

In recent years, the Project's work has expanded to offer its expertise to individuals with a range of hidden and often stigmatized disabilities, from bipolar disorder to epilepsy to learning disabilities to HIV to cancer. However, individuals with psychiatric conditions remain a core constituency.

Approximately 20 percent of Americans - over 40 million people - live with psychiatric disorders and face discrimination that can lead to job loss and unemployment. Many with mental illnesses do not reveal their condition and pursue their work-lives with the stress of a hidden disability; others risk stigma and misunderstanding. The ADA envisions equal opportunity and full integration in the workplace for persons with all disabilities, mental and physical. Employment provides a livelihood and can ensure access to critical health care and treatment. In addition, employment offers the support and skills people need to become engaged, independent members of the community. The cornerstone of the ADA is the concept of "reasonable accommodation," workplace modifications enabling qualified individuals to successfully perform their job duties. Despite the mandate of the ADA, few if any programs in the country have emerged to address the critical issue of employment discrimination against individuals with mental disabilities. Similar challenges face low-income workers with hidden disabilities such as epilepsy, diabetes and HIV.

The LIBRA Project asserts the civil rights of persons with psychiatric disabilities and other hidden and often stigmatized disabilities by combating stigma, providing education and promoting equality and reasonable accommodation in the workplace.

The Project has worked to mitigate the impact of numerous United States Supreme Court and federal appellate court decisions that have functioned to eliminate protection for a broad group of persons with non-traditional or less severe disabilities, including persons with cancer, seizure disorders, insulin-dependent diabetes, psychiatric conditions, HIV, heart disease, and limb anomalies (e.g. amputations). This work has included legislative reform and public policy dissemination at the state and national levels.

Click here for a fact sheet about Disabilities in the Workplace.

Educational Access Project

One of the root causes of the unemployment crisis among persons with disabilities is that comparatively few possess the educational qualifications and training to enter many of the professions and trades. Without the necessary qualifications and skills, disabled persons have no legal right to any particular job. At the same time, because of functional limitations, disabled individuals are frequently unable to secure or perform "unskilled," entry level positions such as waiting tables, painting houses, performing manual labor, and so on. Yet, our public schools and public universities have systemically failed to provide equal educational opportunities to children and young adults with disabilities. Rather, many disabled children face blatant discrimination while attempting to secure an education.

Indeed, in California, inaccessible school systems are commonplace. Because of architectural and programmatic barriers, children with disabilities are not able to participate in many of the programs, services, and activities that are offered to nondisabled children. The crisis is particularly acute for poor and minority children with disabilities, who typically attend inaccessible and badly managed schools, and who overwhelmingly lack access to any form of advocacy or legal representation.

Unsurprisingly, the Disability Statistics Center estimates that less than 50% of disabled students ever obtain a high school diploma. Far fewer complete college, and only a small handful attend graduate school. Consequently, most persons with significant disabilities are dramatically underemployed, and are far more likely to be poor. Within the working age population, the National Organization on Disability estimates that nearly 70 percent of people with disabilities are unemployed.

The Educational Access Project helps ensure that disabled children and young adults in California have equal access to the educational opportunities provided by the public schools, community colleges, and universities. With education, disabled young adults will be far better equipped to compete and succeed in the workplace.

To read a fact sheet about Disabilities in Higher Education, click here.

Significant Cases and Legislation

The Prudence Kay Poppink Act: In response to federal courts narrowly reading the federal definition of disability, the LAS - ELC sponsored legislation designed to make clear that California's state anti-discrimination law continues to provide independent and greater protections than does the federal Americans with Disability Act. The legislation specifically rejects the reasoning of the United States Supreme Court in the Sutton trilogy, three cases decided by the United States Supreme Court in the summer of 1999, and makes clear that persons who would be limited in major life activities but for mitigating measures are protected. The legislation also clarifies that persons who are regarded, because of actual or perceived impairments, as being unable to work in a particular line of work, or as posing an increased risk of future disability, may bring claims if they are discriminated against on that basis. The legislation was signed into law on September 30, 2000. Click here for a related article by Claudia Center. Click here for a chart of state versus federal law protections against disability discrimination in the workplace.

Barnett v. U.S. Airways: Reassignment is an essential reasonable accommodation for persons who can no longer perform their jobs due to on-the-job injuries or to worsening medical conditions. Robert Barnett worked for U.S. Airways and its predecessor for ten years. After becoming disabled through an on-the-job injury, he obtained a mailroom position that effectively accommodated his disability. Two years later, the company removed him from this position, citing their internal seniority policy. In an opinion joined by five justices, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that reassignment to a vacant position is a reasonable modification for persons who can no longer perform their jobs due to on-the-job injuries or to worsening medical conditions. In select situations, an employee's need for reassignment may trump an internal seniority policy. The LAS-ELC was counsel of record and Senior Staff Attorney Claudia Center argued the case before the Supreme Court.

