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Employment discrimination charges filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Data Source Notes

• Data files for analysis of charge data were extracted from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC's) Integrated Mission System (IMS). Summaries of data are based on our aggregations and do not represent the EEOC's official aggregation of the data. The findings and their interpretation do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education or the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government (Edgar, 75.620 (b)).
• The confidentiality of the charge data was protected by aggregating the data and suppressing all aggregations representing fewer than 30 charges.
• The IMS includes charges filed with the EEOC and state and local Fair Employment Practice Agencies (FEPAs). Both EEOC and FEPA (open and closed) charges filed from the beginning of fiscal year 2006 to the end of fiscal year 2014 are included in this analysis. Summaries are at the charge level; however a single charge may cite multiple issues, bases or statutes (e.g., the ADA, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), or Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (Title VII)).
• The statistics reported in these materials are derived from data files obtained under an agreement from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Susanne Bruyere obtained an Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) positions at the EEOC, which has afforded her access to the EEOC's Integrated Mission System which includes detailed information on every charge the EEOC receives, as well as those which are dually-filed with FEPAs. Further information about the IPA should be directed to Sarah von Schrader (Email: sv282@cornell.edu).
• The U.S. calculations include the 50 states and District of Columbia, but exclude Puerto Rico and other U.S. Territories.
• For a further description of the methods used to construct the data files used for analysis, please see: Bjelland, M. J., Bruyère, S. M., von Schrader, S., Houtenville, A. J., Ruiz-Quintanilla, A., & Webber, D. A. (2010). Age and disability employment discrimination: occupational rehabilitation implications. Journal of occupational rehabilitation, 20(4), 456–71. doi:10.1007/s10926-009-9194-z. Full text available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10926-009-9194-z
• In order to calculate ADA charge rates, estimates of the number of individuals with a disability in civilian labor force were generated from the American Community Survey Public Use Micro data.
• For more information about disability discrimination and the charge filing process, please visit the EEOC's website at http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/disability.cfm

Funder

This product was developed by the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Employer Practices Related to Employment Outcomes Among Individuals with Disabilities, under a grant to Cornell University from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (Grant No. 90RT5010-01-00). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this website do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, or HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.

Suggested Citation

von Schrader, S. and Erickson, W. (2022). Employment discrimination charges filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Yang Tan Institute (YTI). Retrieved from Cornell University Disability Statistics website: https://www.disabilitystatistics.org/charge/.