Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, is
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
legislation
Legislation is the process or result of enrolled bill, enrolling, enactment of a bill, enacting, or promulgation, promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous Government, governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law i ...
that guarantees certain rights to people with disabilities. It was one of the first U.S. federal civil rights laws offering protection for people with disabilities.
It set precedents for subsequent legislation for people with disabilities, including the
Virginians with Disabilities Act in 1985
''The Virginians: A Tale of the Last Century'' (1857– 59) is a historical novel by William Makepeace Thackeray which forms a sequel to his '' Henry Esmond'' and is also loosely linked to ''Pendennis''.
Plot summary
The novel tells the story of ...
and the
Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ...
in 1990.
Summary of the Section
Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 () is a United States federal law, codified at et seq. The principal sponsor of the bill was Rep. John Brademas (D-IN-3). The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 replaces preexisting laws (collectively referred to as the V ...
states (in part):
It is Pub. L. No. 93-112, 87 Stat. 394 (Sept. 26, 1973), codified at et seq.
As amended in 1974, Section 111, Pub L. 93-516, 88 Stat. 1619 (Dec. 7, 1974), ''Individuals with Disabilities'' are:
where
However, "For purposes of employment", ''Qualified Individuals with Disabilities'' must also meet "normal and essential eligibility requirements", such that:
where
That is, ''Qualified Individuals with Disabilities'' must be able to perform the job duties associated with the job for which they would be hired. The
United States Department of Labor
The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemploym ...
also indicates that "Small Providers" do not have to make "''significant'' structural alterations to their existing facilities" to accommodate individuals with disabilities.
Implications
Section 504 covers "any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance." If an organization receives federal support of any kind, even if the organization is not a federal or state organization, the organization must comply with Section 504. For example, airports in the United States can be at least partially funded by grants from federal and state governments, thus must be compliant. In many communities, public libraries receive federal financial assistance, directly or indirectly, so they must comply as well. Airports and public libraries became accessible according to Section 504 stipulation within a few years of the implementation of Section 504.
Requirements for educational programs
K–12 schools
The law also pertains to any "local educational agency (as defined in section 8801 of Title 20), system of vocational education, or other school system".
As applied to K–12 schools, "the language broadly prohibits the denial of public education participation, or enjoyment of the benefits offered by public school programs because of a child's disability."
Although the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a piece of American legislation that ensures students with a disability are provided with a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) that is tailored to their individual needs. IDEA was ...
(IDEA) also applies to K-12 schools, the existence of IDEA does not mean the Rehabilitation Act is superfluous. IDEA only protects a subset of children and youth who have disabilities—those who satisfy its definition for "child with a disability".
[Title 34—Education § 300.8 "Child with a disability means a child . . . having mental retardation, a hearing impairment (including deafness), a speech or language impairment, a visual impairment (including blindness), a serious emotional disturbance (referred to in this part as ''emotional disturbance''), an orthopedic impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury, an other health impairment, a specific learning disability, deaf-blindness, or multiple disabilities, and who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services."] The definition of disability under Section 504 is broader than that of the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a piece of American legislation that ensures students with a disability are provided with a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) that is tailored to their individual needs. IDEA was ...
, so some children who do not meet the IDEA definition of disability are served under Section 504.
Section 504 requires school districts to provide
Free Appropriate Public Education The right to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) is an educational entitlement of all students in the United States who are identified as having a disability, guaranteed by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Individuals with Disabilities ...
(FAPE) to children with disabilities, who may benefit from public education, within the individual district's jurisdiction. Regardless of the child's disability, the school district must identify the child's educational needs and provide any regular or special education to satisfy the child's educational needs just as well as it does for the children without disabilities. This may be accomplished by developing an education plan for the child. When done so under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, it is referred to as a 504 plan. This 504 plan covers accommodations, services, and support the child will be receiving in order to have access to education at school. A 504 plan is different and less detailed than an
Individualized Education Program
An Individualized Education Program (IEP) is a legal document under United States law that is developed for each public school child in the U.S. who needs special education. It is created through a team of the child's parent(s) and district person ...
(IEPs).
