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News Highlights For April & May
2007
From Inclusion Daily Express Disability Rights News Service
Accessibility
Community Comes To Father's Defense After City Orders Ramp
Destroyed
Feds Settle With Hospital Over Interpreter
Services
Advocates Warn Transit Officials Of
Proposal's ADA Troubles
Advocates Hit More Cities With
Suits Over Unsafe Sidewalks
DOJ & Shareholders:
Access Settlements Will Be Good For Casino Biz
Victory
In Riverside: Judge Orders City To Fix 189 Curb Ramps In Four Months
University Asks Court To Dismiss Vets' Accessibility
Claims
Advocacy
Davenport
Finishes 950-Mile Trek For Disability Rights
Bill To
Restore Disability Protections Passes Washington House
Advocates Call For Boycott Over Offensive Sign
Groups Caution Against Stereotyping In Wake Of Virginia Tech
Shootings
ADAPT Wraps Up Successful Week In DC
Toddler Dies After State Senate Votes To Change 'Futile Care
Law'
Not Dead Yet Faults News Service Over Kevorkian
Poll
Community living
State High Court Rules Low IQ Not Enough Reason To End Parental
Rights
Lawsuit: Realtor Refused To Allow Wheelchair
Inside House
Supreme Court Hears In-Home Worker Overtime
Case
Advocates' Umbrellas Show Lawmakers 'It's Pouring!'
HUD: Disability Topped Housing Discrimination
Complaints
Lawmakers Want To Eliminate Waiting List,
But Disagree On When
Hundreds Rally For Shorter Wait
List
Legislators May Step In To Stop Group Home
Judge: Condo Cannot Block Residents With Disabilities
Public Housing Authority Settles Federal Fair Housing
Complaint
Crimes against people with
disabilities
More Tests Ordered For Mom Accused Of
Stabbing Daughter
New York Lawmakers Approve Law Named
For Restraint Victim
After Cell Recorded Crimes,
Officials Told Workers To Leave Phones At Home
Police:
Girl, 10, Suffered 8 Days After Scalding
Dozens Mourn
At Marcus Fiesel Funeral
"Ashley Treatment" Was
Illegal, Watchdog Group Says
Criminal justice system
Deaf Driver Sues Police Over Arrest
Trooper Admits Guilt In Hamley Shooting
Former Inmate: Jail Took And Broke My Prosthetic Leg
Education
Education
Department Expands 'No Child' Testing Rules
Parents Say
District's Plan To 'Consolidate' Programs Would Segregate Kids
State Education Board: Students With Disabilities Must Take
Exit Exam To Graduate
State Does Not Have To Award
Equal Points For Wheelchair Athlete, Judge Says
Supreme
Court: Parents Don't Need Lawyers To Sue Schools
Parents Say Leaving Students Out Of Yearbook Is Part Of School's
'Pattern'
Employment
Firefighter
Accuses Employer Of Discrimination Over Diabetes
Appeals Court Decides To Re-hear UPS Driver Suit
ADA Is Not An "Affirmative Action Statute", Appeals Court
Says
Institutions
Texas
Banned Restraint Boards Following Death At Mexia State School
Parents Of Vanished Teen Ask Governor To Investigate
MRDD Boss Promises Fairfield Center Will Stay Open, Despite
Deaths
Governor's Plan To Keep Facility Open Prompts
Feds To Issue Scathing Report
Washington Reopened Doors
Of State Institution To Young People
GAO Report:
Federal Government Let Some Offending Nursing Homes Off Easy
Hundreds To Leave Institutions Under New Jersey Plan
Agency To Pull 47 Kids From Failed Institution
Class Action Suit Filed Over Institutionalizing People With
Brain Injuries
Fire Deaths Prompt New Fire Safety
Rules
In other news
Agency
Head Apologizes For Service Dog Refusal
Hawking Takes
"Amazing" Weightless Flight
Study: U.S. Health Care
Facilities And Policies Not Ready For Aging Boomers
Justice Department Settles With The Scooter Store Over Alleged
Fraud
Traveling Dancers Sue On-Line Travel Agency For
Accessible Room Guarantees
Unsafe At Low Speeds:
Hybrids' Silence Can Prove Deadly For Pedestrians
Top of page
ACCESSIBILITY
Community Comes To Father's Defense After
City Orders Ramp Destroyed
Kaimuki, HI--The father of two girls
with multiple disabilities was ordered in early April to dismantle a wheelchair
ramp he had built to their front porch. City officials fined Robert Jahier $50
a day for violating setback requirements because the homemade wooden ramp --
for Etalynia, 12, and Renisha, 18, -- was not built 10 feet back from the
street. They said he would likely be granted an exception to the city code, if
he applied for a variance and paid a $1,200 fee.
