NEWSLETTER UPDATE – SEPTEMBER,
2008
FROM PHYLLIS F. RESNICK,
PRESIDENT
HELLO, AGAIN, EVERYBODY!!!!!
Please allow us to begin by addressing the matters of costs and
trees. As the costs of printing and
paper continue to rise and the loss of trees continues to grow, we have been
thinking of sending this newsletter electronically ONLY, to those who have
e-mail, while continuing to send it by postal mail to those who do not. (Or, in the alternative, one could log on to
our website and read it there.) If you would
like to receive future newsletters by email or via the website, rather than in
paper form, please send us an email (phyllis@adaaccessnow.org)
indicating so and we will then cease sending all future newsletters by postal
mail, except to those who wish to continue that way. Thank you for your cooperation!
Well, another 6 months have passed since our last newsletter and much
continues to happen in the world of “Access Now”®. We have had several Class Action Fairness
Hearings, a trial and many Settlements.
It has been an active, interesting, challenging, sometimes aggravating,
but mostly gratifying time! Some things are happening in the overall
A.D.A. (Americans with Disabilities Act) world as well; more about all of the
above later in this newsletter.
We would like to point out to those of you who are
receiving this newsletter for the first time
that, sadly, many entities continue to
fail to comply with the A.D.A., despite the fact that the law was enacted in
1990. As we have said before, we
continue to press on with cases against a variety of entities. On a continuing basis, virtually daily, we
receive complaints from disabled persons who are routinely being denied their
rights under this civil rights law.
There is no such thing as a “large” or “small” case, only a large or
small entity and we take pride in the fact that we do not limit our efforts to
either category. The resolution of high
profile cases of legal “first impression”, as well as of those involving
neighborhood businesses have a great impact on the daily lives of the disabled
among us (although we want to make clear that it is not our aim to put anyone
out of business.)
AND NOW, THE UPDATE:
Membership – We now have
968 members representing 47 states and Puerto Rico. We are also proud to claim members in Canada, Hong
Kong, Australia. Our Board of Directors stands at 40, our
Executive Committee at 8, our Attorneys represent 4 law firms and our
Consultants number 6. We want to
acknowledge here our debt to our Board of Directors and our Executive Committee
for their support, their encouragement and their many kinds of contributions to
our goals. Most particularly, we want to
express our appreciation for the efforts of our First Vice-President, Marla
Dumas. Above all, our deepest
appreciation goes to the attorneys and consultants who handle all our
cases. Contrary to what is widely believed
by the public, these are professionals who, although they earn their livings,
in part, through these efforts, are primarily attracted to this work by their
belief in and dedication to our mission!
We would be quite remiss if we failed to mention the enormous
contributions of our computer consultants, Gregory
Arkin and Alain Ginzberg, without whom we would not be able
to function! Above all, I want to
express my everlasting gratitude to my assistant, Thomas
Miller, for undertaking the task of composing and typing the
bulk of this newsletter. I couldn’t do
it without him!!
Finally, you may have heard that we have received our
Florida and our U.S. trademark registrations for Access Now®. Attorney Frank
Herrera has provided invaluable pro bono assistance in achieving this milestone. Once again, we wish to express our gratitude
to Mr. Herrera. The result of his
efforts is the successful culmination of our multi-year effort to protect the
Access Now® name.
A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF OUR LITIGATION:
Since
our September Newsletter, Access Now® has made progress in settling
cases in several states. We have filed a
total of 964 cases since our inception. Presently, there are 136 cases with
outstanding Settlement Agreements, requiring alterations or modifications which
in several cases should be completed by July 1, 2008, or later. (Cases involving hospitals and other large or
complex facilities have post-settlement compliance completion dates much
further in the future.)
During the past six
months, Access Now® has entered into 27 additional settlements
to make properties A.D.A.-compliant. They
include:
Hospitals 23
Government 2
Schools 1
Transportation 1
Access Now® continues to
assert itself nationally in scope. The
13 states in which cases have been settled range from the South and the mid-Atlantic
to the Great Plains, Rocky Mountains and the
Pacific shore. Our headquarters state of
Florida
accounted for 11% of settlements over the past six months.
We will keep expanding our
geographical presence as best we can as we continue to receive requests for
information and assistance from around the country and internationally. Please notify us if you become aware of
situations where access continues to be denied.
We remain solidly in the forefront of the fight for accessibility.
The following is a brief listing of the cases that
have been settled since our last newsletter:
Government
City of Cape Coral, Cape Coral, Florida
Town of Ocean
City, Ocean City, Maryland
Schools
Northern Oklahoma
College, Enid, Oklahoma
Transportation
Cruise America, Inc., Mesa, Arizona
Hospitals
|
Augusta Surgical Center
|
Augusta
|
GA
|
|
Cartersville Medical
Center
|
Cartersville
|
GA
|
|
Centennial Surgery
Center
|
Nashville
|
TN
|
|
Coliseum Medical
Center
|
Macon
|
GA
|
|
Coliseum
Same Day Surgery Center
|
Macon
|
GA
|
|
Creighton University
Medical Center
|
Omaha
|
NE
|
|
Doctors Hospital
|
Augusta
|
GA
|
|
Desert Regional
Medical Center
|
Palm Springs
|
CA
|
|
Doctors
Hospital of Manteca
|
Manteca
|
CA
|
|
Doctors
Medical Center of Modesto
|
Modesto
|
CA
|
|
Grand Strand
Regional Medical
Center
|
Myrtle Beach
|
SC
|
|
Henrico
Doctor’s
|
Richmond
|
VA
|
|
Lakeview Regional
Medical Center
|
Covington
|
LA
|
|
Las Palmas Medical
Center
|
El Paso
|
TX
|
|
Medical City
Dallas Hospital
|
Dallas
|
TX
|
|
Plaza Medical
Center of Ft. Worth
|
Ft. Worth
|
TX
|
|
Retreat Hospital
|
Richmond
|
VA
|
|
Rio Grande Medical
Center
|
McAllen
|
TX
|
|
South Bay
Hospital
|
Sun City Center
|
FL
|
|
Specialty Hospital
of Jacksonville
|
Jacksonville
|
FL
|
|
St.
Mark’s Hospital
|
Salt Lake City
|
UT
|
|
Twin Cities
Community Hospital
|
Templeton
|
CA
|
|
West Houston
Medical Center
|
Houston
|
TX
|
NOTABLE CASES – There are some cases that are especially
important because of their value as precedents or because they remove
significant numbers or types of barriers.
Several of those types of cases are listed below. Please remember that most defendants in
non-class action cases insist on confidentiality as a condition of signing
settlement agreements.
Therefore, we cannot discuss those cases by name, although they number
quite a few. However, several of them
are included in the cases listed above.
1.
Hospitals – The numbers of
individual hospital cases that have been settled or are moving rapidly toward
settlement continues to increase every week.