Section 504 supports rights for students for needs outside of the school day, such as extracurricular activities, sports, and after-school care, because Section 504 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. While the process for accommodating students varies per institution, schools generally comply with Section 504 by identifying students with disabilities and evaluating those students. If the students are eligible, they create a written accommodation plan, often called a "504 Plan." It is similar to, but often shorter than, the IDEA
Individualized Education Program
An Individualized Education Program (IEP) is a legal document under United States law that is developed for each public school child in the U.S. who needs special education. It is created through a team of the child's parent(s) and district person ...
(IEP). Parents, teachers, and school staff are a part of the process. Parents have due process rights; where they disagree with the determinations of the school, they have a right to an impartial hearing.
Violations of Section 504 in the educational environment can be addressed locally with the education agency or with th
Office for Civil Rights(OCR) of the U.S. Department of Education. Violations of Section 504 can result in a loss of the federal funding. According to the Department individuals may also file a private right of action for violations of Sec. 504. Thus, Section 504 is enforced by OCR. IDEA is carried out by another unit of the department, the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).
Extracurricular activity
Section 504 covers extracurricular and after school programs such as sports, music lessons, and
afterschool care34 C.F.R. § 10437.
The Department of Education Office of Civil Rights has determined that Section 504 applies to:
* Playgrounds - Hazleton (Pennsylvania) Area School District, 17 EHLR 907 (OCR, March 7, 1991); San Francisco (California) Unified Sch. Dist., 23 IDELR 1200 (OCR, November 26, 1995); Mill Valley (CA) Elementary Sch. Dist., 23 IDELR 1190 (OCR, October 10, 1995);
*
Band
Band or BAND may refer to:
Places
*Bánd, a village in Hungary
*Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
* Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania
*Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...
programs - Akron (Ohio) City Sch., 19 IDELR 793 (OCR, January 15, 1993);
* Special programs and
assemblies - Whitman-Hanson (Massachusetts) Regional Sch. Dist., 20 IDELR 775 (OCR, August 19, 1993); Atlanta (Georgia) Pub. Sch., 16 EHLR 19 (OCR, January 9, 1989)
*
Field trip
A field trip or excursion is a journey by a group of people to a place away from their normal environment.
When done for students, as it happens in several school systems, it is also known as school trip in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and ...
s and off site programs - Ontario-MontClair (California) Unified Sch. Dist., 24 IDELR 780 (OCR, February 7, 1996); Elk Grove (California) Unified Sch. Dist., 21 IDELR 941 (OCR, August 1, 1994)
*
Club
Club may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Club'' (magazine)
* Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character
* Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards
* Club music
* "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea''
Brands and enterprises
...
s - Colquitt County (Georgia) Sch. Dist., 25 IDELR 244 (OCR, June 6, 1996); South Central (Indiana) Area Special Educ. Coop., 17 EHLR 248 (September 25, 1990);
* Afterschool and summer programs - Clayton (Missouri) Sch. Dist., 16 EHLR 766 (OCR, March 16, 1990); Conejo Valley (California) Unified Sch. Dist., 23 IDELR 448 (OCR, June 28, 1995);
* Graduation - Aldine (Texas) Indep. Sch. Dist., 16 EHLR 1411 (OCR, July 12, 1990); and
* Late bus transportation - Carmel Cent. (New York) Sch. Dist., 20 IDELR 1177 (OCR, September 30, 1993).
Higher education
The intention of Section 504 was to impact employment of people with disabilities, thus included education. Section 504 was the first national civil rights legislation that provided equal access for students with disabilities to higher education institutions receiving federal financial assistance. Both public and private colleges and universities supported by federal grants and funding programs must comply with Section 504. The common way higher education institutions are linked to federal funds is through the federal student aid programs. Initially, colleges, universities, and community colleges complied with the regulations imposed by Section 504 in the late-1970s and early to mid-1980s.
Higher education institutions are required to make their programs accessible to qualified students with disabilities. Qualified students with disabilities are determined by the admissions criteria of the individual higher education institution. Students wishing to receive accommodations must initiate the process, which varies per higher education institution. This process largely subscribes to the
medical model of disability
The medical model of disability, or medical model, is based in a biomedical perception of disability. This model links a disability diagnosis to an individual's physical body. The model supposes that this disability may reduce the individual's qua ...
