Disability Case Study: Affordable Accommodation In Professional Golf

Casey Martin is a professional golfer with a congenital, degenerative circulatory disorder. This makes walking painful for him and exposes him to more serious injuries. Martin filed a lawsuit against the PGA when his request for use a golfcart during a PGA sponsored tour was denied. The PGA ruled that there was an established “walking rule” that required all the golfers to walk. Martin claimed in his suit that the walking rule violated the Adults with Disability Act (ADA).

The disability can range from any form of walking, talking, seeing, hearing, and learning. This law also extends to persons diagnosed with HIV or AIDS as well any person who has completed drug and alcohol rehabilitation. This law was enacted to protect people with disabilities and provide them with employment opportunities. All organizations within in United State of America must provide these disabled employees with various accommodations such as elevators, access lamps, and telephones with hearing impaired equipment. If an organization does not comply with this law they maybe subject to civil penalties such as $55,000 for the first violation or $110,000 for each subsequent violation. If cited for major noncompliance the organization could cause warranty compulsory and punitive damages (United State Department of Labor,

Sears, Roebuck & Co. – “The Commission brought this landmark disability discrimination lawsuit alleging that Sears maintained an inflexible workers’ compensation leave exhaustion policy and terminated employees instead of providing them with reasonable accommodations for their disabilities, in violation of the ADA. The case resulted in the largest monetary recovery in a settlement of a single ADA lawsuit in EEOC history” (EEOC, 2009, para. 2). So, employers were not interactively providing reasonable accommodations, which violated the ADA as stated. Actually, employers do not have to provide reasonable accommodation unless the employee asks, according to the EEOC in

snhu.edu/hottopics/lnacademic/?) which protects such individuals from discrimination on the bases of their disabilities. As time when on Mr. Martin was not able to walk the entire 18-hole golf course without being fatigue and also could cause other problems such as hemorrhaging, blood clots, and could fracture his tibia

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 established a standard to “public accommodations” requiring businesses to make “reasonable modifications” to the usual

“Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 Title I does not allow any private employers, local, and state governments, labor unions and employment agencies from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities in job application procedures, firing, hiring, job training, advancement and other terms, privileges, and conditions of employment” (The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity

There are three laws that are relevant to disability and sport. The first, The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, states that an individual with a disability cannot be excluded from participating in any program or activity that receives federal financial assistance, solely because of his or her disability. The second, Americans with Disabilities Act, is an extension of the Rehabilitation Act. This law expands the funding to state and local governments, as well as private organizations. The third, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, states that all children with disabilities are required a free, appropriate public education. A current case involving the Rehabilitation act is Whitaker v. Wisconsin Department of Health Services. In this case, Whitaker is suing, stating that the company did not accommodate her disability and fired her in violation of the Rehabilitation act. The court ruled that Whitaker failed to establish she was an “otherwise qualified” employee, which is required by the act. One case pertaining to the ADA is PGA Tour v. Casey Martin. In this case, Martin suffered from a circulatory disease that prevented him from walking on a golf course. After being denied the use of a golf cart for a PGA tournament, Martin filed suit, claiming that the ADA was violated. The court ruled in Martin’s favor, stating that his disability did not alter the nature of the game. The Rehabilitation act was the first civil rights law in the United States designed to protect

Davis, the student, who suffered from a severe hearing disability, applied to the nursing program at a local community college. The admissions committee denied her application after determining that, because of her disability, she would not be able to participate in their nursing program safely. As a result, the student filed a Section 504 complaint against the institution, arguing the school had discriminated against her because of her hearing disability. The court found that the institution’s academic policies were reasonable and appropriate. Moreover, they stated Section 504 did not require an institution or program to lower its admissions criteria or remove physical qualifications to accommodate individuals with disabilities. While an individual may be otherwise qualified, if she or he does not have the physical capability to perform the required tasks of the program, the institution is under no obligation to admit the

Martin. This case has especially caught the eye of the media because it’s a high profile sport. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Casey Martin. The case was about Casey Martin who has a circulatory disease in his right leg, which makes it difficult to walk. Casey felt that his right have been violated. The ADA bans discrimination against the disabled in public accommodations .The law requires " Reasonable modifications" unless such changes would fundamentally alter the place or event. The PGA said that it would dramatically effect the foundations of the game seeing as you walk between holes instead of riding like all of us lazy southerners do. The Professional Golf Association also said that it would give Casey Martin an unfair advantage over the other players in the game. The justices disagreed and upheld the lower court

III. “Determine how well the needs of adults with disabilities are being met by the travel industry” (1).

Here, Martin suffers from a degenerative circulatory disorder, was otherwise qualified to play golf in the tournament, but was excluded because his disability made him unable to walk the course. Allowing Martin to use a golf cart in these circumstances would be a reasonable accommodation. The court ordered PGA to permit Martin to use a cart. PGA appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which affirmed the order of the lower court. PGA appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which affirmed the lower court’s decision, ruling that a golf cart is a reasonable accommodation for a disabled athlete. PGA argued that making an exception to its “walking” rule would “fundamentally alter the sport of golf.” The Supreme Court disagreed, stating that the “use of a cart is not inconsistent with the fundamental charac­ter of the game of golf,” PGA’s tours, or the third stage of the Q-School. Golf is defined by “shot-making,” not by walking. The Court explained that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is applied case by case. In other words, “the needs of a disabled person are evalu­ated on an individual basis.” Thus, in this case, “even if petitioner’s factual predicate is accepted, its legal posi­tion is fatally flawed because its refusal to consider Martin’s personal circum­stances in deciding whether to accommodate his disability runs counter to the ADA’s requirement that an individualized in­quiry be conducted.”

The Americans with Disabilities Act has come a long way with helping to protect and obtaining justice for the disable opening the door for jobs and creating more adequate access to public spaces to an estimated 43 million disabled people however, corrective disabilities are more of a challenge. People whose disabilities that can be remedied with eyeglasses, medications, etc. are not covered by the ADA (Post, 1999). Justice Sandra Day O’Conner supports this action and wrote three provisions that led to the conclusion that remediable conditions are not a disability (Post, 1999).

According to Gary Dessler, “employers with 15 or more workers are prohibited from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities with regard to applications, hiring, discharge, compensation, advancement, training, or other terms, conditions, or privileges of employment. It also says that employers must make ‘reasonable accommodations’ for physical or mental limitations unless doing so imposes an ‘undue hardship’ on the business.” It not only prohibits discrimination in employment but also outlaws most physical barriers in public accommodations, transportation, telecommunications, and government services.

Every person in the organization with a disability has a different need. Organizations work around the clock in many occasions to comply with the accommodations of each individual in the organization. Educating staff in how to comply with the requirements of ADA can be quite challenging. Organizations are afraid to hire, retain or accommodate workers with disabilities because of lack of awareness of disability and accommodations issues, concern over costs, and legal liability (Kaye et al., 2011). It is therefore the responsibility of the organization to educate management about the law and train on disabilities and accommodations. The guidelines, regulations, and building codes should be implemented to make the facility more welcoming and inviting to workers with disabilities (Stryker, R. (2013).

    A person with a disability, or handicap, can be defined as someone with a physical or mental impairment, which has a substantial or long-term adverse affect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities (Employment 2). Handicap workers face many challenges in the work place that the average person overlooks. Also, many special arrangements and alterations have been made to the workplace for people with handicaps. Accessibility, transportation, workload, and salary are just some of the many issues that must be considered with the prospect of employing the handicap.