Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is a landmark United States civil rights statute prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability. President George H. W. Bush signed it into law on 26 July 1990, extending protections comparable to those of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to people with disabilities. It prohibits discrimination in employment, public services, transportation and private businesses open to the public, and unlike earlier civil rights law it requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations to workers with disabilities and sets accessibility standards for public facilities. The bill drew a broad bipartisan coalition of support but also opposition from business groups worried about compliance costs and from some conservative evangelical organizations objecting to its protections for people with HIV. Congress amended the Act in 2008 to broaden the legal definition of disability and extend its protections to a wider population after court rulings had narrowed the original definition.