, as many higher education institutions require medical documentation of diagnosis and functioning regarding the disability during the accommodation application process. These colleges and universities are required to make reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities who attend their institutions.
Rights under Section 504
Although not in the text of the statute, courts have held that individuals have a private right of action under Section 504. While
punitive damages
Punitive damages, or exemplary damages, are damages assessed in order to punish the defendant for outrageous conduct and/or to reform or deter the defendant and others from engaging in conduct similar to that which formed the basis of the lawsuit. ...
are not available,
compensatory damages
At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at ...
are available to plaintiffs.
Arguably, these rights extend to include emotional distress damages.
In addition to its responsibility for enforcing other federal statutes prohibiting discrimination in housing, the
US Department of Housing and Urban Development
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Urb ...
(HUD) has a statutory responsibility under Section 504 to ensure that individuals are not subjected to discrimination on the basis of disability by any program or activity receiving HUD assistance. Section 504 charges HUD's
Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity
The Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) is an agency within the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. FHEO is responsible for administering and enforcing federal fair housing laws and establishing policies th ...
with enforcing the right of individuals to live in federally subsidized housing free from discrimination on the basis of disability. Further, Section 504 covers employment discrimination based on disability and requires HUD and HUD-assisted agencies to make reasonable accommodations for the known physical or mental limitations of an employee or qualified applicant. It covers all HUD programs except for its mortgage insurance and loan guarantee programs.
Any housing that receives federal assistance, such as
Section 8 public housing, is subject to Section 504 regulations and requirements. Any person with a disability who believes that have been discriminated against in a HUD-funded program or activity may file a complaint with HUD under Section 504. A complaint can be filed with HUD's
Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity
The Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) is an agency within the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. FHEO is responsible for administering and enforcing federal fair housing laws and establishing policies th ...
. If a person with disabilities feels subject to discrimination in a housing situation that does not receive federal assistance, they can also file a complaint, under the
Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ...
and
Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act.
History
The early history of federal legislation benefiting people with disabilities includes the
passed after World War I, one of the first U.S. laws that provided services for all Americans with disabilities, not just veterans with disabilities.
Over the years, subsequent laws and amendments included additional vocational rehabilitation measures.
Section 504 brought the language of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...
to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
As a law that fell within the office of Health, Education, and Welfare, this was an unlikely place for a social justice provision, yet inserting such a rights clause happened without fanfare.
Working behind the scenes on what most believed was a bill related to budget, a staffer added the thirty-five words that addressed issues of discrimination related to disability. This was a departure from prevailing views that considered
disability to be purely a medical condition.
The law prohibited any entity receiving federal funding (such as government offices, schools, universities, hospitals, and post offices) from discriminating against someone because of a disability.
Concerned about costs and enforcement, the Nixon and Ford Administrations attempted to stall the regulations both by rewriting them and calling for further study regarding their impact if they did stay in their present form. Institutions such as universities and hospitals hoped to avoid bad publicity and huge expenses by waiting out the regulation process.
As well, early versions of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 were vetoed by Nixon in October 1972 and March 1973. In 1972,
Disabled in Action
Disabled In Action of Metropolitan New York (DIA) is a civil rights organization, based in New York City, committed to ending discrimination against people with disabilities through litigation and demonstrations. It was founded in 1970 by Judith ...
demonstrated in New York City with a sit-in protesting one of the vetoes. Led by
Judith E. Heumann, eighty activists staged this
sit-in on Madison Avenue, stopping traffic.
In 1972 demonstrations were also held by disabled activists in Washington, D.C. to protest this veto; among the demonstrators were Disabled in Action,
Paralyzed Veterans of America
The Paralyzed Veterans of America is a veterans' service organization in the United States of America, founded in 1946. The organization holds 33 chapters and 70 National Service Offices in the United States and Puerto Rico. It is based in Washin ...
, the
National Paraplegia Foundation, and others.
Disability rights groups, especially the
American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities
The American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities (ACCD) was, in the mid-1970s to early 1980s, a national consumer-led disability rights organization called, by nationally syndicated columnist Jack Anderson and others, "the handicapped lobby". ...