The five Tenet Healthcare Corporation (Tenet) facilities listed in the
prior section had a Fairness Hearing on January 26th in Miami.
Another Fairness Hearing was held on June 3rd regarding an additional 18
Hospital Corporation of America
(HCA) medical facilities.
We continue to be
actively involved in cases involving medical institutions because of our strong
belief that they constitute one of the most important ways to enhance the
quality of life of the disabled community.
These hospital settlements will
make a great difference to members of our community. The settlements show that the ADA can work when there
are dedicated advocates and attorneys using it for our benefit. THE 27 FACILITIES HAVE A TOTAL OF ALMOST
4800 BEDS IN TEN STATES.
We want to give much deserved
praise to the firm of de la O, Marko, Magolnick and Leyton, and particularly to
their associate, Charles D. Ferguson,
for their stellar work in pursuing all the hospitals listed above and many
others still in the pipeline!
________________________________________________________________
2.
City of Cape Coral, Florida – This case involves the city’s
access problems with sidewalks, curb ramps, parking lots and public
buildings. After years of litigation,
the case against the city has been resolved.
It has agreed to spend up to $250,000 to remedy these access
problems. Indeed, Cape Coral has already
completed a large percentage of the work, and the amount it has agreed to spend
is far more than the expert’s estimates to make the repairs. Over the next
several years, the city will undergo a significant change accessibility-wise
due to our efforts.
3.
Town of Ocean City, Maryland – The town has agreed to make
access and parking improvements and modifications overt the next five years as
required by the ADA. This includes
upgrading its streets, parks, stadia and other recreational areas, restrooms
and the Convention Center. The changes
will considerably improve the accessibility of the town for disabled residents
and visitors.
4.
Cruise America, Inc. – This is another case involving
accessibility to rental vehicles for the disabled. Cruise America rents Recreational
Vehicles. The settlement in this case
requires the company to make it RVs accessible to the disabled. this includes the purchase of hand controls
for at least two of its vehicles, discontinue its policy that the driver and
credit card holder must be the same individual allow the use of service animals
and provide assistance for vision-impaired renters. Cruise America’s Worldwide Reservation Center
will designate a person as it ADA Coordinator to implement the company’s policy
for the Provision of Services to Individuals with Disabilities. We want to acknowledge our attorney, Gene
Zweben, and plaintiff Fred Shotz for their efforts in securing this agreement
protecting the mobility rights of the disabled.
5.
Northern Oklahoma College – The Enid, Oklahoma college has
begun implementing a four-year plan to remove access barriers on its campus. It has created an ADA Committee to address issues regarding barriers
that interfere with access to services and facilities for persons with
disabilities. Over the next four years
the committee will designate projects on the Enid campus to remove or remediate
barriers identified by our expert. There
will be a review of all projects at the end of each academic year through 2012. The resolution of this case will make the Northern Oklahoma College campus a much more accessible
place for the disabled.
6.
City of Sonora, California – The city is working hard to live
up to its promise to make all of its facilities, programs and services
ADA-compliant. The plan to update access
is in place, and the modifications are underway. The construction is on schedule according to
the agreement between Sonora and Access Now® as embodied in the city’s transition plan.
7.
Emory University – Access Now® and
member Kami Barker sued Emory University and its architects and engineers for
denial of access in university housing projects. We settled with the University to remedy ADA
and other accessibility violations.
After a trial in August, 2006 before an Atlanta jury, a verdict for
liability and damages was returned against the builders, Trammel Crow
Residential, but not against the architects, Niles Bolton Associates. The outcome was less favorable than we had
expected, and we appealed the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. A court-ordered appellate mediation was
unsuccessful, and we are now preparing to present our appeal. The case is currently in the briefing stage
of the appeal process. We will keep you
informed as to any further developments in this groundbreaking case (the
first jury trial under the Fair Housing Act.) Kudos to Matthew Dietz of the law firm of
Matthew W. Dietz, P.L., for his diligent pursuit of this particularly difficult
and complicated case!
However, with regard to Fair
Housing issues, much of interest is happening.
The U.S. Government has substantially increased the number of Fair
Housing Act lawsuits being brought. See
the New York Times articles on Aug.
14th (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/14/nyregion/14building.html?scp=3&sq=Fair%20Housing%20Act&st=cse) and Aug. 19th (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/
08/19/nyregion/19disabled.html?scp=1&sq=Fair%20housing%20act&st=cse) of this year. We are so pleased and proud to highlight
again that Matthew Dietz and Access Now®, in the Emory case
discussed above, brought the very first case to go to trial in the arena of
the Fair Housing Act!
Additionally,
on HUD’s Fair Housing Act link (http://www.hud.gov/offices/ fheo/index.cfm) there is a wide variety of
discussions regarding the Fair Housing Act as it applies to disabled
persons. Among the many issues in
connection with this is one, in particular, about which we feel it is
especially important for our readers to be aware: if you are disabled and you are purchasing a
home which is in the design phase, you have the right to ask the developer to
have it designed and constructed with the accessibility parameters which you
require. If that increases the cost, you
would be required to pay that increase, but the developer would be required to
grant your demands.
___________________________________________________________________
CLASS ACTIONS – Class actions
affect a large number of disabled persons, usually because a large number of
facilities are involved. We have class
actions pending many offenders. These
cases move slowly, but there is progress to report:
Arby’s:
“Access Now”® brought suit against Arby’s, based on the
A.D.A. non-compliance of approximately 773 of its restaurants in the United
States, Puerto Rico and U.S. territories.
Arby’s has agreed to remove architectural barriers in its restaurants,
which will allow the disabled better access to this restaurant chain. We are continuing with our post-settlement
inspections of the Arby’s locations. To
date 100 locations have work underway after inspections have been
completed. These locations should be
ADA-compliant by year’s end. Other
locations are now being inspected so that work can begin on them. Again, we wish to acknowledge the fine work
of Josh Entin and Bob Switkes of Rosen, Switkes and Entin, PL for this
wonderful result.
Dollar & Thrifty Rent-a-Car: This
class settlement and consent decree with Dollar and Thrifty rental car
companies was approved on December 7, 2006.
The agreement contemplates the most comprehensive accessibility program
ever implemented in the rental car industry with what is believed to be the
third largest rental car company in the United States.
Steady progress continues on the schedule set forth in the Consent
Decree. Defendants have developed an
updated facilities list reflecting the fact that they added 38 facilities to
the listing, bringing the total to 272.
Furthermore, an additional 30 facilities have been surveyed so far this
year and there are plans to survey an additional 58 locations during the
balance of 2008, bringing the total percentage of facilities surveyed to
54%. Finally, Defendants have completed
remediation work on 51 facilities so far this year and have plans to work on an
additional 52 locations during the balance of 2008, bringing the total
percentage of facilities undergoing remediation work to 38%.
