One of the most pressing legal issues that the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind is facing is issues pertaining to employee hiring, firing and management. Within this area of employment law, the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind has faced several discrimination claims filed against them by employees. The majority of these discrimination claims were based on a claim that an employment decision was based on the employee's disability. Because the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind is a publicly funded entity, it is considered a body of the government and is thus held to a specific standard for determining whether or not they acted in a discriminatory fashion. The Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind claims that they had an important need for the so-called discrimination in that the employee's disabilities prevented them from being able to carry out the important functions required of working with a deaf and blind population.
             For example, Kevin Nealey, a dormitory instructor, claimed that he was demoted to the status of a part-time employee because of his disability. Nealey is blind and was told he could no longer perform his job due to his blindness. Nealey claims he is able to perform all the required functions of the job. The Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind states that a dormitory employee requires the greatest monitoring of children at all times.
             The Americans with Disabilities Act covers entities, including private employer, against qualified individuals with a disability. A qualified individual is an individual with a disability who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the employment position that such individual holds or desires. A disability is defines as 1) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual; 2) a record of such impairment; or 3) being regar...