EEOC targets AT&T Pacific Bell over allegations of discrimination against deaf employee
Legal News Line
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced a lawsuit Aug. 8 against AT&T Pacific Bell, a telecommunications company in California, for allegations of denying an employee’s request for a sign language interpreter.
"The law requires that reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities be effective," said Anna Park, regional attorney for EEOC's Los Angeles District, whose jurisdiction includes California's Central Valley. "A reasonable accommodation should endeavor to provide employees with a disability equal access to the benefits and privileges of employment."
United States: Watch Out: Workplace Smells, ADA Disability, Telecommuting, And An EEOC Lawsuit
Mondaq News Alerts
According to the EEOC in this just filed lawsuit, a home care services provider in North Carolina violated federal disability rights law when it rejected telecommuting requests from an employee whose asthma and COPD "made her sensitive to workplace smells."
Nevada Attorney General fights 'malicious' ADA lawsuits
KTNV Las Vegas
More than a hundred businesses in Las Vegas are being sued for supposed discrimination against the disabled.
Contact 13 uncovers why the Nevada Attorney General is trying to put a stop to that.
When Contact 13 learned about those businesses, we started tracking cases filed here in Nevada by a man named Kevin Zimmerman. He alleges violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act design standards, like the exact width of store aisles, location of restroom paper towel dispensers and the height of disabled parking signs.
Attorney General Adam Laxalt says the lawsuits are all about money.
The Attorney General says 275 cookie-cutter cases have been filed by the same guy in just the past few months. They target businesses we all visit every day, from gas stations to fast-food restaurants, like Checkers. From 7-Elevens to Starbucks, the list goes on.
And the Attorney General's office says these nuisance lawsuits carry a trickle-down cost that hits consumers right in the wallet.
So the AG filed a motion to intervene to protect "the public interest from malicious or premature lawsuits that threaten Nevada business owners."
Americans with Disabilities Act not perfect
White Mountain Independent
The American’s with Disabilities Act of 1993 was designed to ensure that people with disabilities have the same access to businesses, government offices, restaurants, post offices, and other government buildings — and public places — as anyone else.
But some buildings in the White Mountains and elsewhere are not in compliance.
Judges expand ADA rule to include more websites
New York Post
Rulings this month by two New York federal court judges expanded the number of corporate Web sites that must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act — prompting a new rush of lawsuits against unsuspecting stores.
The judges ruled that even companies that don’t have a physical store must operate sites that are compatible with screen-reading software for the visually impaired.
DOT Fails to Meet Federal Standards for Disabled After $243M Spent: Report
DNAinfo
About 80 percent of the city's curb cuts are not up to federal standards for the disabled even after $243 million in taxpayer funds were shelled out over the last 15 years to build new ramps, according to a recent study by a federal court monitor.
It could take the city another 20 years to bring all the curbs up to the Americans With Disabilities Act regulations and officials only have a vague plan for how they'll get there, city lawyers admitted to an independent disability specialist appointed by federal Judge George Daniels as part of oversight of a 2002 settlement with Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association.
Most of 116,530 ramps across the city were either built to ADA standards but not maintained, or were never compliant with the law to begin with, according to a 292-page report submitted to federal court on Aug. 1. written by Special Master Robert L. Burgdorf. Around 4,431 curbs across the city still don't have ramps at all.
Burgdorf largely blames the toothless 2002 settlement with the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association which didn't set up timelines, or monitoring of improved curb cuts and didn't actually require ADA compliance.