(ACCD),
advocated to keep the regulations of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act in place unchanged. Section 504 required another step before being implemented (and thus enforced), a signature from the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). In 1975 a federal lawsuit was filed to force the agency to act. In July 1976, a federal district for Washington DC ruled that the regulations should be issued "with no further unreasonable delays." As the arrival of a new president drew near, HEW Secretary under departing President Gerald Ford, David Matthews, left them unsigned.
During his campaign,
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
promised to change this if he was elected president. When he took office in January 1977, he too grew concerned about costs and invited
Joseph Califano
Joseph Anthony Califano Jr. (born May 15, 1931) is an American attorney, professor, and public servant. He is known for the roles he played in shaping welfare policies in the cabinets of Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Jimmy Carter and for se ...
, the new HEW head, to study the legislation and its implications by establishing a task force that did not include representation from ACCD or anyone with a disability. Word leaked out that the 504 regulations that insisted on full integration of people with disabilities were being changed into something more akin to "separate but equal." ACCD members tried to reach President Carter, who had promised to support disability rights during a campaign speech in
Warm Springs, Georgia
Warm Springs is a city in Meriwether County, Georgia, United States. The population was 425 at the 2010 census.
History
Warm Springs, originally named Bullochville (after the Bulloch family, which began after Stephen Bullock moved to Meriwether ...
, a significant location because it had been President
FDR's wheelchair-accessible "home away from home" while he was in the White House. Carter insisted that the matter fell to Califano.
Protests and outcome
After resistance from Joseph Califano to signing the regulations, national protests were organized, which are now known as the
504 Sit-in
The 504 Sit-in was a disability rights protest that began on April 5, 1977. People with disabilities and the disability community occupied federal buildings in the United States in order to push the issuance of long-delayed regulations regarding ...
. Due to the pressure of the protests, Joseph Califano signed the regulations unchanged on April 28, 1977.
In San Francisco, the occupation would last another two days, until April 30, 1977, to give the occupiers time to clean up and to allow their fellow protesters time to return from Washington so they could all leave the building together with raised fists in triumph. Some also seemed reluctant to leave the disability city, the "mini-Woodstock" they had created.
The 504 Sit-in lasted a total of 25 days, and remains the longest nonviolent occupation of a federal building in U.S. history.
Protesters held a large victory rally in Civic Center Plaza where occupiers sang "We Have Overcome," then toasted with champagne and gave victory speeches. Organizer Kitty Cone captured the mood and the accomplishment by saying: "We showed strength and power and courage and commitment, that we the shut-ins or the shut-outs, that we the hidden, supposedly the frail and the weak, that we could wage a struggle at the highest level of government and win!"
Over the next several years, Section 504 was controversial because it afforded people with disabilities many rights similar to those for other minority groups in the
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...
. Throughout the
Reagan administration
Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following a landslide victory over D ...
, efforts were made to weaken Section 504.
Patrisha Wright Patrisha Wright is a disability rights activist. She is legally blind. She was instrumental in enacting the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Activism
She was at the San Francisco sit-in to support Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act in April 19 ...
and
Evan Kemp, Jr. (of the Disability Rights Center) led a grassroots and lobbying campaign against this that generated more than 40,000 cards and letters.
In 1984, the administration dropped its attempts to weaken Section 504; however, they did end the Social Security benefits of hundreds of thousands of disabled recipients.
The protest is considered "perhaps the single most impressive act of civil disobedience in the United States over the last quarter-century."
The success ensured that disability rights would be understood to be a civil right, that disabled people could claim an identity alongside those of racial, ethnic, and gender identities. It has been described as the Stonewall of the
Disability Rights Movement
The disability rights movement is a global new social movements, social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunity, equal opportunities and equality before the law, equal rights for all people with disability, disabilities.
It is made u ...
because it solidified the American struggle for disability rights. The successful action showed people with disabilities to be capable of grassroots action and ongoing public protest for the first time in history. It brought together people with different disabilities to forge coalitions that would work together to draft and pass the 1990s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The protests also led Califano to sign the regulations for the 1975
Education for All Handicapped Children Act
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (sometimes referred to using the acronyms EAHCA or EHA, or Public Law (PL) 94-142 was enacted by the United States Congress in 1975. This act required all public schools accepting federal funds to p ...
