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Service Animal Basics: Federal Law

Americans with Disabilities Act

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Disability Defined

The ADA defines an individual with a disability as "a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major like activities, a person who has a record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an imapirment." 42 U.S.C. §12102(1)

The ADA does not name all of the impairments covered.

Introduction to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination and ensures equal opportunity for persons with disabilities in employment, state and local government services, public accommodations, commercial facilities, and transportation. 

The ADA is divided into five Titles (sections) that cover different areas of life as follows:

Title I Employment - Equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities

Title II State and Local Government - Nondiscrimination on the basis of disability in State and Local Government Services

Title III Public Accommodations - Nondiscrimination on the basis of disability by public accommodations and in commercial facilities

Title  IV Miscellaneous - Provision pertaining to the ADA's relationship with other laws, state immunity, and more. Includes a list of conditions not to be considered as disabilities. 

The ADA is codified at 42 U.S.C.§12101, et seq.

Enforcement of ADA

Protections covered by the ADA are enforced by various government agencies. Below is a list of agencies responsible for enforcing Titles I-III of the ADA. Title IV is enforced as it pertains to protections in Titles I-III.

Title I U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Titles II & III U.S. Department of Justice/Attorney General

Title IV Federal Trade Commission with regard to Telecommunications within Title IV. 

Federal Codes

The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) is codified at 42 U.S.C. §12101, et seq.

Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) at:

28 C.F.R. §35.104,

28 C.F.R. §35.136, and

28 C.F.R. §36.104.

See also the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 at 29 U.S.C. §701, et seq.