___________________________________________________________________
LITIGATION BY OTHERS: We want to keep you informed about important
recent litigation around the country, of which you might not be aware, as well
as to update information from December’s newsletter affecting the rights of the
disabled. We think it is important for
our members to keep abreast of successes realized by and within the disabled
community, whether accomplished by Access Now® or by other
organizations. We are all in this fight
together!
Just comply with ADA
and he'll 'go away'
By Geoff Oldfather
Sunday,
February 17, 2008
Lenny Wein is a pain in the neck. Some use another part of the anatomy to
describe him. He wouldn't have it any
other way.
Wein has been accused of extortion and worse because
he has taken on local governments, businesses and individuals over the issue of
access for the handicapped. "I get
no money. I ask for no damages. All I want them to do is fix it," Wein
said. He has filed 36 lawsuits in
federal U.S. District Court for South Florida over handicap access.
Wein's latest target is the Martin County Fairgrounds,
where he says he has been trying for more than a decade to get officials to
comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, passed more than 18
years ago. He claims people in
wheelchairs or using walkers or other aides can't get to games, rides or food
stands in the grassy midway, and bathrooms and other facilities are so
antiquated they're almost impossible for the handicapped to use.
When Wein's lawsuit was filed Feb. 7, the day before
the fair opened, he immediately came under fire by critics who said he timed it
that way just to make headlines.
"I've been trying to get them to respond to my concerns for several
years, and I tried to get them to fix it months ago, before the Greek Festival
or the fair, so it wouldn't be a problem.
Opening day of the fair had nothing to do with it," said Wein, a
Palm City resident.
That's probably true.
Wein's been trying to get me to write about the issue since October, but
I held off hoping something would be worked out before a lawsuit was filed.
In November 2006, the St. Lucie County Commission
agreed to settle a lawsuit Wein filed over Tradition Field. At issue was a lack of ADA-required companion
seating in wheelchair sections, and the county budgeted $475,000 for repairs. Wein didn't ask for damages in that case, and
while his attorney's fees were paid, Wein didn't receive any money.
That didn't keep commission chairman Doug Coward from
accusing Wein of "trying to extort money" by filing the lawsuit. Wein just laughs. "They fix it. I go away," Wein said.
Wein doesn't always win. He lost a non-ADA related case in the 19th
Judicial Circuit which had to do with claims that Wein couldn't get a complete
copy of the minutes of a Stuart West Property Owners Association meeting and he
dropped one over a claim he was being "harassed" by members of that
group's board of directors.
Wein, who uses a wheelchair, takes it all in
stride. "What this is really about
is discrimination," Wein said.
"I'm lucky because I'm somewhat ambulatory, I can get around. But there are plenty of people who can't and
they're being discriminated against and after all, the Americans With
Disabilities Act is the law, and people have to comply with the law," Wein
said. "I call it the 'Anti-Discrimination
Act,' because that's really what it is," he said.
We need someone like Wein to keep things honest. Someone who's willing to take the heat. Lenny, you're a pain the neck. And worse.
Keep it up.
Columnist Geoff Oldfather can be
reached at (772) 221-4217 or geoff.oldfather@scripps.com.
(Our Note: We are proud to claim Lenny as one of our
longtime members in Access Now !!!)
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GOVERNMENTAL NEWS
Rule would provide better court access to the disabled
By Jan Pudlow
Senior Editor
February 15, 2008
The art of compromise paid off for Matt Dietz, who honed a new rule to
make it easier for persons with disabilities to attend court proceedings. At the close of the meeting January 17,
Dietz, chair-elect of The Florida Bar’s Equal Opportunities Law Section (EOLS)
and chair of the Disability Independence Group, smiled triumphantly when the
Rules of Judicial Administration Committee voted unanimously not only to
approve EOLS’ proposal to bolster Rule 2.540, “Notices to Persons with
Disabilities” — but to expedite the matter so that it will be heard in the
current rules cycle while Fred Lewis is still chief justice, rather than wait
until 2012. Now, the new proposed rule
is on the way to The Florida Bar Board of Governors for comment and the Supreme
Court for approval.
“I am very happy. This is a
wonderful experience in developing a process that will ensure that people with
disabilities — no matter who they are who need to use the court process — will
be able to,” Dietz said. Dietz said he
wanted the proposed rule in this year’s cycle “as an acknowledgement to Chief
Justice Lewis’ leadership. It should be
noticed that he is the person from the top who actually brought this issue to a
place of prominence within the Bar and bench.”
Seven months ago, Dietz faced an uphill battle when he first presented
the proposed rule to the committee at the Bar’s Annual Convention, arguing
Florida’s existing rule was inadequate because there was no guarantee of
standard statewide procedures, accommodations were limited to persons compelled
to attend court, and accommodations for disabled lawyers must be paid by their
employers. The matter was close to
sputtering to a halt, until the committee decided to allow 18th Circuit Judge
Lisa Davidson — chair of a subcommittee that originally voted against the rule
change — to reconstitute a work group with more members, including EOLS members
and persons with disabilities.
During those seven months, the work group members sympathized when
deaf attorney Scott Harrison personally appeared to detail why he had sued the
state because he was denied real-time court reporting services in criminal
trials unless he paid for it himself, an expense he said he couldn’t
afford. But work group members were uneasy
taking on interpretations of substantive law that dangled unsettled in
Harrison’s pending federal case. The
proposed rule Dietz originally brought to the September meeting, Judge Davidson
said, “had not only procedural issues, but policy issues, and substantive
issues.”
Meanwhile, Harrison reached a settlement with the Office of State
Courts Administrator (OSCA) granting him the accommodation he sought. Immediately, Chief Justice Lewis approved new
statewide guidelines that spell out that attorneys who are deaf or hard of
hearing will now be provided with real-time court reporting services at court
expense in county and circuit court criminal trials.
Dietz came back with a revised proposed amendment he described as
ensuring full compliance with Title II of the ADA and to promote access for persons
with disabilities for court programs and services. In November, the work group met via two
teleconferences to hammer out procedural issues, while working to incorporate
suggestions contained in memos from Debbie Howells, statewide ADA coordinator of
OSCA. “I am thrilled,” Judge Davidson
said, after the unanimous vote January 17 at the Bar’s Midyear Meeting in
Miami, on what she described as “99.9 percent” Dietz’s rule. “It was wonderful working with Matthew
Dietz. He was willing to compromise where
compromise was needed. He didn’t dig his
heels in. He was willing to say,
‘Alright. That makes sense. We want to compromise here; that is important
there.’ He was really very, very
amenable to compromise and understood what the Rules of Judicial Administration
work does, and what our authority is — and that is procedure,” Judge Davidson
said.
