Affiliations: Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special
Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA | Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation,
VCU Medical Center, Richmond, VA, USA | Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Hong Kong
Polytechnic University, HongKong
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Fong Chan, Ph.D., Professor,
Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education, University of
Wisconsin-Madison, 432 N. Murray Street, Madison, WI 53706, USA. E-mail:
chan@education.wisc.edu
Abstract: The purpose of this paper was to determine what drives workplace
discrimination against people with disabilities. These findings are then
compared to available literature on attribution theory, which concerns itself
with public perceptions of the controllability and stability of various
impairments. The sample included 35,763 allegations of discriminations filed by
people with disabilities under the employment provisions of the Americans with
Disabilities Act. Group A included impairments deemed by Corrigan et al. [1988]
to be uncontrollable but stable: visual impairment (representing 13% of the
total allegations in this study), cancer (12%), cardiovascular disease (19%),
and spinal cord injuries (5%). The controllable but unstable impairments in
group B included depression (38%), schizophrenia (2%), alcohol and other drug
abuse (4%), and HIV/AIDS (7%). The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had
resolved all allegations in terms of merit Resolutions (a positive finding of
discrimination) and Resolutions without merit. Allegations of workplace
discrimination were found to center mainly on hiring, discharge, harassment,
and reasonable accommodation issues. Perceived workplace discrimination (as
measured by allegations filed with EEOC) does occur at higher levels in Group
B, especially when serious issues involving discharge and disability harassment
are involved. With the glaring exception of HIV/AIDS, however, actual
discrimination (as measured by EEOC merit Resolutions) occurs at higher levels
for Group A.