Feds Settle With Hospital Over Interpreter
Services
Washington, DC--The U.S. Department of Justice
announced on April 9 that it had settled claims that Inova Fairfax Hospital in
suburban Washington had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. The
settlement resolves allegations that the hospital had failed for 5 1/2 hours to
provide a qualified sign language interpreter for the mother of a pregnant
woman who had been injured in a car accident. This forced the woman to act as
interpreter for her mother in the emergency room while she received distressing
news about her own condition.
Advocates Warn Transit Officials Of
Proposal's ADA Troubles
Salt Lake City, UT--Advocates with the
Utah Disability Law Center said in late April that they are worried that plans
proposed by the Utah Transit Authority would be unfair to riders with
disabilities, and violate their rights under Title II of the Americans with
Disabilities Act, which guarantees equal access to public services. UTA
proposed dropping its unlimited monthly pass for paratransit users, while
keeping the unlimited pass for regular bus riders. DLC also criticized UTA for
its proposed route changes, which advocates say would hit riders with
disabilities the hardest.
Advocates Hit More Cities With Suits Over
Unsafe Sidewalks
San Jose, CA--A group of California disability
rights advocates filed lawsuits in late April against several cities and towns
in the San Francisco Bay area, claiming that sidewalks and walkways are
unpaved, uneven, unusable and unsafe for users of wheelchairs, walkers, and
motorized scooters -- often forcing people to ride into dangerous streets.
Representatives from 19 cities in Contra Costa County had met previously to
decide how to respond collectively to the lawsuits.
DOJ & Shareholders: Access Settlements
Will Be Good For Casino Biz
Washington, DC--In what are being
regarded as kind of win-win-win settlements, MGM Mirage, the world's
second-largest casino operator, has agreed to a number of changes to make their
casinos accessible to guests with disabilities. The Justice Department had
alleged that two MGM Mirage casinos violated Title III of the Americans with
Disabilities Act, which requires private businesses to be accessible and to not
discriminate against persons with disabilities. MGM's website noted that MGM
shareholders see the action as a "possible boost to the share price, which has
been lagging as of recent."
Victory In Riverside: Judge Orders City To
Fix 189 Curb Ramps In Four Months
Riverside, CA--In what was
being reported as the largest award ever in a California disability access
case, a judge ordered the town of Riverside to pay a man $221,000 in damages
and to fix 189 curb ramps within the next four months. Disability rights
advocate John Lonberg, a wheelchair user who sued the city ten years ago,
presented photographs and measurements of each of the 189 spots, pointing out
that they did not meet the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act and
related state access laws.
University Asks Court To Dismiss Vets'
Accessibility Claims
Detroit, MI--The University of Michigan
asked a federal judge on May 21 to toss out a lawsuit brought by the Michigan
Paralyzed Veterans of America over accessible seating at the school's football
stadium. The veterans filed the suit in April claiming U-M's plan to "improve"
the 1920s-era "Big House" violates the ADA, by placing wheelchair accessible
seating in the very back, top rows. They have pointed out that the ADA requires
old facilities that are significantly altered or renovated to place accessible
seating in various locations throughout the stadium to make them typical to the
general seating. University officials have argued that the plan is a 'repair',
not a 'renovation'.
Top of page
ADVOCACY
Davenport Finishes 950-Mile Trek For
Disability Rights
Austin, TX--Mikail Davenport hand cycled into
the east Texas town of Beaumont on March 29 -- a total of 950 miles from the
westernmost city of El Paso, where his journey started 25 days earlier. The
58-year-old advocate pumped most of the trip by hand because his legs were
affected by poliomyelitis when he was two years old. The native Texan planned
the trip to educate the public about disability-related issues in the
Legislature, such as the need for more funding for attendant care services and
other community-based supports for about 100,000 Texans.