In a nutshell, Dietz said the proposed rule “will bring more order and
less ad hoc decision-making on what
is a proper accommodation to court programs and services, for any individual
with a disability.” He said the revised
proposed rule “adopts grievance procedures similar to that on the Supreme
Court’s Web site, but has only been adopted by a few counties.” It gives step-by-step procedures on what
notice has to be given, and if the accommodation has not been granted, how the
person with disabilities may appeal.
“This does not change any of the requirements of the Americans with
Disabilities Act, but facilitates that accommodations are given and justice is given,
not only to litigants or parties, but any user of the system,” Dietz said.
At the work group’s September 6 meeting at The Florida Bar’s General
Meeting in Tampa, when Harrison detailed his plight as a deaf lawyer, Third
District Court of Appeal Judge Alan Schwartz abstained from voting, declaring
it not an appropriate issue for a rules committee. But at the January 17 meeting — after the
proposed two-page rule succinctly stuck to procedural matters — Judge Schwartz
was the one who moved that the rule be adopted.
“At first, I was very much against it because of the substantive
provision of the rule and the issue of whether a lawyer was a
‘participant.’ I didn’t think it was
appropriate for us to take a position in rulemaking,” Schwartz told the group. “Meantime, OSCA in that litigation caved and
said what everyone thought should be said — that a lawyer is a participant in
litigation and this accommodation will be given to the particular lawyer in
that case and any other similar situation.”
Schwartz said he also thought there was no practical need for the
amended rule. “But I believe the rule as
proposed has been worked out on a very high plane with both sides: the side
dealing with the content of the rule, and Matthew on his side representing the interests
of the people he represents. It’s a
source of a great deal of work and a terrific product, for what it is. Since it is before us and the work is done, I
move that it be adopted.”
The next step EOLS will take, Dietz said, will be on the legislative
front. “One issue we have with the rule
is the problem that these records that may be required, if someone requests
accommodation, that they be open for inspection. So the next issue we are going to do is to
ask for an exemption to the Sunshine Law for requests for accommodation,” Dietz
said. “You never want a request for
accommodation to be used as a litigation tool or as a way to invade someone’s
privacy. The goal for accommodation is
to ensure participation in the process.
Participation in the process should be without consequences.”
© 2008 The Florida Bar
NOTE – We are very proud and happy to
claim Matt Dietz as one of our own splendid Access Now® attorneys.
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Plan Seeks More Access for
Disabled
By ROBERT PEAR, The New York Times, Published:
September 16, 2008
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is about to propose far-reaching
new rules that would give people with disabilities greater access to tens of
thousands of courtrooms, swimming pools, golf courses, stadiums, theaters,
hotels and retail stores. The proposal
would substantially update and rewrite federal standards for enforcement of the
Americans with Disabilities Act, a landmark civil rights law passed with strong
bipartisan support in 1990. The new
rules would set more stringent requirements in many areas and address some
issues for the first time, in an effort to meet the needs of an aging
population and growing numbers of disabled war veterans.
More than seven million businesses
and all state and local government agencies would be affected. The proposal includes some exemptions for
parts of existing buildings, but any new construction or renovations would have
to comply. The new standards would
affect everything from the location of light switches to the height of retail
service counters, to the use of monkeys as “service animals” for people with
disabilities, which would be forbidden.
It is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, with
60 days for public comment. After
considering those comments, the government would issue final rules with the
force of law. Already, the proposal is
stirring concern. The United States
Chamber of Commerce says it would be onerous and costly, while advocates for
disabled Americans say it does not go far enough.
Since the disability law was signed by the first President Bush,
advances in technology have made services more available to people with
disabilities. But Justice Department
officials said they were still receiving large numbers of complaints. In recent months, the federal government has
settled lawsuits securing more seats for disabled fans at Madison Square Garden
in New York and at the nation’s largest college football stadium, at the University of Michigan. The Census Bureau says more than 51 million
Americans have some kind of disability, with nearly two-thirds of them
reporting severe impairments.
The proposed rules, under development for more than four years, flesh
out the meaning of the 1990 law, which set forth broad objectives. The 215,000-word proposal includes these new
requirements:
·
Courts would have to provide a
lift or a ramp to ensure that people in wheelchairs could get into the witness
stand, which is usually elevated from floor level.
·
Auditoriums would have to provide
a lift or a ramp so wheelchair users could “participate fully and equally in
graduation exercises and other events” at which members of the audience have
direct access to the stage.
·
Any sports stadium with a seating
capacity of 25,000 or more would have to provide safety and emergency
information by posting written messages on scoreboards and video monitors. This
would alert people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
·
Theaters must provide specified
numbers of seats for wheelchair users (at least five in a 300-seat facility).
Viewing angles to the screen or stage must be “equivalent to or better than the
average viewing angles provided to all other spectators.”
·
Light switches in a hotel room
could not be more than 48 inches high. The current maximum is 54 inches.
·
Hotels must allow people with
disabilities to reserve accessible guest rooms, and they must honor these
reservations to the same degree they guarantee other room reservations.
·
At least 25 percent of the
railings at fishing piers would have to be no more than 34 inches high, so that
a person in a wheelchair could fish over the railing.
·
At least half of the holes on
miniature golf courses must be accessible to people using wheelchairs, and
these holes must be connected by a continuous, unobstructed path.
·
A new swimming pool with a
perimeter of more than 300 feet would have to provide “at least two accessible
means of entry,” like a gentle sloping ramp or a chair lift.
·
New playgrounds would have to
provide access to slides, swings and other play equipment for children who use
wheelchairs.
The Justice Department acknowledged that some of the changes would
have significant costs. But over all, it
said, the value of the public benefits, estimated at $54 billion, exceeds the
expected costs of $23 billion. In an
economic analysis of the proposed rules, the Justice Department said the need
for an accessible environment was greater than ever because the Iraq war was
“creating a new generation of young men and women with disabilities.” John L. Wodatch, chief of the disability rights
section of the Justice Department, said:
“Disability is inherent in the human condition. The vast majority of individuals who are
fortunate enough to reach an advanced age will benefit from the proposed
requirements.” By 2010, the department
estimates, 2 percent of the adult population will use wheelchairs, and 4
percent will use crutches, canes, walkers or other mobility devices. Likewise,
it said, as the population ages, the number of people with hearing loss will increase.
Under the 1990 law, businesses are supposed to remove barriers to
people with disabilities if the changes are “readily achievable,” meaning they
can be “carried out without much difficulty or expense.” The Bush administration is proposing a safe
harbor for small businesses. They could
meet their obligations in a given year if, in the prior year, they had spent at
least 1 percent of their gross revenues to remove barriers. Curtis L. Decker, executive director of the
National Disability Rights Network, a coalition of legal advocates, said: “Safe harbors make us very nervous. A small business could spend the requisite
amount of money and still not be accessible.”
Randel K. Johnson, a vice president of the United States Chamber of
Commerce, said the proposed rules “are so long and technically complex that
even the best-intentioned small business could be found out of compliance by a
clever lawyer looking to force a settlement.”
