Camille Olson Quoted in Daily Labor Report

“Senate Panel Hears Debate Over Need To Amend Americans With Disabilities Act”

Camille’s testimony before the United States Senate Committee on Education, Health, Labor and Pensions was quoted in the article, “Senate panel Hears Debate Over Need To Amend Americans with Disabilities Act,” published November 16, 2007 in the Daily Labor Report.

Camille, testifying before the committee on behalf of employers, shared the witness panel with former U. S. Attorney General Thornburgh and two advocates for disabled persons at the committee’s first hearing on the ADA Restoration Act of 2007 (S. 1881). Camille testified that Senator Harkin’s proposed bill “goes far beyond” the ADA’s intent and would invite discrimination claims by individuals who have even the most minor impairments that do not impede their daily activities. She noted that S. 1881 would remove the requirement that an impairment “substantially limit” the claimant’s ability to perform “major life activities,” bar an employer’s consideration of “mitigating measures” and shift the burden of proving whether an individual is qualified to perform a certain job from the plaintiff to the employers. The latter, Camille pointed out, would hamstring employers because the ADA would simultaneously restrict employers from inquiring about a person’s medical condition and history while requiring employers to also prove that the individual is not “qualified” because of the medical condition they’re not permitted to inquire about. Camille further noted that the elimination of the “mitigating measures” test would mean that the “vast majority of Americans” would be considered “disabled” according to S. 1881.

The article concludes with Senator Harkin noting that the committee is “open to suggestions” if there are objections to the specific language in S. 1881, and cites Senator Enzi’s written statement of his opposition to S. 1881 as currently drafted because it has not been submitted to a wide range of stakeholders for review.