Bill To Restore Disability Protections
Passes Washington House
Olympia, WA--Washington's House of
Representatives approved a measure to restore protections to people with
disabilities. Substitute Senate Bill 5340 is a reaction to a July 2006 decision
in which the state's highest court narrowed the definition of disability to
reflect the ADA. Residents with disabilities had enjoyed protections under the
1973 Washington Law Against Discrimination based on any "sensory, mental or
physical condition that is medically . . . diagnosable," or "exists as a record
of history". The ruling meant that residents with disabilities that could be
'ameliorated' or 'mitigated' -- such as medication that treats epilepsy, mental
illness, diabetes, and hypertension, for instance -- and those who experience
temporary disabilities, were no longer protected from discrimination.
Advocates Call For Boycott Over Offensive
Sign
Ocala, FL--A group of disability rights advocates from the
Center for Independent Living of North Central Florida called for the boycott
of an Ocala business for posting and refusing to remove the following statement
from an advertising sign: "What has 4 wheels and flies? A dead cripple in a
wheelchair." While employees said the company's owner changes the 'joke' on the
sign every Friday, advocates said they hoped the company's sign would next
read: "Gone out of business."
Groups Caution Against Stereotyping In Wake
Of Virginia Tech Shootings
Blacksburg, VA--Groups representing
people with autism and psychiatric disabilities expressed concern that the
public might draw the wrong conclusions upon learning that Seung-hui Cho, the
Virginia Tech student who shot to death 32 people on campus April 16 before
taking his own life, had been diagnosed with autism and might have had
undiagnosed schizophrenia and depression. President George W. Bush had said
that the tragedy is a reminder "to make sure that when people see somebody or
know somebody who is exhibiting abnormal behavior, you do something about it,
to suggest that somebody take a look."
ADAPT Wraps Up Successful Week In DC
Washington, DC--Organizers of the grassroots disability rights
advocacy group ADAPT called their spring peaceful action in the nation's
capital a success. About 500 activists gathered to lobby for lawmakers and
policy makers to recognize, among other things, the need for radical changes in
long-term health care for people with disabilities. For one thing, group got
promises from Senator Max Baucus, a Democrat from Montana and Chair of the
Senate Finance Committee, and Representative John Dingell, a Democrat from
Michigan and Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, to hold meetings
by the end of this year on the Community Choice Act of 2007. The measure would
remove the institutional bias in the state-federal Medicaid system, which
currently has two-thirds of long-term care dollars going to nursing homes and
other institutions, even though most people say they want to live in their own
homes.
Toddler Dies After State Senate Votes To
Change 'Futile Care Law'
Austin, TX--Emilio Gonzales, the
19-month-old boy who became the center of a public debate over the Texas Futile
Care Law, died on May 21, less than a week after the state Senate passed a
measure that would change some provisions of that law, which allowed doctors to
withdraw life-sustaining treatment from a patient if they determine that
keeping the patient alive would be "inhumane" -- regardless of what the
patient's family wishes. The medical ethics committee at Children's Hospital of
Austin decided on March 12 that it would have been futile to keep Emilio alive
after doctors diagnosed him with a rare medical condition that affects the
central nervous system and leads to an early death. Emilio's mother challenged
the hospital's decision in court, saying her son responded to her and should
have been given the chance to fight for his own life.
Not Dead Yet Faults News Service Over
Kevorkian Poll
Forest Park, IL--Two days prior to the release of
notorious Jack "Dr. Death" Kevorkian, the disability rights group Not Dead Yet
expressed outrage at a national poll that showed a small majority support the
assisted suicide crusader. The advocates faulted the Associated Press for its
wording of a question in the May 22-24 AP-Ipsos Poll, to which 53 percent of
respondents said they believed Kevorkian should not have served time for murder
in the death of Thomas Youk, who had ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's
disease.
Top of page
COMMUNITY LIVING
State High Court Rules Low IQ Not Enough
Reason To End Parental Rights
Columbus, OH--The Ohio Supreme
Court ruled that a couple should not have lost custody of their 11-year-old son
simply because they have intellectual disabilities. The Supreme Court ruled
that the parents' low IQ scores -- of 59 and 62 -- were not enough reason under
Ohio law to terminate the parents' rights to raise the boy. The justices noted
that the juvenile court had removed the boy from the couple's custody, even
though they had done everything the court had ordered them to do in order to
regain custody, that there was no evidence that the boy was abused or
neglected, and that the boy wanted to return to his parents.