The Justice Department cited the “monetary cost cap” as one of several
steps it was taking to limit the rules’ impact on small businesses. But Mr. Johnson said he feared that courts
would view the ceiling as a floor and tell businesses they should spend 1
percent of their revenues on removing barriers.
The proposed rules affirm the right of people with disabilities to use
guide dogs and other service animals in public places, but they tighten the
definition to exclude certain species.
When the existing rules were adopted in the early 1990s, the Justice
Department said, few people anticipated the current trend toward “the use of
wild, exotic or unusual species”,(such as monkeys, reptiles; amphibians;
rabbits, ferrets, rodents and most farm animals) as service animals. Under the rules, the management of a public
accommodation could ask a person with a disability to remove a service animal
if the animal was out of control or not housebroken, or if it posed a direct
threat to the health or safety of others.
The rules confirm that people with disabilities can use traditional
wheelchairs, power wheelchairs and electric scooters in any public areas open
to pedestrians. But public places could
impose reasonable restrictions on two-wheeled Segway vehicles, golf carts and
“other power-driven mobility devices” used by those with disabilities.
The Proposed New Standards are available as a 7 MB PDF file from
USDOJ’s website at http://www.ada.gov/NPRM2008/ADAnprm08.htm by clicking on the link near the bottom of that page entitled “Proposed ADA Standards for Accessible
Design”.
For commentary on the Proposed Standards please see the following
Steve Gold article, followed by some comments from Phyllis Resnick:
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Steve Gold’s Treasured Nuggets of Information
Philadelphia attorney Steve Gold’s “Treasured Nuggets
of Information” looks at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Proposed New
Standards for ADA implementation. They do
not satisfy Mr. Gold’s standards!
Good-Bye Full Accessibility - Information Bulletin #250 (6/08)
In 1990, the disability community, Congress, state officials and
businesses made numerous compromises to obtain the passage of the ADA. Despite these compromises, then President Bush,
disability leaders and Congress trumpeted the eventual full accessibility of
public and private facilities. Sometime in the future, people with disabilities
would achieve equal opportunity with nondisabled and full accessibility would
be achieved.
Since 1990, we have seen some progress - curb cuts are now more the
norm; ramps provide access to some stores and businesses (definitely not in
every one); some public swimming pools, playgrounds, and governmental buildings
provide a degree of accessibility (often begrudgingly); sports venues are more
accessible.
However, by and large, neither the governmental entities (Title II of
the ADA), nor private business entities (aka
public accommodations) (Title III of the ADA) have taken the initiative on
their own and said "oh, Congress has made disability a civil right, and we
will do the right thing and make our facilities and programs accessible."
Rather, progress has been slow, often requiring disability advocates to
take the initiative and demand governmental and business entities to comply
with the 1990 law and not make more compromises. The process is slow because
disability advocates may not exist in a community, or they get frustrated that
change is difficult.
On September 17, 2008, the Department of Justice issued proposed rules
to the ADA's federal regulations which, if adopted, will significantly undercut
the original 1990 compromises and will impose numerous regressive restrictions.
Many of the proposed rules will ensure that full accessibility will be, at
best, postponed indefinitely.
These proposal rules, together with all the background information, cost
estimates, commentaries etc., total about 1000 pages! This Information Bulletin
will address only the Title II requirement of "program accessibility ...
when viewed in entirety" and the Title III requirement for removal of
"readily achievable" barriers from existing facilities.
Here are two proposed changes:
Title II - Section 35.150(b)(4) and (5). The current "program
accessibility" regulation requires a public entity's programs and services
be accessible, when they are "viewed in their entirety."
Re the proposed rule "Existing play areas and recreation
facilities." If a public entity has "multiple play areas as part of
its program," for program accessibility "only a reasonable number but
at least one of such play areas would be required to undertake structural
modifications to provide access for individuals [i.e., children] with
disabilities." The "reasonable number but at least one" rule
applies also to swimming pools and state parks.
Does DOJ forget that "program access" for the past 18 years
already implicitly required "at least one" accessible facility, or
the program in its entirety would not be accessible? With the proposed rule,
wouldn't public entities shoot for the minimum - one, regardless of the changes
that might make many or all of the play areas accessible?
DOJ asks if the "reasonable number, but at least one" is
workable, or should DOJ provide a list of factors that a public could use to
determine how many of the existing play areas or swimming pools to make
accessible. Folks - these are our children with disabilities!
DOJ asks if play areas should have a "safe harbor from compliance
with the applicable requirements in the 2004 ADAAG." This means that some
play areas that might be in compliance with local standards could be exempt
from ADAAG standards that presumably require greater accessibility.
Does anyone think DOJ would have proposed a "safe
harbor" to end discrimination based on race? gender? How can there be a
"safe harbor" that perpetuates discrimination?
Doesn't DOJ remember that in the late 1980s the U.S. Department of
Transportation proposed a rule that a public transportation program would have
a "safe harbor" if 3% of its expenditures went for
accessibility. The disability community,
and the Third Circuit recognized in its ADAPT
v. Skinner decision, recognized that
limiting accessibility and integration to "safe harbors" are an
anathema to civil rights, the same as Congress and President Bush in 1990.
Related to the problem of a "safe harbor" is the DOJ question
"what is the 'tipping point' at which the costs of compliance ... would be
so burdensome that the entity would simply shut down the playground?" The
ADA is a civil rights statute that is supposed to ensure for disabled folks the
equal opportunity and the same benefits as nondisabled people. But let's get
real! Does anyone know of any public entity in the entire country that has
closed down any public playground or swimming pool because of inaccessibility?
DOJ wants to hear if "existing play areas less than 1,000 square
feet should be exempt" from accessibility requirements. This size was
chosen because of an assumption that such small areas represented 20% of the
play areas located in public schools. Great! Disabled children in those schools
could be effectively kept off the play areas, presumably like they are being
kept out of mainstream classrooms. Every small neighborhood tot lot would be
exempted.
The rulemaking asks if 50% of monkey bars, sliding boards, and other
"elevated play components" in playgrounds should be exempt from
accessibility. DOJ asks if "additional ground level play components"
should be substituted for the "elevated play" components.
Title III - Section 36.304. The current regulation requires removal of
barriers in public accommodations when it is "readily achievable" to
do so.
It is important to remember that the existing federal regulations
require removal of barriers only when it is "readily achievable" -
which on a case by case basis ensures that only reasonable modifications will
occur. "Safe harbors" will
exempt from barrier removal even those situations that are "readily achievable"
to be made accessible.
