Ohio ADA: What you need to know

The Ohio Fair Employment Practice Law prohibits employment practices that discriminate on the basis of disability. The law covers private employers with four or more employees and all state and local government agencies, regardless of size (OH Rev. Code Sec. 4112.01 et seq.).

The term "disability" is defined as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, including caring for one's self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, and working (OH Rev. Code Sec. 4112.01(A)(13)). The definition also includes a record of an impairment, or being regarded as having an impairment.

Physical or mental impairment. An impairment includes any of the following:

• Any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting body systems, such as the neurological, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, reproductive, and digestive systems
• Any mental or psychological disorder, such as mental retardation, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, and specific learning disabilities
• Diseases and conditions such as orthopedic, visual, speech and hearing impairments, cerebral palsy, autism, epilepsy, diabetes, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, drug addiction, and alcoholism

The following are expressly excluded from the definition of impairment:

• Homosexuality and bisexuality
• Transvestism, transsexualism, pedophilia, exhibitionism, and other sexual behavior disorders
• Compulsive gambling, kleptomania, or pyromania
• Disorders resulting from current use of illegal drugs or alcohol

Federal law compared. Although the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has similar provisions to the state law, amendments changed the ...