The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) describing specific actions that federal agencies must take to comply with their obligation to engage in affirmative action in employment for individuals with disabilities. The NPRM is available in the Public Inspection portion of the Federal Register, and will be officially published February 24, 2016. Members of the public have 60 days from that date, April 25, 2016, to submit comments. EEOC has also published a question-and-answer document on the NPRM and a document providing background information and a summary of the NPRM.
The Wave of Website and Other ADA Accessibility Claims – What You Should Know
JD Supra
Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), providing for equal access for persons with disabilities in places of public accommodation, has made the country far more accessible. Yet, given its highly technical (and often ambiguous) design, plaintiffs’ firms and disability rights advocates file claims over unlawful barriers and technical violations against even the most conscientious places of public accommodation (e.g., hotels, restaurants, theaters, convention centers, stores, service establishments, healthcare facilities, transportation depots, libraries, recreation places, schools, etc.). Fortunately for companies, Title III limits liability to injunctive relief and attorneys’ fees for prevailing parties, and creates opportunities to moot – or even foreclose – claims by eliminating barriers promptly or through a comprehensive remediation plan.
Two Hawk Employment Services Sued By EEOC for Disability Discrimination
A temporary employment agency violated federal law when it asked an applicant illegal medical questions during its application process and then refused to hire the applicant because of her responses to those illegal medical inquiries, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed Monday. In addition, the suit alleges that Two Hawk failed to retain employment applications as required by federal law.
Ex-City Worker Says Disability Led to Firing
Courthouse News Service
The city of Savannah, Ga. wrongly fired an parking services division of employee after she developed chronic fatigue and sought an accommodation, the former employee claims in court.
In a Feb 16 complaint, Stefanie Wright says she began working as a revenue investigator for Savannah's Mobility and Parking Services Dept. in November 2011.
Ex-worker accuses Lowe's of disability discrimination
The Pennsylvania Record
A Pottstown woman is suing Lowe’s, alleging wrongful and discriminatory termination.
Tanner Bilyeu filed a lawsuit Feb. 12 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Lowe’s Companies Inc., alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), violation of the Pennsylvania Common Law, and violations of Title VII/PDA.
According to the complaint, Bilyeu was hired by the defendant in February 2015 and was told she was being hired seasonally for the summer until the fall when she would be evaluated for permanent employment. In May 2015, the suit says, the plaintiff suffered a work-related injury to her back and took two days off. At the time, she was several months pregnant with an expected due date in October 2015, the lawsuit states.
Upon Bilyeu's return to work, the suit says, she informed Lowe's she had minor work restrictions due to the injury and her pregnancy. The complaint states the defendant terminated her two weeks later, alleging it was due to the slow end of the season.
The plaintiff alleges her termination was a result of discrimination against her health conditions.
Bilyeu seeks compensation for all pay and benefits she would have received had she not been terminated, punitive damages, costs, expenses and attorney fees. She is represented by attorney Ari R. Karpf of Karpf, Karpf & Cerutti PC, in Bensalem
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Case number 2:16-cv-00699-JD
Lawsuit: ODOT isn't doing enough for disabled
KOIN.com
The group Disability Rights Oregon is suing the Oregon Department of Transportation. The group says the agency isn’t doing enough to keep sidewalks and ramps safe for people in wheelchairs.
Eight disabled Oregonians, 1 from Bend, sue ODOT over lack of access
KTVZ
Bend man who uses wheelchair one of eight named plaintiffs in civil rights suit seeking curb ramp fixes
Lexology
Since 2004, more than 20,000 ADA lawsuits have been filed in the country’s federal courts. The number of ADA filings in state courts is unavailable, but likely runs in the thousands. Nearly one half of all ADA lawsuits were filed in California with no end in sight.
From September 2013- December 2014 (the last time period the figures are available) more than 3,000 ADA lawsuits were reported to the California Commission on Disability Access (CCDA). According to the CCDA, more than one-half – 54% – of all construction-related accessibility complaints filed in California were filed by 2 law firms (one of the lawyers is fighting a State Bar suspension stemming from ADA litigation).
Fired employee accuses Pennway, Zober of violating ADA, PHRA
The Pennsylvania Record
A Bristol man is suing his former employers, alleging violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, resulting in his termination.
David Snyder of Bristol filed a complaint Feb. 8 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Pennway Corporation and Zober Industries Inc. of Croydon, alleging violation of ADA and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act.
According to the complaint, Snyder was hired as a plant manager but never assumed the role in his four months of employment, as he remained in the role of a spray painter. The suit states Snyder suffered from diabetes, which required accommodations but he still performed his duties well.
On occasion, the lawsuit states, Snyder's diabetes would intensify, and he requested allowance to be late for work, which resulted in hostility from the defendants. In April 2015, one such episode occurred, for which the defendant terminated Snyder, the suit says.
Snyder seeks damages for lost pay and benefits, punitive damages, punishment of defendant, legal relief, court costs and attorney fees. He is represented by attorney Ari R. Karpf of Karpf, Karpf & Cerutti PC in Bensalem.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Case number 2:16-cv-00620
This Starbucks Employee Went Above and Beyond for a Deaf Customer
Mic
A gesture of goodwill from a Starbucks barista in Virginia has been getting tons of love from the Facebook community.
The employee at a Leesberg location handed local resident Ibby Piracha, who is deaf, a note saying, "I've been learning [American Sign Language] just so you can have the same experience as everyone else." Piracha later shared a photo of the note to the social media site.
Legal Chat: Accommodating arthritis on the job
Spotlight News
I have arthritis and cannot perform certain tasks at work for extended periods. Would my employer be required to accommodate me?