A small business will receive a "safe harbor" if it spends in
a given year one percent of its gross revenues on barrier removals. Advocates
who have been frustrated since 1990 asking businesses to "remove
barriers" by building a ramp or making a bathroom accessible, now will
have the fun of arguing about a businesses "gross revenues" in a
given year (what, Mr. Businessman, is your basis for accounting?) and the costs
of any alleged barrier removal the business claims it has made. Should
advocates ask if the business took a tax deduction or received a tax credit for
the barrier removal? If it claims it did, should the advocate take their word
or request to read their 1040s? Then come back the next year and start the
entire process again on another inaccessible element. And we thought it was
difficult to get a ramp with the existing regulations.
The proposed regulations also question whether to fully enforce the
Access Board's guidelines for stages, auditoriums, witness stands, assistive
listening systems, golf courses, service animals, golf cars, mobility devices,
auxiliary aids, captioning, video interpreting services and other areas.
You have 60 days to submit comments. All comments must be sent by
8/18/2008. Refer to Documents ID DOJ_FRDOC 0001-0025 (Title III, Public
Accommodations) and DOJ_FRDOC-0001-0026 (Title II, Governmental Programs). You can find these documents at the following
web address, as well as submit your comments on-line by going to http://www.regulations.gov.
Steve Gold, The Disability Odyssey continues.
SOME ADDITIONAL COMMENTS FROM PHYLLIS RESNICK:
Steve Gold has thoroughly dissected the negatives embedded in the
Federal Regulations discussed above. I
believe that, of all the complaints which one could level at these regulations,
the one that strikes most deeply at the heart of the A.D.A. and its original
intent at anti-discrimination is the idea of “safe harbor”. It is so ambiguous and open-ended that it
provides exactly the sort of escape clause which all those who would prefer NOT
to comply would readily and happily adopt.
Once we start relying on “safe harbors”, we are in effect emasculating
all that precedes and follows. Other
than that, I defer to Steve, with thanks, for his thoroughness and dedication!
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ADA Information Now Available Online
U.S. Department of Justice
If you have questions about ADA-related matters, there is now an ADA
Information Line available at the U.S. Department of Justice to provide
assistance. Dial (800) 514-0301 (voice)
or (800) 514-0383 (TTY) for information regarding the ADA.
This service permits individuals, businesses, state and local
governments and others to ask questions about general or specific ADA
requirements, including the ADA Standards for Accessible Design, as well as
free ADA materials or information about filing a complaint. ADA specialists are available Monday through
Wednesday and Friday, 9:30 am - 5:30 pm (Eastern Time). On Thursday the hours are 12:30 - 5:30
pm. Service is available in English and
Spanish. Remember, you can also get ADA
information from the Dept. of Justice website:
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm.
Another Valuable Federal Government Internet Site
The federal government has also opened a one-stop “home base” for
disability information at www.disabilityinfo.gov. This site, a collaborative effort of 22
federal agencies, has links for information regarding employment, education,
housing, transportation, health, benefits, technology, community life and civil
rights. Disability.gov connects people
with disabilities (and their families, employers, friends, etc.) to the
information and resources they need to actively participate in their
communities.
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An update of a previous story from our December 2007 newsletter . . .
The
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have released a study of
states’ participation in the Money Follows the Person (MFP) Demonstration
program. MFP is a federal program that
has authorized $1.75 billion to support state efforts to move people currently
residing in institutions back into their communities and to rebalance their
long-term care systems to emphasize home and community-based services rather
than institutional placement. (See our
article about states’ non-participation in MFP in the December 2007
newsletter.) This study chronicles the
efforts of the 30 states and the District of Columbia that are participating in
MFP. You can find out what your state is
doing under MFP (or if it one of the 20 states that have spurned the program)
by going to http://www.cms.hhs.gov/DeficitReductionAct/downloads/StateMFPGrantSummaries-All.pdf.
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. . . As well as
from the September 2005 newsletter.
The U.S.
Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued a Status Report on Implementing
the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA). Dated
November 2007, the report details the enforcement actions taken by DOT since
first status report was published in January 2004. According to the report, DOT, through its
Aviation Enforcement Office, entered consent decrees against 17 air carriers
and “assessed carriers civil penalties totaling over $1.8 million for
violations of the ACAA as part of its ongoing effort to ensure
nondiscrimination in air travel based on disability. A large portion of these civil penalties
continue to be offset by measures to improve the carriers’ services and to
improve the quality of air travel for passengers with disabilities above what
is required by DOT rules.” http://tradeinservices. mofcom.gov.cn/en/f/2008-04-21/30031.shtml
With respect
to rulemaking by DOT, you may remember that on November 4, 2004, DOT published
a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to revise its ACAA regulation in 14 Code
of Federal Regulations, Part 382 to make foreign air carriers operating to and
from the United States subject to most of the disability-related requirements
currently applicable to U.S. carriers.
DOT issued further NPRMs on September 7, 2005, (to provide greater
accommodations for travelers with respiratory disabilities) and February 23,
2006, (to provide additional accommodations for air travelers who are deaf,
hard of hearing or deaf-blind). The
three now-consolidated rulemakings have been completed. The new regulations will be effective May 13,
2009. We will provide a full update of
the new regulations in our next newsletter.
For an article showing why the ACAA is so important to disabled
travelers, read the following story.
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Airlines
tackle wheelchair need
By Barbara De Lollis,
USA TODAY
Ellen Brehm, a retired nurse who walks with cane, was stranded last
September after flying home from California following the annual trip she's been
taking with college friends since 1947. Her flight, which had departed six hours late, landed at
Newark at about 1:20 a.m. The wheelchair
service she'd requested was nowhere in sight.
Brehm returned to the plane to sit and wait, but a flight attendant told
her she must get off so the crew could leave.
She then stood on the jet bridge, balancing on her cane, to wait. About 30 minutes later, another flight
attendant exited the plane and asked if she needed help. The woman eventually returned with a
wheelchair attendant. "Here I am,
at 2 a.m., 83 years old, all by myself," Brehm says. "There wasn't one person in this whole
huge airport. I don't know what I would have done if she hadn't come out."
Airlines are obligated to provide free, prompt wheelchair
assistance between curbside and cabin seat to comply with the 21-year-old Air
Carrier Access Act, an anti-discrimination law.
But, as more disabled and elderly people take flight in today's
congested air system, many are finding that the assistance is difficult to get.
In the three years that the government has issued statistics, more than 34,000
disabled fliers have complained about their treatment, and 54% of the incidents
have involved wheelchair assistance.
In 2006, the most recent year available, the USA's six large
network airlines received 1.07 complaints per 100,000 passengers about
inadequate wheelchair assistance.
Network airlines — American, United and the like — connect more
passengers, and often have a higher complaint rate than low-cost airlines. Airlines accurately note that the vast number
of wheelchair orders from customers come off without a problem. But many disabled fliers and their advocates
say the airlines could do a better job.
