LETTER: Put-down of disabled state rep a shameful affront to decency

To Ozaukee Press:

It is shameful and discriminatory that Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) did not immediately agree to the reasonable job accommodations requested by State Rep. Jimmy Anderson (D-Fitchburg), a person with a disability. 

It is also a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush in 1990.

Rep. Anderson’s request for accommodations was initially ignored, then denied. 

After a threatened lawsuit, the eventual legislation that passed did not invite Anderson’s input, granted only partial accommodations and added in other unrelated legislative benefits for the majority party.           

No other designated employer would be able to similarly defy the law when a qualified employee makes a request for reasonable accommodations so that he can perform his job.  

Unfortunately, the other Republican assemblypersons stood lock-step with Vos on this.

As the parent of a person with a disability, I am dismayed with this disregard for the law. Where is our decency, Wisconsin?

Louise Mollinger
Port Washington