Schwartz v. EDS: Reasonable accommodations are critical to the independence and continued employment of most disabled persons. The LAS - ELC represents persons who have been denied accommodations and terminated due to their disabilities. For example, the LAS - ELC represented Daniel Schwartz, a person with a substantial developmental disability similar to mental retardation. Despite his disability, Mr. Schwartz successfully worked for more than 20 years as a mailroom clerk with Sumitomo Bank, relying upon modest accommodations such as additional supervision, repeated instructions, and additional training. Mr. Schwartz received positive performance evaluations and pay increases each year. In 1998, Sumitomo Bank "outsourced" its mailroom to the defendant and appellee Electronic Data Systems, Inc. (EDS), and Mr. Schwartz was moved to the EDS site in El Segundo where he was to perform comparable mailroom duties. Although EDS managers expressly acknowledged Mr. Schwartz's disability and his need for modest accommodations, Mr. Schwartz was not provided with such accommodations. Instead, Mr. Schwartz was subjected to a hostile environment, impatient supervisors, and confusing and incomplete training. He was switched from job assignment to job assignment within several weeks. After less than three months, Mr. Schwartz was terminated. Following oral arguments in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the case was settled.

Siddiqi v. Regents of the University of California: Access to education is a critical prerequisite to employment opportunities. Through the Educational Access Project, the LAS-ELC ensures that children and young adults with disabilities have full and equal access to the programs, services and activities offered by public schools, community colleges and universities. With co-counsel Schneider & Wallace, the LAS-ELC reached a class action settlement resulting in expanded services and accommodations for students who are deaf and hard of at the Berkeley and Davis campuses of the University of California. The settlement has been cited by advocates and educators across the country as the new standard for integrating deaf students into higher education.

Lopez v. San Francisco Unified School District: Accessible schools and programs are paramount to ensuring that children with disabilities are able to have full and equal access to educational opportunities. Along with co-counsel Schneider and Wallace and José R. Allen, the LAS-ELC secured a historic Stipulated Judgment which requires, the District to make a total of 96 schools compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines ("ADAAG") by June 30, 2007, June 30, 2010 and June 30, 2012. The District is also required to maintain existing disability access features in proper working condition, provide class members with accessible, integrated and timely transportation services and prepare and implement effective written evacuation plans for each student class member by October 15th of each school year.

Hecker v. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation: The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has adopted numerous policies and practices that discriminate explicitly against inmates with psychiatric disabilities. These unlawful policies include: exclusion from fire camp; exclusion from educational and vocational programs, and employment; the automatic addition of four "points" to an inmate's security score based on "mental illness"; exclusion from the substance abuse program (SAP); and exclusion from numerous community-based programs. Inmates with psychiatric disabilities are relegated to unnecessarily high security levels in housing and programming, and are thereby denied the substantial benefits of the programming available in the lower level security areas.

On October 20, 2006, the LAS-ELC, together with Rosen, Bien & Galvan, filed an amended class action complaint against the CDCR and several officials. The complaint names 17 inmates as plaintiffs, and alleges violations of the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act. The defendants filed a motion to dismiss, and the plaintiffs opposed. DefendantŐs motion to dismiss was heard on February 8, 2007, and has not yet been decided. The case was stayed on March 15, 2007. In December 2007, plaintiffs filed a motion to lift the stay. The case is pending in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California, Case No.2:05-cv-02441-LKK.

Amicus Briefs: The Disability Rights Program drafts and files amicus briefs in the appellate courts on behalf of the disability community to support issues of importance to workers and students with disabilities. Recent amicus efforts include briefs filed in: Bates v. United Parcel Service, Inc., No. 04-17295 (9th Cir.), a case challenging UPS's policy against employing drivers who are deaf and hard of hearing; Fusco v. American Airlines, Nos. 03-15890, 03-15898, 03-15897 (9th Cir.), a case challenging American Airlines' medical screening procedures for HIV-positive applicants; Gambini v. Total Renal Care d/b/a DaVita,Inc., Case No. No. 05-35209 (9th Cir.), a case challenging improper jury instructions given in a case brought under the ADA and the FMLA; Green v. State, No. S 137770 (Cal. Supreme), a case reviewing the burdens of proof under the disability provisions of California's Fair Employment and Housing Act; Hohider v. United Parcel Service, Inc., No. 07-4588 (3d Cir.), a case challenging UPS's "100 percent healed" policy affecting employees returning to work from leaves of absence; E.E.O.C. and Hogya v. United Parcel Service, Inc., Nos. 03-16852, 03-16855 (9th Cir.); Bryan v. United Parcel Service, Inc. & Jensen v. United Parcel Service, Inc., Nos. 03-16852 (dismissed); 03-16855; 04-16403 (9th Cir.), cases challenging UPS's policy against drivers with monocular vision; and Neily v. California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), No. 05-15106 (9th Cir.), a case challenging the refusal of the CalPERS program to cover applicants with disabilities.