With pressure on their profits — collectively, they lost $35
billion in the five years ended in 2006 — U.S. airlines typically contract with
outside companies for wheelchair service at airports. Critics such as Fernando Torres-Gil, a Los
Angeles airports commissioner and polio survivor who uses a wheelchair himself
at airports, say the contractors often give substandard service. Torres-Gil cites low wages, high turnover and
a lack of training. "The
individuals hired to help people in wheelchairs are some of the most valuable
employees," says Torres-Gil.
"Yet, (they) are usually the least compensated and most
exploited."
According to a survey last year by a workers' advocacy group
of 275 Los Angeles International passenger-service workers, the average pay is
less than $19,000 a year. Some 60% said
they had not been formally trained in how to lift an immobile passenger. "Service workers are vital to the health
and safety of the traveling public, (but) these workers are poorly compensated,
receive little training and have few incentives to stay in their jobs,"
concluded the survey report by Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy.
Los Angeles World Airports, the body that runs four
airports, including LAX, is trying to raise standards for wheelchair attendant
training, service quality and pay and benefits.
The Service Employees International Union sees opportunity in low
wages. It's organizing workers at six
California airports and may expand the campaign nationally, says Mike Garcia,
president of the union's California chapter.
Two large contractors, Prospect and Air Serv, declined to be interviewed
about their operations. Based in Des Plaines, Ill., Prospect has more than
4,000 employees in 14 cities, including San Francisco, Tampa and Dallas-Fort
Worth, according to its website. Air
Serv, based in Atlanta, has operations in Los Angeles, Boston and Atlanta.
The main obstacle to better service is money, says Eric Lipp
of Open Doors Organization, a Chicago-based non-profit that tracks the
disability consumer market for the travel industry. Open Doors three years ago started organizing
conferences for contractors and airlines to improve communication and
service. He says that airlines pressure
contractors to deliver the work cheaply.
"Ninety percent of the wheelchair problems exist because there's no
money in it," Lipp says. "I'm
not 100% convinced that airline executives are really willing to pay for this
service." The USA's largest
airlines, including No. 1 American and No. 2 United, declined requests for
interviews about their wheelchair-assistance programs.
Stranded for 24 hours
During the last Christmas holiday rush, Sile Jaboni, a
70-year-old Albanian woman who spoke no English, was left stranded by her
wheelchair attendants for 24 hours at Chicago O'Hare. On Dec. 18, Jaboni flew United from Orlando
to O'Hare, where she was scheduled to catch a flight back to Europe, says Steve
Crandall, the Jacksonville travel agent who booked her travel. Her first wheelchair attendant left her at
the wrong gate. Later, another attendant
pushed her to the correct gate, but after her flight had already departed. Eventually, an Air Jamaica employee stopped
to see if Jaboni needed help. She handed
him a piece of paper with her nephew's phone number. The nephew paid for his aunt to return to
Orlando, Crandall says. United
eventually agreed to pay Jaboni's fare back to Albania, but only after Crandall
contacted local media, he says. Robin
Urbanski, a United spokeswoman, called the incident "an unfortunate
oversight." She and Adam Taylor, a
vice president of Air Serv, the service provider, each said improvements are in
the works.
On several Delta flights, wheelchair user Mary
Verdi-Fletcher, founder of the Cleveland-based Dancing Wheels dance troupe,
says people who help transfer her from wheelchair to cabin seat usually don't
know how to do it properly. She's grown
accustomed to talking them through the process.
"Most of the time they cannot figure out the seat belts or the braking
system on the (wheelchair), so we are tossed and jarred about and cannot really
catch ourselves if they stumble," Fletcher says. Delta declined comment.
Roger Lotz, a Travelers Aid volunteer at Reagan Washington
National, says he has seen the wheelchair-request system fail at times,
especially during peak holiday periods.
Airline gate agents are overloaded, and, as a result, the airlines and
contractors don't coordinate wheelchair usage, he says. Lotz, a former flight attendant, says on Dec.
23 he borrowed a wheelchair from a passenger to help an American Eagle
passenger off her plane when the assistant didn't arrive after 40 minutes. Lotz wheeled the woman off the plane, but her
exit wasn't entirely smooth. "She
was hissed at and even booed" by the passengers waiting to board the
flight as she was wheeled off the plane, he says. American Eagle spokeswoman Andrea Huguely
said the failure of the wheelchair assistant to show up was unfortunate, and
said airline employees, not volunteer Lotz, should have assisted the
passenger. She says the airline received
over 2 million requests for help last year and that most went well.
Concerns about adequate wheelchair assistance are expanding
beyond disability-rights groups. AARP, for instance, is now monitoring how
airlines treat people with limited mobility.
Brewster Thackeray, an AARP manager, says AARP views wheelchair service
as an important quality-of-life issue for baby boomers and their parents. According to the complaints and interviews
with disability-rights advocates, factors other than the service providers
combine to cause the system to sometimes come up short:
·
Higher demand. Americans on average
are growing older, leading to an increase in fliers with disabilities. By 2030, Open Doors estimates that nearly 24%
of the U.S. population will be disabled, and 15% severely disabled, resulting
in about 53 million more disabled people than in 1997. The group estimates that around a third of
adults with disabilities fly at least once every two years.
It's not just aging that contributes to the increase in
travelers with disabilities. Medical
technology allows people who have endured severe trauma from war, vehicle
crashes and the like to travel with relative ease, says Kate Hunter-Zaworski,
director of the National Center for Accessible Transportation at Oregon State
University. "We are facilitating
living a fuller life, and air travel is essential to a full life," she
says.
At JetBlue, the growth in passengers who request wheelchair
assistance has outpaced overall passenger growth consistently since 2004. Last year, about 262,000 JetBlue passengers,
or 1.2%, requested such assistance when making their reservations.
·
Late-arriving flights. Flight delays make it harder to coordinate wheelchair
assistants, reduce the amount of time disabled people have to board and exit
flights, and reduce connection times.
Last year, just 73.4% of flights arrived on time, the second-worst
annual rate since the government began tracking.
·
Passenger behavior. Travelers
who request wheelchair service in advance don't always receive it immediately
when getting off a plane because another passenger who didn't request help in
advance may have reached the wheelchair first. Attendants are typically told to
help anyone who sits in their chair. Some travelers also cheat, particularly at
large international airports, where able-bodied people sometimes get
wheelchairs to cut into long lines at Customs, say airport and airline
officials.
Airlines have an incentive to improve wheelchair assistance,
says Lipp, of Open Doors, the Chicago non-profit. Passengers with disabilities
generate nearly $3 billion a year for airlines, and the market's potential
grows each day, he says.
Making some improvements
Some in the travel industry are responding to the need for
better wheelchair service. Seeing a rise
in elderly travelers and a reduction in airline staffing, the Fort Lauderdale
airport now deploys its own staff to pitch in at times when the airlines' staff
or contractors can't keep up, says Greg Meyer, the airport's spokesman.