Lawsuit: Realtor Refused To Allow
Wheelchair Inside House
Byron Center, MI--Greg and Tammy Horner
are suing local real estate agent Bob Ortiz over claims that he discriminated
against them because Mr. Horner uses a wheelchair. The couple accused Ortiz of
refusing to let them enter a $415,900 home during an open house last August
after learning that Mr. Horner would need to bring his wheelchair inside. Ortiz
has denied discriminating against the Horners, saying it was a simple
misunderstanding about time.
Supreme Court Hears In-Home Worker Overtime
Case
Washington, DC--The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on
April 16 in a New York City case that could determine whether agencies that
employ in-home care assistants should have to follow federal wage and overtime
rules. The decision, expected this summer, could affect hundreds of thousands
of workers who provide in-home services to seniors and people with
disabilities.
Advocates' Umbrellas Show Lawmakers 'It's
Pouring!'
Tallahassee, FL--Hundreds of advocates brought the
umbrellas to the state capitol to send the message to lawmakers that it's time
for budget writers to dip into the state's "rainy day" fund to keep in-home and
community-based services for thousands of Floridians with developmental
disabilities. Governor Charlie Crist attended the rally and told the crowd that
he was committed to helping as much as he can between now and the when the
legislative session ends.
HUD: Disability Topped Housing
Discrimination Complaints
Washington, DC--Discrimination
complaints based on disability led all other causes of housing complaints last
year, according to a 140-page report by the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development. Overall, HUD received a record 10,328 housing discrimination
complaints in 2006 -- an increase of 65 percent over the 6,270 complaints in
1996. Forty percent of last year's complaints alleged discrimination based on
disability, compared to 39 percent on race.
Lawmakers Want To Eliminate Waiting List,
But Disagree On When
Concord, NH--New Hampshire lawmakers agreed
generally that eliminating the waiting list for community services for some 275
adults with developmental disabilities is a good idea. But, Health Commissioner
John Stephen wants to knock out the list by next year, while Governor John
Lynch wants to reduce the list gradually over the next four years. Some state
senators are pushing a bill that would compromise, eliminating the list in
three years.
Hundreds Rally For Shorter Wait List
Baton Rouge, LA--Hundreds of disability rights advocates rallied at
the steps of the Louisiana Capitol on May 8, many wearing yellow T-shirts
printed with the message: "A waiting list is not a service." The advocates want
lawmakers to kick in more money to address the 21,000 people on two waiting
lists for community-based services designed to help seniors and people with
disabilities to stay in their own homes instead of nursing homes and other
institutions. The wait time for one of those programs, the New Opportunities
Waiver, is 12 years.
Legislators May Step In To Stop Group Home
Dover, DE--State legislators were called on to halt the
scheduled June 1 opening of a group home for five adults with developmental
disabilities. The leadership of both the House and Senate pushed for the
General Assembly to intervene because the residents have histories of
exhibiting sexually explicit behavior. But, Secretary of Health and Social
Services Vincent Meconi said that none of the initial residents is a registered
offender, in part because not one has been found competent to stand trial.
Judge: Condo Cannot Block Residents With
Disabilities
New York, NY--A federal judge has cleared the way
for YAI/National Institute for People with Disabilities to purchase two upper
Manhattan condominiums for five people with developmental disabilities that
"have a dire need for a place to live." The residential service provider had
filed a discrimination lawsuit claiming the board of The Bennett, its managing
agent, and the purchasers of the units that the nonprofit had already applied
to buy, violated the federal Fair Housing Act and New York's Human Rights Law,
by trying to keep out those with disabilities.
Public Housing Authority Settles Federal
Fair Housing Complaint
Chapel Hill, NC--The U.S. Department of
Justice has settled a housing discrimination suit it had filed in December 2005
against Chapel Hill's public housing authority. The suit alleged that the
Chapel Hill Department of Housing violated the federal Fair Housing Act by
failing to provide an accessible apartment for Sonya Dixon and her daughter,
who has cerebral palsy. The city, which has denied any wrongdoing, argued that
it could not accommodate Dixon's request because no accessible units became
available.
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CRIMES AND ABUSE AGAINST PEOPLE WITH
DISABILITIES
More Tests Ordered For Mom Accused Of
Stabbing Daughter
St. Charles, IL--A judge has ordered more
mental evaluations for Betty Whitten, 59, who was charged with two counts of
first-degree murder in the stabbing death of her 34-year-old daughter,
Nyakiambi. Prosecutors believe that Whitten used a butcher knife on April 3,
2006 to fatally stab her daughter three times in the chest, then loaded the
body into the family's car, and drove the car off a nearby bridge. Nyakiambi
had an intellectual disability and cerebral palsy, and used a wheelchair.
