More than 20 years after the United States Congress adopted the Americans with Disabilities Act, intending to eliminate discrimination against people with disabilities, there continues to be an outdated federal law on the books that discriminates against people with disabilities and encourages segregation, stigma, and poverty.
Sam Bagenstos is Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School and former Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, US Department of Justice. He is one of the foremost legal scholars regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act and the protection of peoples’ rights who have disabilities.
In the following article Professor Bagenstos eloquently describes how a 73 year old federal law – Section 14 (c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act – discriminates against people with disabilities, violates the ADA, and serves as a vehicle for unnecessarily keeping people with disabilities in prolonged segregation and out of the open labor market.
He makes a compelling argument that, “in a post ADA world, Section 14 (c) is an anomaly in the law and should be eliminated.” This change is long past due.
Ruby Moore
Executive Director
Georgia Advocacy Office
Click here to read the full text of “The Case Against the Section 14(c) Subminimum Wage Program”