The Minneapolis-St. Paul airport plans to test premium
wheelchair service. For a fee,
passengers will be able to hire an attendant who will meet them at their gate
with a sign bearing their name and a reserved wheelchair, says airport director
Steve Wareham. In 2003, Alaska Airlines
created a training program at its Seattle hub to improve the way its staff
members lift immobile passengers from wheelchairs to aircraft seats — a task
that had been a source of injury to some passengers and employees. Today, Alaska transfers an average of 22
passengers a day between wheelchair and cabin seat and has had no recent
injuries, says Ray Prentice, Alaska's head of customer care.
And some contractors are introducing better technology to
improve tracking of requests, the dispatching of attendants and accountability. At US Airways' Las Vegas hub, the
global-positioning technology that contractor Prospect uses allows better
staffing for peaks and valleys in demand for service, says John Romantic of US
Airways. The system also enables
wheelchair attendants to know the name of the passenger they're waiting for so
that they don't push the wrong passenger, he says.
Brehm, the retired nurse
stranded at Newark, complained to Continental.
The airline apologized and gave her a $100 voucher good toward a future
flight, she says. The airline's
wheelchair assists usually go smoothly, says David Messing, Continental's
spokesman. Brehm says she plans to fly the airline again.
FYI . . .
This
message was received from the United
Spinal Association. We are providing
it for you because of Access Now, Inc.®’s commitment to non-discrimination
for all disabled persons.
United Spinal Association's
VetsFirst believes that every disabled veteran has the right to work. The
honorable men and women who have become disabled through their service of our
country deserve our support - not only for the purpose of restoring their
health, but also to restore their livelihoods.
Take Action Now! Our disabled veterans must now have
the support of people like you. A vote in the House is expected in April, after
which the bill will go to the Senate. Tell your Senators and Representative to
support the ADA Restoration Act.
|
Most veterans gave up their jobs
to serve their country. Many will now be discriminated against when attempting to re-enter
the work force. Why? Because they have a disability.
The courts have set up a bizarre Catch-22 whereby an employer can say that
a person is "too disabled" to do the job, but "not disabled
enough" to be protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act. This
needs to change!
|
|
United Spinal Association VetsFirst
along with Vietnam Veterans of America has from the onset made every effort to combat this
injustice.
Twenty one veterans and military
organizations have
signed letters to Congress supporting a bill that protects people with
disabilities from discrimination on the job.
|
VetsFirst United Spinal Association
Disabled American Veterans
Jewish War Veterans
Veterans of Modern Warfare
Veterans of Foreign Wars
Blinded Veterans of America
Federation of Govt. Employees
National Assoc for Uniformed Services
Naval Reserve Association
Enlisted Association of the National Guard
|
Reserve Enlisted Association
Sergeants Association
Vietnam Veterans of America
Paralyzed Veterans of America
AMVETS
Military Order of the Purple Heart
Military Officers Association of America
National Association for Black Veterans
Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America
American GI Forum of the U.S.Air Force
|
Make the commitment! Our disabled veterans are depending on you.
Sincerely,
Leonard Selfon,
Senior Vice President
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“NEWS YOU CAN USE”
These items were brought to our attention by our members:
Jim Musarra
has dedicated his life to furthering the field of professional management
through education and training. After
spending 20 years as a manager and executive he entered academia where he was a
Participating Professor at Florida International University (FIU). For the past four years he has been providing
corporate training, individual and team consulting & advice, and performance
improvement. His primary focus is to help
companies achieve tangible outcomes through practical tools and strong
implementation assistance. Every effort
is made to exceed clients' expectations with responsive and personalized
service.
In 1995,
when one of his sons became physically disabled, Jim became an advocate for the
disabled. He is a member of Access Now,
Inc.® and of the Business Leadership Network (BLN). BLN is a national organization which
recognizes and promotes best practices in hiring, retaining, and marketing to
people with disabilities. It uses a
“business to business” approach to educate, promoting the business imperative
of including people with disabilities in the workforce. Among other things, he has advised the Office
of Disability Services at Florida International University. He uses his expertise to consult and advise
all manner of business and organizations in disabled employee diversity issues
with special emphasis on Title I.
With that in
mind, he has developed a training program: Hiring and Managing Persons with
Disabilities. This program addresses Title I of the ADA which requires
equal employment opportunities for qualified individuals with disabilities.
Designed with managers and HR professionals in mind, this program addresses
three important areas:
Module I – attitudes
towards persons with disabilities are discussed - origins of these attitudes
and solutions are explored.
Module II – principals
of and practices for hiring and managing persons with disabilities are
examined.
Module III – investigation
of ADA with the intent of gaining full knowledge of this act – Title I is given
particular emphasis.
Contact Mr.
Musarra to learn more about this program and other services provided.
(305)
790-2537 ● P.O. Box 972745, Miami FL 33197 ● musarrajp@yahoo.com
___________________________________________________________________
New member Lisa Ashby alerted us to a website dedicated to cruise
passengers with disabilities. CruiseCritic.com
has a section devoted to helping disabled passengers find the best value both
before and after they board the ship.
Access Now® is featured quite prominently in this
section. You can find the “Cruising with
a Disability” section at http://www.cruisecritic.com/cruisestyles/articles.cfm?ID=9.
___________________________________________________________________
We hope that the foregoing has helped you to achieve a fuller
understanding of our work. Although much
has been done, much more needs to be done.
The population of the U.S. has just recently grown to 300,000,000 people
and, given the ever-growing percentage of those with disabilities, the need for
greater and further-reaching compliance with the A.D.A. continues to make
itself all the more obvious and necessary.
It is our fervent hope to continue to take part in this effort. With your help and encouragement we shall
persevere in making ever-greater strides in that direction.
“ACCESS NOW”® OPERATES ENTIRELY
ON PRIVATE CONTRIBUTIONS. WE HOPE THAT
YOU SHARE OUR ENTHUSIASM FOR OUR WORK AND THAT YOU MIGHT BE MOVED TO MAKE A
DONATION TO HELP US CONTINUE. IT WOULD
BE DEEPLY APPRECIATED!
Thank you all and please:
IF YOU HAVE A CHANGE OF POSTAL ADDRESS, PHONE NUMBER OR
EMAIL ADDRESS, PLEASE, PLEASE LET US KNOW SO THAT WE CAN KEEP OUR FILES UPDATED
AND SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOU.
BEST WISHES FOR A HAPPY AND HEALTHY SUMMER AND AUTUMN AS WELL AS CONTINUED
PROGRESS IN ACCESSIBILITY ISSUES!
****PLEASE DON’T FORGET THE MEMBERSHIP FORM!!!****
AND
****PLEASE LET US KNOW IF IN THE FUTURE YOU WANT TO RECEIVE
THIS ELECTRONICALLY ONLY: IT LOWERS OUR
COSTS AND SAVES THE TREES****
Access Now, Inc.®
Phyllis F. Resnick, President