Arthritis can slow the pace at which people work and make it more painful to perform certain duties, but only in extreme cases will this condition qualify as a disability covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or New York State Human Rights Law.
The ADA prohibits employers from discriminating against workers with a disability, which can be any “physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual,” the law’s implementing regulation states. In many cases, courts have found that arthritis that is not severe does not substantially limit one or more major life activities. Major life activities include “[c]aring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, sitting, reaching, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, interacting with others and working.”
Meet a disabilities lawyer pushing the envelope on digital accessibility
St. Louis Jewish Light
To many who know her story, Haben Girma is a hero.
In 2013, this daughter of Eritrean immigrants became the first deaf-blind person to graduate from Harvard Law School. Two years later she was part of the legal team that helped score a major civil rights victory in National Federation of the Blind v. Scribd, a precedent-setting case that will lead to the e-book company making the 40 million titles in its library accessible to blind subscribers by the end of 2017.
But when asked to name a hero of hers, Girma chooses Daniel Goldstein, the 67-year-old counsel for the National Federation of the Blind and the mastermind behind a legal strategy to bring the Americans with Disabilities Act into the digital era.
Scalia's Damage to Disability Rights
Progressive.org
Antonin Scalia's hostility toward civil rights claims was evident in many of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) cases that came before him on the U.S Supreme Court.
In two cases, Sutton v. United Airlines Inc. and Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky Inc. v. Williams, the Court diluted the ADA definition of disability to the point where many people with legitimate disabilities could no longer bring claims. In both cases, Scalia voted with the majority. As a result, Congress passed the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 specifically to undo the damage of those rulings.
Perhaps the most well-known ADA case was PGA Tour Inc. v. Martin, in which the majority ruled that the Professional Golfers Association had to let disabled golfer Casey Martin use a golf cart during competitions. In this case, Scalia wrote a caustic dissent calling the decision an “Alice in Wonderland determination.” He wrote, “Either out of humility or out of self-respect (one or the other) the Court should decline to answer this incredibly difficult and incredibly silly question.”
Access (ADA) Expert Talks About Small Businesses at Risk of Litigation
PR.com
Many Businesses do not know what is an ADA barrier is, or how to resolve it. That makes many properties vulnerable to lawsuits and loss of money. But ADA Compliance allows for a better business environment for all persons regardless of any type of disadvantage.
ADA Compliance & Defense Lawyer update: Lawmakers consider steps to limit abusive ADA lawsuits
Hotel Law
As the number of ADA lawsuits continues to explode, both Federal and California lawmakers are considering steps to limit abusive ADA lawsuits.
Here is an update on these positive developments from my partner, Marty Orlick, who heads JMBM’s ADA Compliance & Defense Group that has defended more than 600 ADA cases and DOJ investigations.
Service Launched to Help Universities Comply With ADA Web Site Regulations
Campus Technology
A division of Perkins School for the Blind now offers a consulting package that will assist colleges and universities comply with Americans With Disabilities Act guidelines that require their websites be accessible to people with disabilities.
Blind Medicare Recipients Sue CMS For Disability Discrimination
The last year has seen a flurry of lawsuits and demand letters to health care and other companies, and even a variety of nonprofits, alleging that those entities have websites that are not accessible to those who are blind or have low vision and thus allegedly violate the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) enforces nondiscrimination and accommodation obligations as to health care entities providing services to Medicare and Medicaid recipients with disabilities. In an ironic twist, the National Federation of the Blind has brought suit in U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts, alleging that HHS’s sub-agency, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and its CMS subcontractors, have systemically violated the civil rights of blind Medicare recipients.
Settlement Agreement: 360 Federal Credit Union
Quality Solutions, LLC to Pay $22,500 to Settle EEOC Pregnancy Discrimination Suit
Quality Solutions, LLC, a Dalton, Ga., staffing company, will pay $22,500 and furnish other relief to settle a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced.
According to EEOC's lawsuit, Kayla Medeiros sought a temporary job assignment through Quality Solutions. Around Dec. 19, 2014, Quality Solutions called Medeiros for a job opening. EEOC charged in its lawsuit that when Medeiros responded to Quality Solutions indicating her interest in taking the job, a company manager told her that he could not send her for the assignment because she was pregnant. The manager indicated that the job was in a warehouse where Medeiros could get hurt.
Most Med Schools Need to Update Policies for Disabled Students
Psychiatry Advisor
Most medical schools need to post, update, or clarify technical standards (TSs), required under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), that detail what a school will do to accommodate a student with a disability, according to a study published online in Academic Medicine.
Philip Zazove, MD, from the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, and colleagues examined the availability of TSs from US medical schools, particularly in relation to compliance with the ADA. The authors analyzed documents from 173 US medical schools' TSs for hearing, visual, and mobility disabilities.
City plans path to ADA compliance
IllinoisHomePage.net
City leaders are taking steps to make the city more handicap-friendly. Tuesday night, the city council will learn more about a new ADA transition plan to bring its public spaces up-to-code.
They've been a long time coming. You see the signs. You go through the doors. But one crack in the sidewalk is a crack in the code.
"It can be a really large obstacle for someone that is required to use a wheelchair."
Woman Claims Fargo VA is not a service dog friendly facility
Valley News Live
Service animals are properly trained to help people deal with a variety of disabilities including blindness, deafness, reminding people to take medication and keeping those with PTSD calm during anxiety attacks. One Afghanistan war veteran says she's tired of being stopped at the door of the Fargo VA. After numerous incidents at the north Fargo facility, she's had enough and says other veterans need to know what's going on.