The definition of retaliation under the Americans with Disabilities Act is important for important for parents and caregivers to understand.
Here it is, directly out of the ADA:
Sec.36.206 Retaliation or coercion.
(a) No private or public entity shall discriminate against any individual because that individual has opposed any act or practice made unlawful by this part, or because that individual made a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under the Act or this part.
(b) No private or public entity shall coerce, intimidate, threaten, or interfere with any individual in the exercise or enjoyment of, or on account of his or her having exercised or enjoyed, or on account of his or her having aided or encouraged any other individual in the exercise or enjoyment of, any right granted or protected by the Act or this part.
(c) Illustrations of conduct prohibited by this section include, but are not limited to:
(1) Coercing an individual to deny or limit the benefits, services, or advantages to which he or she is entitled under the Act or this part;
(2) Threatening, intimidating, or interfering with an individual with a disability who is seeking to obtain or use the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of a public accommodation;
(3) Intimidating or threatening any person because that person is assisting or encouraging an individual or group entitled to claim the rights granted or protected by the Act or this part to exercise those rights; or
(4) Retaliating against any person because that person has participated in any investigation or action to enforce the Act or this part.
In real-life terms, here are some examples:
1. nobody, such as Medicaid, can coerce or try to threaten you to give up your rights to services
2. if you’re advocating on your child’s behalf, the school or Medicaid can’t retaliate by cutting their services
If you feel this is happening, you can file a complaint with either the federal Department of Health & Human Services Office for Civil Rights, or the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.
This is a great page of information about retaliation from the Wrightslaw website.