New York Lawmakers Approve Law Named For
Restraint Victim
Albany, NY--The New York Assembly voted
unanimously on April 23 to approve "Jonathan's Law", just a few days after the
state's Senate did the same. The measure would give parents and guardians
access to child abuse investigation files and medical history records at
state-run institutions, and would also require facility officials to notify
parents and guardians when abuse and neglect incidents occur. The bill was
named for Jonathan Carey, 13, who had autism and could not talk, and who died
in February after employees from the state-run Oswald D. Heck Developmental
Center physically restrained him in the back of a van.
After Cell Recorded Crimes, Officials Told
Workers To Leave Phones At Home
Anaheim, CA--The agency that
oversees an Anaheim vocational program -- where employees used a cell phone to
video record the assaults of two men with intellectual disabilities at the
program -- apparently responded by urging workers to leave their phones at
home. In early February, two former staff members of Jossen Vocational Academy
were arrested for repeatedly slapping each of the men in a restroom at the
facility, one month after authorities released cell phone recordings of the
incidents to the media.
Police: Girl, 10, Suffered 8 Days After
Scalding
Harrisburg, PA--Harrisburg police said Quiniece
Lockett, 10, who had cerebral palsy, partial blindness and a seizure disorder,
died of complications from second- and third-degree burns on her back, arms and
legs -- over nearly one half of her small body. The girl might not have died if
her father or aunt had sought medical attention when she was first scalded in a
bathtub of hot water -- eight days earlier. Police later arrested Shaun A.
Lockett, 32, and the aunt, Lashawn S. Brown, 27, and charged them with criminal
homicide, endangering a child's welfare, and two counts of conspiracy.
Dozens Mourn At Marcus Fiesel Funeral
Middletown, OH--About 60 people gathered May 4 to pay their respects
to Marcus Fiesel, the 3-year-old boy who had autism and died last August at the
hands of his foster parents, Liz and David Carroll. The boy's remains, just a
few bone fragments, could have fit inside a paper cup, authorities said. The
Carrolls are serving time in prison for wrapping Marcus inside a blanket,
taping it tight around him, leaving him in a hot closet for days while they
went out of state, then burning his body, and telling officials he had wandered
away.
"Ashley Treatment" Was Illegal, Watchdog
Group Says
Seattle, WA--The civil rights of "Ashley X", a
6-year-old girl with an intellectual disability, were violated when doctors at
Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle failed to get a
court order before performing a hysterectomy on her to keep her from developing
sexually and physically, the Washington Protection and Advocacy System
concluded in a 38-page report. The hospital admitted on May 8 that it followed
bad advice from an attorney who said a court did not need to weigh in on the
sterilization procedure because the surgery was not intended to keep her from
getting pregnant. But under Washington state law and the 14th Amendment, a
child or adult with a developmental disability cannot be surgically sterilized
at the parents' request until a court has approved the procedure and after the
child's interests have been 'zealously' represented by an uninvolved third
party, usually a court-appointed guardian ad litem.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
Deaf Driver Sues Police Over Arrest
Modesto, CA--A pizza deliveryman is suing the Modesto Police
Department, its police chief, and six officers over claims that they used
excessive force when they fired beanbag shotguns at him seven times as they
arrested him last March. In his federal lawsuit, Harry "Dan" Tessien, 45, who
has been deaf for 25 years, also accused the officers of violating his rights
under the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to provide a qualified
sign language interpreter after the arrest.
Trooper Admits Guilt In Hamley Shooting
Bentonville, AR--On May 3, retired Arkansas State Police Trooper
Larry Norman admitted that he mistakenly shot to death 21-year-old Joseph
"Erin" Hamley, an innocent, unarmed man who had cerebral palsy, an intellectual
disability, and a psychological disability. Norman could face up to one year in
prison, a fine of $1,000, or both, when he is sentenced on the misdemeanor
charge on June 28.
Former Inmate: Jail Took And Broke My
Prosthetic Leg
Scranton, PA--Thomas Zimmerman, a former inmate
at Schuylkill County jail, is suing the county, the jail, and corrections
officials, accusing them of violating his rights. Zimmerman claims in his
federal lawsuit that in May 2005 prison officials took away his prosthetic leg
after they found tobacco hidden in it, then tossed it around until it broke.
