Excerpt from: Center for Independent Living of South Florida Advocacy Blog (click for full post)
"I'm a doctor in
private practice, and I can choose my patients - If a patient is deaf,
and doesn't agree to bring their own interpreter, I can turn them
away, right?"
No. Doctors in
private practice (not employed by a state or local government) are
covered by title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA),(
regardless of the number of employees they have), and cannot
discriminate on the basis of disability. (Doctors employed by a state or
local government are covered by title II of the ADA.)
In addition, if
they receive federal financial assistance, they are prohibited from
discriminating against patients on the basis of disability by a law that
has been in existence since 1973 - Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973. Violation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act could
result in a suspension or termination of all federal financial
assistance by the federal funding agency. This has great significance
for public hospitals in particular.
Patients with
hearing disabilities (and other disabilities) are a protected class
under federal civil rights laws. Other protected classes under other
federal civil rights laws are people of color, women, and people
expressing religious beliefs, among others.
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