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Yeison Lopez
Professor Batty
English 113B
4 April 2016
Disability vs. Society
Employment is very important for people because it is the foundation of support for
yourself and your family members. In this country people must work if they want to live
comfortable, being able to afford the necessities. However, there are people who do not have the
same opportunities to be employed; unfortunately people who are physically challenged suffer
the most in the work field. These people struggle inside the workplace and outside the
workplace. Disabled individuals suffer a lot from discrimination due to the lack of knowledge of
their rights for being disabled. Many will say that discrimination does not exist among disabled
people in the work place; however, these people suffer the most when being hired, not arranging
any changes for the person to work more efficient, and by not informing them about the rights
they have for being disabled.
Disabled people face the biggest discrimination towards getting hired because they are
not getting the same equal employment opportunities. This country practices equal employment
opportunity for everyone, but in reality there are many rights that are being ignored by
corporations. Corporations lack the practice of equal opportunity because they only hire people
who are best fit for the job. Jobs that involve a lot of physical movement are often the ones who
discriminate the most because they look for people that are in their best conditions. Jobs like
construction, mailman, dishwashers, and bus boys are the ones, who have the most trouble with
hiring disabled people. There are times that they do not get a proper job interview because as

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soon as they identified that the person has a physical challenged, corporation will loose interest
of the other abilities the might have. It is absurd that many companies argue that they give the
same opportunity as others for equal employment opportunity when they do not. The only
opportunity they are giving to these poor people is the equal opportunity to apply for the job but
after that there is nothing that is equal. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC) tries to say that there is no discrimination among people but in reality disabled people
suffered the most because they are not getting any protection. Society is marginalizing these
people because they believed that they would not function well on a job.
Disabled people are not getting the right to be in a safe environment when working.
Many disable people face discrimination on the work place because employers fail to make any
arrangements to their job. They are forced to deal with working in an environment that is not
very safe to them as a consequence they can suffer a severe injury. Although they might be well
qualified for the job and deserve every arrangement that they ask for, because they suffer from a
physical challenged they will not get anything. It is not fair that only because you suffer from
being disabled, you are running the risk of losing the job if you might speak up. This is why
there are many cases that show many people being afraid of speaking up because they are afraid
for their employers firing them. One example of discrimination is a nurse who suffered from
scoliosis, or curvature of the spine. The nurse did not have ability to walk straight, and it gave
him problems towards lifting boxes. The condition he has almost cost him his job of being a
nurse. Mike Jackson argues, I cannot do heavy lifting, but there are other things I can do. I have
a degree in health studies and sociology, and I am a qualified counselor and teacher (Wallis,
Rights for equal). Society needs to improve on making arrangements for workers who are
dealing with a special condition because it will make their jobs easier and chances are they will

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work more efficient. There should not be any discrimination towards workers that cannot do
simple task because truth is that they are well qualified for the job.
One of the biggest problems why disabled people are being discriminated is because they
lack the opportunity to learn about their rights against employers. People are afraid to speak up
against the employers because they are afraid of losing the only job they have. Others suffer
before even getting hired because they do not have the same opportunity towards getting a
proper interview. After being hired they also do not get any arrangements on their job. It makes
it really difficult to succeed in the work. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC) does not help a lot because it is only protecting people from discrimination because of
race, ethnicity, and religion. However, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) are a better
law that protects disabled people. Congress amended the ADA in 2008 to restore the original
congressional intent of providing broad coverage for people with disabilities (Bradbury, A New
Era of Protection Against Disability Discrimination?). People with disability have more
protection but are still suffering against discrimination, therefore, we should create more laws
that prevent discrimination. We need a society where it is free from discrimination.
Many corporations suggest that there is no discrimination among hiring disabled people.
Corporations only cared about making profits and if disabled workers are going to affect that
they will try to dispose you like trash. Companies argue that the reason why there is a gap on the
differences between hiring disabled people and nondisabled people is because they do not want
the person to suffer a more severe injury, they say, they are trying to prevent it. Other
companies protect themselves by saying that they try to give detailed information on the
requirements the job needs. It is understandable that some jobs are very tough for these people
because they take a lot of physical movement but others do not require a lot of movement yet

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they are discriminating them. With the help of the disability act (ADA) there has been many
discovering against discrimination in the work field. Methods Employer characteristics derived
from 19,527 closed Hiring allegations are compared and contrasted to 259,680 closed allegations
aggregated from six other prevalent forms of discrimination including Discharge and
Constructive Discharge (Mcmahon, Hiring Discrimination Against People with Disabilities
Under the ADA). People lack of knowledge of their rights, therefore, corporations are taking
advantage of them because they feel like they have the power. It is time for a change where
everyone has the same opportunity. If someone who is disabled wants to work, there should be
some arrangements to make job easier for the person.
In conclusion, people with disabilities suffer a tremendous amount of discrimination
against corporations that only seek profits. People who are physical challenged should also take
an interest on knowing their rights because they can do something about if they are being
discriminated. Corporations are only manipulating people into feeling inferior and being afraid
of speaking up. I for example am a victim of this because I am afraid of speaking up against my
employer. I suffered from severe back pain and my job requires of heavy lifting. This is the only
job I feel I can get with the schedule I want so I do not speak up. Employers seek only profits
and if they see that an employee will not generate much profit they will dispose of the person.
However, the circumstances can change if everyone gets together and fight against these
corporations. In this research paper, I learned that if people do not know their rights chances are
that people will try to manipulate and take advantage of you. I also learned that things do not
change unless you speak up.

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Works cited
Mcmahon, Brian T., et al. "Hiring Discrimination Against People with Disabilities Under
The ADA: Characteristics of Employers." Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation
18.2 (2008): 112-21. ProQuest. Web. 5 Apr. 2016.
Wallis, Lynne. "Rights for equals: disabled nurses continue to face discrimination in the
workplace despite changes in the law." Nursing Standard 20.39 (2006): 78+.
Expanded Academic ASAP. Web. 5 Apr. 2016.
"Overview." About the EEOC:. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2016.