Because he did not have his leg, and because the facility had no accommodations
for inmates with disabilities, he fell twice, fracturing his stump, he says.
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EDUCATION
Education Department Expands 'No Child'
Testing Rules
Washington, DC--The Bush administration announced
on April 4 that more students with disabilities would soon be able to take
alternative tests under the federal No Child Left Behind law. Education
Secretary Margaret Spellings said the new rules would allow about 20 percent
more children with disabilities to take alternative tests, and would provide
more accurate and meaningful results for schools, students and parents.
Parents Say District's Plan To
'Consolidate' Programs Would Segregate Kids
Flagstaff, AZ--More
than a hundred parents of children with disabilities packed the Flagstaff
Unified School District Governing Board April meeting to express their concerns
over a plan that they claimed would further segregate their children from the
rest of the student population, and violate state and federal
anti-discrimination laws. The parents were responding to a report that
recommended consolidating some special education programs -- and moving some
children from their neighborhood schools to more centralized locations -- in
order to cut costs and free up classroom space.
State Education Board: Students With
Disabilities Must Take Exit Exam To Graduate
Sacramento,
CA--Despite warnings that the state would again be taken to court for
discriminating against students with disabilities, the California Board of
Education voted May 10 to require such students to pass the California High
School Exit Exam in order to graduate and receive a diploma next year and
beyond. If lawmakers approve the recommendation, the state could again be
looking at legal action from the nonprofit legal firm Disability Rights
Advocates, which sued the state in 2002, claiming that the exit exam unfairly
discriminated against students with disabilities.
State Does Not Have To Award Equal Points
For Wheelchair Athlete, Judge Says
Baltimore, MD--Paralympic
wheelchair champion Tatyana McFadden has lost a legal battle to be recognized
by her state as a full member of her high school track and field team and earn
points in competition. U.S. District Judge Andre Davis said that the
18-year-old athlete's situation -- often being the only wheelchair competitor
in tournaments -- was no different than that of many other athletes that
compete in some sports, such as the pole vault, where the state might not award
full points because there may be only one or two competitors.
Supreme Court: Parents Don't Need Lawyers
To Sue Schools
Washington, DC--Parents can act without an
attorney to sue a public school if they believe the school has failed to
accommodate their child's disabilities, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on May 21.
The case involved Ohio parents Jeff and Sandee Winkelman, who say they cannot
afford an attorney to represent them in their suit against the Parma City
School District. They sent their 9-year-old son Jacob, who has autism, to a
specialized private school after disagreeing with the individualized education
program that the district proposed. The couple then tried to act on their son's
behalf to sue the district for the annual tuition.
Parents Say Leaving Students Out Of
Yearbook Is Part Of School's 'Pattern'
Mandeville,
LA--Officials at Lake Pontchartrain Elementary School apologized as they
distributed pages with pictures of students with disabilities -- pages that had
gone missing from the school's yearbook when it was handed out the previous
week. Parents of students in the special education program had expressed anger
after the annual was distributed -- without portraits of their children. While
school officials tried to make things right with the students and the parents,
some parents said this is the latest of a pattern of indignities for their
students.
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EMPLOYMENT
Firefighter Accuses Employer Of
Discrimination Over Diabetes
Sugar Land, TX--Brandon Tingey, 27,
is suing the city of Sugar Land for violating his rights under the Americans
with Disabilities Act and for retaliating against him during the two years he
worked at a city fire station. Tingey alleged that management at the firehouse
failed to keep fellow firefighters from harassing him because he has to inject
insulin for his type-one diabetes. He also accused the fire department of
terminating him unfairly after he went home sick one day because his blood
sugar had dropped too low for him to work.
Appeals Court Decides To Re-hear UPS Driver
Suit
San Francisco, CA--The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
announced on April 24 that the full 15-member court would reconsider a smaller
panel's recent decision which held that deaf employees and job applicants could
sue United Parcel Service over claims that the world's largest package delivery
service discriminated against them. Last October, a three-member panel of the
court ruled that UPS must assess each deaf driving applicant based on
individual driving qualifications instead of automatically screening him or her
out with a broad-based Department of Transportation hearing test.
