Question

Email Assignment                                                                       100 points

CHARACTERS:

YOU                A fairly new employee in the Human Resource department at Toyota

AVA LEE         Human Resource Manager (and your boss) at Toyota

SETTING    9:23 am, 2^nd floor break room (coffee machine, basic tables and chairs)

You are pouring a cup of coffee when you hear another person enter the room. You turn around and see your boss, Ava Lee. You know her name – she interviewed you, after all – but you are not sure she remembers yours. She looks frazzled so you aren’t sure if you should say “Good Morning” or retreat to your cubicle without saying anything. You decide to play it safe.

YOU                Good Morning! I hope you are doing well.

AVA                 Good morning. I’m doing pretty well. Hey – have you ever heard of the

                        Americans with Disabilities Act? You know, the law that requires that

                        employers provide accommodations to employees with various disabilities?

YOU                I’ve heard a little bit about it. I have a friend who has a disability and works.

AVA                 Well, I’ve just received word that Toyota is preparing an initiative to hire

                        more employees with disabilities and I need to ensure that we are in

            full compliance with this law when these employees come on board.  I

            have heard that proper implementation is a bit tricky, so I want to get a

            head start on this and be well-prepared at the next manager’s meeting.

YOU                Yeah, I know that this can be a delicate issue, but a very important one.

AVA                 Hey, what is your name again?

YOU                I started at Toyota nine months ago, my name is _______________.

AVA                 Oh yes, I remember you. I want you to find out more about the

Americans with Disabilities Act, what is the statute that governs hiring workers with a disability, what are the requirements, what can companies do to make sure they are complying with this law, etc. I need it in a couple of days so I can put it on the agenda for my meeting with the regional supervisors next week.  Please prepare a detailed email that will help me understand the important points and how Toyota is impacted by this law. Thanks!

YOU                I am definitely on this.  Have a nice day!

TASK               Write a well-organized/formatted, clearly written, properly researched, and helpful

email in which you do what Ms. Lee asked you to do. It must be a minimum of one full page.

Answer 1

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal civil rights law which provides for prohibition of any discrimination against people with disabilities in everyday activities. The ADA makes it unlawful to discriminate in employment against a qualified individual with a disability. This part of law is enforced by the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the State and local civil rights enforcement agencies. Job discrimination against people with disabilities is considered illegal if practised by any sector of employment, be it, private employees, state and local governments, labour organisations etc.

An individual is considered to be protected under ADA, if he/she has a record of, or be regarded as having substantial impairment. A substantial impairment is one that significantly restricts a major life activity like seeing, speaking, listening, breathing, performing manual tasks, walking, learning, working or caring for oneself.

An organisation in order to employ an individual under ADA can check for the following requirements.

The applicant must satisfy the job requirements with respect of educational background, employment experience, skills, licenses, and any other qualification standards that are job related; and be able to perform those tasks that are essential to the job, with or without reasonable accommodation.

The ADA does not interfere with the Company’s rights to hire the best qualified applicant nor does it impose any affirmative action obligations. Reasonable accommodation must be made to enable an individual to participate in the application process and enjoy the benefits of the employment as available to other employees/applicants.

With respect to medical examination about a person’s disability, ADA prescribes that it is unlawful to ask an applicant whether he/she is disabled or about the nature or severity of a disability and to require the applicant to take a medical examination before making a job offer. Once a candidate is hired, the employee can only conduct voluntary medical examinations that are part of an employee health program.

As per the provisions of ADA, after July 26,1992 any employee who believe they have been discriminated against on the basis of their disability can file a charge with the Commission at any of its offices located throughout the United States. A charge of discrimination must be filed within 180 days of the discrimination, unless there is a state or local law that also provides relief for discrimination on the basis of disability. In those cases, the complainant has 300 days to file a charge