, another law awaiting a signature from the head of HEW after congress had passed it. Along with provisions from 504, this law paved the way for bringing children with disabilities into the educational mainstream, giving them access to better schooling and opportunities.
The new law provoked some resistance and backlash from organizations that complained of costs.
504 trainings
As part of the 504 victory, the federal government funded disability activists to travel across the United States to explain to people with disabilities and local officials the rights guaranteed by the law. This helped spread the disability rights movement beyond the San Francisco Bay Area.
Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
The 504 occupation created a generation of disability rights activists and advocates who would go on to draft the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. The ADA can be viewed as picking up where 504 left off, handling the more difficult, complex situations.
Using Section 504 as a template, the framers of the ADA sought to extend provisions that now applied to government to much of the private sector (notably private employers, stores, hotels, and restaurants). The new law also specifically stated that the ADA would not amend or weaken Section 504. Because of being drafted based on 504, the ADA also framed disability in the context of civil rights rather than as a medical need, using terms such as "discrimination," "reasonable accommodation," and "otherwise qualified."
The cross-disability coalitions forged during the 504 protests also ensured that the ADA would employ a broad definition of disability so that it could encompass a wide variety of impairment groups.
Like Section 504, the ADA includes people with psychiatric disabilities, alcoholics, and recovered drug addicts (though current drug users are excluded).
Activists formed by the 504 occupation such as
Patrisha Wright Patrisha Wright is a disability rights activist. She is legally blind. She was instrumental in enacting the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Activism
She was at the San Francisco sit-in to support Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act in April 19 ...
spent the next thirteen years building relationships in Washington that would help pave the way for passing the ADA.
With thirteen years of Section 504 on the books, framers of the ADA could point to evidence that the earlier law had not led to the massive economic collapse that some had predicted (115-6).
See also
*
Fair Housing Act
The Civil Rights Act of 1968 () is a landmark law in the United States signed into law by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson during the King assassination riots.
Titles II through VII comprise the Indian Civil Rights Act, which applie ...
*
Air Carrier Access Act The Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 (ACAA) is Title 49, Section 41705 of the U.S. Code. The Act amended the earlier section 404(b) of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (FAA), which was repealed by the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. The ACAA prohib ...
*
Individual Family Service Plan
For education in the United States, an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) is a plan to obtain special education services for young children aged 0–3 years within U.S. public schools. It is provided by a community agency or home school dist ...
*
Individualized Education Program
An Individualized Education Program (IEP) is a legal document under United States law that is developed for each public school child in the U.S. who needs special education. It is created through a team of the child's parent(s) and district person ...
Notes
Additional references
*Scotch, Richard, K. "From Good Will to Civil Rights: Transforming Federal Disability Policy". Temple University Press, 2001.
* Switzer, Jacqueline Vaughn. ''Disabled Rights: American Disability Policy and the Fight for Equality''. Georgetown University Press, 2003.
* OCR Senior Staff Memoranda, "Guidance on the Application of Section 504 to Noneducational Programs of Recipients of Federal Financial Assistance," January 3, 1990.
* Lynch, William, "The Application of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act to the Internet: Poor E-Planning Prevents Poor E-Performance," 12 CommLaw Conspectus: Journal of Communications Law and Policy 245 (2004).
References
External links
The Act(archived July 2007) at blind.net
*Federal Government websites
US Dept. of Health & Human Services
Office for Civil Rights, US Dept. of Education
*
File a housing discrimination complaint''The Power of 504'' documentary
*
Section 504 and Food Allergy Primer
Fairbanks North Star Borough School District Section 504 Handbook includes forms and outlines and excellent information regarding Section 504
at University of Iowa
at Cybertelecom.org; implications for the provision of information technology
Gaskin Class Member a blog written by the mother of a class member in a statewide lawsuit regarding inclusion in education in Pennsylvania
The Inherent Dilemmas of a Schedule "A" Appointeeat PSRetirement.com
*Extracurricular Activities
**
** {{cite web, url= http://www.specialchild.com/archives/lf-013.html , title= Non-Academic and Extracurricular Services under Section 504, website= specialchild.com, first= Phil , last= Stinson
*
University of Iowa
Special education
Special education in the United States
United States federal civil rights legislation
United States federal disability legislation
Disability legislation
Disability in law
1973 in law