SANPRM Comment Period Extended
On May 9, 2016, the Department of Justice (Department) published a Supplemental Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SANPRM) in the Federal Register addressing the potential application of technical accessibility requirements to the Web sites of title II entities. The comment period is scheduled to close on August 8, 2016. The Department is extending the comment period by 60 days until October 7, 2016, in order to provide additional time for the public to prepare comments.
Disabled Residents Sue Prince George's County Housing Authority
NBC4 Washington
A group of disabled residents have filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the Housing Authority of Prince George's County because they say the county has refused to make their apartments handicap accessible.
Lawsuit: Mean Bosses Accidentally CC'd Employee On Emails Making Fun Of Her ADHD
Gothamist
A Queens woman is suing her bosses at a SoHo design and branding firm after she found herself CC'd on emails mocking her because of her ADHD, according to a copy of the lawsuit obtained by the New York Post.
Adrienne Thiery claims that two of her bosses at branding firm Slover and Company, founder Susan Slover and managing partner Rosemary Kuropat, included her on emails where they discussed her ADHD, which they had learned about from another employee, in less than glowing terms. A June email that Thierry included in her suit shows Kuropat writing to Slover that "THE CHICK IS HOPELESS" while referring to Thiery, while in another Slover wrote Thiery's disorder "cannot be our problem." This came after Thiery had been an employee of the company for about a year and just a month after she'd received a $12,000 bonus.
Thiery also alleges that her bosses told her that she should have revealed her ADHD originally and that they wouldn't hire her if they'd known, and that one told her "Now that I know you have ADHD, we’re firing you." Kuropat told the Post that Thiery's claims were "baseless" and that she was fired for performance. And in the mean time, everyone learned a valuable lesson to never email anything.
Cook County Record
A former state trooper placed on restricted duty after a diabetic episode caused her to crash a squad car – and to whom the state offered three alternative positions - has failed in her bid to sue the Illinois State Police for discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly granted summary judgment in Case No. 15-C-2131 to the state police, confirming the agency’s argument that its alternative employment offers satisfied its duties under the ADA to former trooper Jessica Kirincich.
This rate of increase for ADA lawsuits is staggering
Hr Morning
You likely know by now that federal agencies have made rooting out disability discrimination a top priority. And you likely expected lawsuits to increase in this area. But did you expect things to reach this point this quickly?
Compared to 2015’s figures, ADA Title III lawsuits have increased 62.4% in 2016, according to the law firm Seyfarth Shaw LLP, which tracks ADA lawsuits and trends carefully.
From January 1, 2015 to June 30, 2015 the number of ADA lawsuits filed in federal court was 2,114, according to the law firm.
Over the same period in 2016, a whopping 3,435 ADA lawsuits were filed (a 62.4% increase).
If the exact same number of lawsuits are filed in the second half of 2016, that would put the total at 6,870 by the end of the year. That would be a 43.4% increase over 2015’s final tally.
Advocates for Individuals with Disabilities Foundation has Filed More Than 950 ADA Cases in 2016
Lexology
An entity called Advocates for Individuals with Disabilities Foundation, Inc. (“AID Foundation”) has filed more than 950 ADA lawsuits this year against local businesses and commercial landlords. These lawsuits all focus on relatively minor violations in the parking lot. You can read my earlier blogs about these lawsuits: It Begins: Arizona Restaurants/Bars Must Prepare for Tidal Wave of ADA Lawsuits, Disabled Man Sues Dozens of Arizona Businesses Over Handicapped Parking Spaces, More ADA Cases Filed by Serial Plaintiff David Ritzenthaler and Serial ADA Plaintiffs David Ritzenthaler and Santiago Abreu Have Sued More Than 450 Arizona Businesses in 2016.
AID Foundation’s tidal wave of ADA lawsuits began in Scottsdale, spread through Phoenix and has flooded the East Valley for the past couple of months. I have represented more than 130 defendants in these cases and have become very familiar with AID Foundation’s modus operandi and litigation strategies.
Nearly all of AID Foundation’s lawsuits allege that the accessible parking signs are too low (they must be at least 60” from the bottom of the sign to the ground) and/or that a “van accessible” sign (which costs approximately $10.00 to buy online) is missing.
Many defendants are frustrated because their parking lots were inspected and approved by a city ADA inspector. Unfortunately, a number of cities in Greater Phoenix have accessibility requirements that conflict with the ADA. For example, businesses in Mesa may be in compliance with the Mesa City Code, but in violation of the ADA, a federal law (which trumps conflicting state and city laws).
Are there any legal defenses? Definitely. Many defendants in ADA cases have opted to quickly remedy the alleged violations and then file a Motion to Dismiss because the case is moot—there is no ongoing “case or controversy” if the alleged violation has been resolved.
An Arizona business or commercial landlord who has been sued by Advocates for Individuals with Disabilities needs to immediately retain a competent and experienced ADA attorney.
No ADA Claim for Teacher on Social Security Disability
Bloomberg BNA
A former Detroit public school teacher with an arthritic knee who received Social Security disability benefits can't pursue an Americans with Disabilities Act claim, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled ( Stallings v. Detroit Pub. Sch., 2016 BL 243760, 6th Cir., No. 15-2428, unpublished 7/28/16 ).
An ADA plaintiff who receives Social Security disability benefits still may have a triable ADA claim if she explains how she could perform the job with reasonable accommodation.
But Phyllis Stallings failed to present evidence that would reconcile the apparent contradiction between her Social Security benefits application claiming total disability and her assertion that she could have continued teaching if reasonably accommodated, the appeals court said.