Wednesday, April 07, 1999
Court: Miami must allow mentally disabled workers
BY STEVE KEMME
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MIDDLETOWN — Mentally disabled job applicants should not be required to take civil service exams to qualify for job openings at Miami University, an appeals court has ruled.
The university must develop an alternative plan for considering mentally disabled people for jobs, says a decision issued this week by the 12th District Court of Appeals. The plan might involve special training, the court says.
In upholding a lower court decision, the appeals court said Miami unlawfully discriminated against men tally handicapped job applicants.
The university has not decided whether it will appeal the decision to the Ohio Supreme Court, said Richard Little, Miami spokesman.
He said he doesn't know how much it might cost to set up an alternative evaluation system and special training for the mentally disabled.
Ronn Kolbash, spokesman for Ohio Civil Rights Commission, praised the appeals court decision.
“We are seeing more disability cases,” he said. “We hope that other schools and big and small business alike see this case and see that they need to cooperate with individuals with disabilities and follow the law.”
The case stems from two mentally disabled job applicants who filed complaints against Miami in 1990. They were rejected for custodial or food service positions because they failed to attain high enough scores on the civil service exam.
The Ohio Civil Rights Commission ruled against Miami. The university challenged the decision by filing a lawsuit in Butler County Common Pleas Court. But the court upheld the commission's ruling.
Mr. Little said the university wants to maintain a high level of efficiency and safety, but also wants to accommodate mentally disabled individuals capable of doing good work.
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