ADA Is Not An "Affirmative Action Statute",
Appeals Court Says
St. Louis, MO--A federal appeals court ruled
May 30 that, while the ADA requires an employer to provide a "reasonable"
alternative for a worker who has sustained a disability on the job, it does not
require the employer to provide a job that is a "perfect" or "ideal" from the
worker's point of view. The case involved Pam Huber, who was earning $13 an
hour as a dry grocery order filler for a Wal-Mart when she injured her right
hand and arm in an on-the-job accident. Huber then requested to be transferred
to another position that was open, but Wal-Mart told her to apply for the job
and compete like all other workers. The company hired another worker, and
placed Huber in a janitorial job, where she earned just $6.20 an hour to start.
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INSTITUTIONS
Texas Banned Restraint Boards Following
Death At Mexia State School
Mexia, TX--The Texas Department of
Aging and Disability Services put a halt to the use of six-point restraint
boards in state-run institutions, following the death last winter of a
15-year-old resident of Mexia State School. The ban on the "TransBoard" -- a
flat board with straps for each arm, one across the chest, one across both legs
and one for each ankle -- was ordered on January 15, the day the boy died.
Parents Of Vanished Teen Ask Governor To
Investigate
Marianna, FL--The parents of Franklin Weekly, a
17-year-old with developmental disabilities, have asked Governor Charlie Crist
to open an investigation into their son's December 6, 2002 disappearance at the
state-run Sunland Training Center where he was housed. Even though workers
dismantling an abandoned building on the Sunland campus in 2004 found remains,
including underwear with Franklin's name and teeth that a medical examiner said
matched his dental records, state officials have not admitted that the remains
belonged to Franklin.
MRDD Boss Promises Fairfield Center Will
Stay Open, Despite Deaths
Hamilton, OH--Even though admissions
to the 199-bed Fairfield Center have been halted, the operator's license has
been revoked, and there have been two suspicious deaths in 12 months at
privately run institution, the facility will not close. John Martin, the
director of Ohio's Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental
Disabilities, told a crowd of Fairfield Center employees and parents of
residents that his agency would make sure the institution does not close.
Governor's Plan To Keep Facility Open
Prompts Feds To Issue Scathing Report
St. Louis, MO--The U.S.
Department of Justice has released a report that strongly criticizes the state
of Missouri for the treatment of residents with intellectual disabilities at
Bellefontaine Habilitation Center. The report, released April 11, documented
incidents of abuse and neglect at the state-run facility when federal
investigators visited in late 2005 and early 2006. Justice Department officials
had not planned on issuing the report because in January 2005 Governor Matt
Blunt proposed closing the institution and moving its residents into homes in
the community. But last month, Blunt announced that he was reversing that
decision, and instead plans to keep the 83-year-old facility open.
Washington Reopened Doors Of State
Institution To Young People
Shoreline, WA--Despite decades of
downsizing state-run institutions and moving people into the community, the
state of Washington has been quietly moving people with developmental
disabilities into Fircrest School -- 18 just within the last year. Most are
young people, prompting The Arc of Washington State to file a complaint with
the Office of Civil Rights, accusing the state of failing to provide the youths
with an appropriate education in the least restrictive setting as required
under federal law.
GAO Report: Federal Government Let Some
Offending Nursing Homes Off Easy
Washington, DC--The federal
government has not been doing its job when it comes to making sure residents at
some nursing homes are safe and treated well, according to a report that
Congress' Government Accountability Office released in April. The report's
authors cited several "weaknesses" within the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services that appeared to "undermine the effectiveness of sanctions" against
troubled facilities. The GAO found that while the overall number of sanctions
CMS gave the facilities dropped, the number of sanctions related to protecting
residents from harm increased. Almost half of the facilities were cited
repeatedly. And while many corrected the problems, those corrections were often
only temporary.
Hundreds To Leave Institutions Under New
Jersey Plan
Trenton, NJ--An estimated 1,850 people with
developmental disabilities, who are currently housed in New Jersey's state-run
institutions, will be able to move out and into group homes and apartments over
the next eight years, the state announced May 2. The plan is a response to a
lawsuit that the New Jersey Protection and Advocacy Inc. filed 2005 on behalf
of three institution residents who wanted the state to recognize their right to
live in the community. Fifty people have already moved under the plan, with
about 100 to leave in the next fiscal year, and then about 250 each year until
2015.
Agency To Pull 47 Kids From Failed
Institution
Durham, CT--The Connecticut Department of Children
and Families announced on May 9 that it would remove 47 children from Lake
Grove at Durham and move them into homes in the community between now and
September 15. The agency's decision came after two years of working with the
institution to adequately maintain the quality of care of the children, who
have developmental and other disabilities. In January, the department put a
stop to new admissions at the 116-bed facility because of a lack of proper
documentation of medications, inadequate medical and psychiatric care, and the
staff's inability to access emergency medical equipment.
