The purpose of the Vocational Rehabilitation and Other Rehabilitation Services Act is to empower individuals with disabilities to maximize employment, economic self-sufficiency, independence, and inclusion and integration into society.29 USC CHAPTER 16 - VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION AND OTHER REHABILITATION SERVICES

TITLE 29 - LABOR

The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution limit the power of the federal and state governments to discriminate. The private sector is not directly constrained by the Constitution.

The Americans with Disabilities Act, also known as the ADA, is the Federal Law that prohibits Employment Discrimination on the basis of a person's disability. In addition to its impact on employment discrimination, the ADA also requires that companies provide accommodations both to their employees and in some cases the public, such as requiring doors to be at least three feet wide so that a wheelchair can pass. The ADA prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities by employers, employment agencies, labor organizations, and joint labor management committees.

In June 1972, the President signed Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. §1681 et seq., into law. Title IX is a comprehensive federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally funded education program or activity. The principle objective of Title IX is to avoid the use of federal money to support sexually discriminatory practices in education programs such as sexual harassment and employment discrimination, and to provide individual citizens effective protection against those practices. Title IX applies, with a few specific exceptions, to all aspects of federally funded education programs or activities. In addition to traditional educational institutions such as colleges, universities, and elementary and secondary schools, Title IX also applies to any education or training program operated by a recipient of federal financial assistance. Many of these education program providers/recipients became subject to Title IX regulations when the Title IX final common rule was published on August 30, 2000.