RE: City of Omaha Discriminatory Employment Practices

Resolution: 1979-03

RE: City of Omaha Discriminatory Employment Practices

WHEREAS, the employment form for the city of Omaha requires every applicant to list any "physical defect or disability" and state whether he or she received a disability pension and,

WHEREAS, the city of Omaha conditions an offer of employment on meeting physical standards which are arbitrary and capricious and,

WHEREAS, neither of these employment practices necessarily has any relevance to an applicant’s ability to perform essential job functions and,

WHEREAS the above questions tend to screen out a disabled applicant before he or she even gets to the interviewing stage and,

WHEREAS, the city of Omaha, through its physical standards, disqualifies an applicant for employment for any of an all-inclusive list of health problems unless an exception is made and,

WHEREAS, the city of Omaha should hire an applicant based on ability unless there is a health problem which prevents him or her from performing an essential job function and,

WHEREAS, these physical standards, have strictly applied, would bar both the Mayor of Omaha, and the President of the United States from working in the city of Omaha Civilian Service and,

WHEREAS, these employment practices deny equal opportunity in employment to blind and physically disabled workers and,

WHEREAS, these employment practices are discriminatory and illegal under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Constitution of the United States and other States and Federal laws and regulations and,

WHEREAS, lengthy negotiations with the city of Omaha yielded no substantial changes in these employment practices now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED, by the National Federation of the Blind of Nebraska, in convention assembled this 20th day of May, 1979, in the city of Hastings, Nebraska, that this organization condemns and deplores these discriminatory practices of the city of Omaha and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this convention reaffirm the decision of the board of directors to join the Tri-County Chapter in filing suit in Federal District Court and registering complaints with appropriate Federal agencies, against the city of Omaha concerning these practices, and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the President and board of directors initiate any further actions which will eliminate these discriminatory practices and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that copies of this resolution be sent to the Mayor of Omaha, the Omaha City Council and other persons as designated by the President.

Passed Unanimously