Class Action Suit Filed Over
Institutionalizing People With Brain Injuries
Worcester, MA--A
group of people with brain injuries is suing the state of Massachusetts,
claiming that they and about 2,000 others are being illegally confined in
nursing homes and other institutions. In their class action suit, the
plaintiffs allege that the state is violating their civil rights under the ADA
and other laws by failing to provide enough funding for community-based
services. It calls for the state to provide community-based supports for all of
those with brain injuries who can and want to get out of institutions, within
the next five years.
Fire Deaths Prompt New Fire Safety Rules
Jefferson City, MO--A fire that last November claimed the lives
of 11 people in a privately run Anderson Guest House has prompted Missouri
lawmakers to pass new fire safety regulations for long-term care facilities in
the state. The measure would require new and renovated long-term care
facilities to install sprinklers by the end of 2012, and comprehensive fire
alarm systems by the end of 2008.
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IN OTHER NEWS
Agency Head Apologizes For Service Dog
Refusal
Hempstead, NY--Security staff at the Nassau County
Traffic Violations Agency told attorney Jean Waters that she would have to
leave her 9-year-old golden retriever, Elli, outside a courtroom while she went
inside. Waters, who is quadriplegic and has muscular dystrophy, tried to
explain that Elli is a service dog, and that it is illegal in New York to deny
access to a person with a service animal. The next week, the agency's executive
director telephoned Waters to apologize and assure her that service animals
would not be barred from the courtroom in the future.
Hawking Takes "Amazing" Weightless Flight
Cape Canaveral, FL--On April 25, British astrophysicist Stephen
Hawking became the first person with a physical disability to experience
weightlessness or 'zero gravity'. Hawking and members of his medical staff flew
aboard a specially equipped "Zero G" jet, which took off from the space shuttle
runway at the Kennedy Space Center and climbed to 32,000 feet over the Atlantic
Ocean. The plane then dived back down to 24,000, allowing Hawking to experience
zero gravity for about 25 seconds. The plane repeated the maneuver seven more
times before landing.
Study: U.S. Health Care Facilities And
Policies Not Ready For Aging Boomers
Washington, DC--The number
of Americans with disabilities is expected to skyrocket over the next few
decades as Baby Boomers age. But the medical community and healthcare policies
are not yet ready to deal with this fact, despite the Americans with
Disabilities Act and advances in medical and assistive technologies, according
to a study by the Institutes of Medicine. The study's authors found that many
people with disabilities face access barriers at health care facilities, in
medical equipment and information. Many also face burdensome restrictions in
health insurance, including Medicare.
Justice Department Settles With The Scooter
Store Over Alleged Fraud
San Antonio, TX--The U.S. Department of
Justice says The Scooter Store made guarantees it could not and should not
keep. Following up on information from a whistle-blowing former Scooter Store
employee, the department concluded that the company defrauded the government
and private insurers to the tune of several million dollars. In a legal
settlement, the company agreed to pay $4 million to the government, and to give
up many millions more in pending claims for reimbursement to Medicare.
Traveling Dancers Sue On-Line Travel Agency
For Accessible Room Guarantees
Oakland, CA--Two wheelchair users
and their traveling dance troupe have filed a lawsuit against the online travel
reservation company Hotels.com, claiming that it discriminates against them and
fellow Californians with disabilities. Judith Smith and Bonnie Lewkowicz, both
members of the non-profit AXIS Dance Company, claim in their suit that the
Hotels.com website fails to allow travelers to search for accessible rooms, and
does not even define what makes a room accessible. It also does not guarantee
that an accessible room would be available, but lists accessibility as an
optional "amenity", the plaintiffs allege.
Unsafe At Low Speeds: Hybrids' Silence Can
Prove Deadly For Pedestrians
Albuquerque, NM--Hybrids are fast
becoming the popular choice for American motorists, but they are making the
world less safe for people with vision-related disabilities, the Albuquerque
Tribune reported. Hybrids use a standard gasoline engine at high speeds. But at
lower speeds -- such as in city traffic and parking lots -- they run on
batteries and are almost silent. This is proving dangerous for people who rely
on their hearing to judge when cars are approaching.
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