Vital Signs: Broad coalition aims to strengthen civil rights of the disabled

Disabled, but not enough for job protections Broad coalition aims to strengthen civil rights of the chronically ill SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- An irony of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act has turned out to be that people who most need its protections often can't get them. The ADA, signed into law in 1990 by President George H. W. Bush, was designed to give people with disabilities an equal crack at employment, public services and accommodations. It was hailed as a long-awaited recourse for those who face discrimination. But a series of Supreme Court decisions beginning in the late 1990s narrowed the definition of disability and laid the groundwork for lower courts to do the same. That means many people who suffer from a chronic disease but manage their illness well aren't considered disabled and therefore... [read full story]