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Upcoming Events

March 10: Fair Housing and Reasonable Accommodations Updates presented by Barbara Chandler
April 1: AccessibilityOnline - Section 508 Standards Refresh
April 8: Assessing and Changing employers' Attitudes Toward Hiring and Retention of Employees with Disabilities presented by Fong Chan
May 6: AccessibilityOnline - Vehicle Guideline Update
TBA: U.S. Department of Justice Enforcement Activities presented by Toni Pochucha and Regina E. Morgan
TBA: The ADA and Transportation presented by Marilyn Golden
TBA: Project Civic Access Updates presented by Ame Eduardo and Jennifer McDannel
TBA: Accommodations for People with Disabilities presented by Fong Chan

In the News

Updated March 5, 2010

New Edition of Disability Law Handbook available!

March 4, 2010 – The National Network of ADA Centers is pleased to announce the release of the new edition of the Disability Law Handbook. Free copies may be downloaded or viewed on this website.

Hard copies can now be purchased for a $5 charge (includes shipping/handling).

Or call the ADA Center that serves you at 1.800.949.4232 v/tty to request a copy.

The Disability Law Handbook is a 64-page guide to the basics of the Americans with Disabilities Act and other disability related laws. Written in an FAQ format, The Disability Law Handbook answers questions about the Americans with Disabilities Act, the ADA Amendments Act, the Rehabilitation Act, Social Security, the Air Carrier Access Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, and the Fair Housing Act Amendments.

Updated February 9, 2010

Court Approves $6.2 Million Distribution in EEOC v. Sears Disability Settlement

235 Former Employees Terminated at End of Workers’ Compensation Leaves of Absence to Share Settlement Proceeds After Participating in Claims Process

CHICAGO (February 10, 2010) – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced court approval of the distribution of a $6,200,000 compensation fund in the landmark Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) litigation between the EEOC and Sears, Roebuck & Co. The distribution is being carried out pursuant to the terms of a consent decree approved by Federal District Judge Wayne Anderson on September 29, 2009. In its lawsuit against Sears, the EEOC had alleged that Sears maintained an inflexible workers’ compensation leave exhaustion policy and terminated employees instead of providing them with reasonable accommodations for their disabilities, in violation of the ADA. The case resulted in the largest ADA settlement in a single lawsuit in EEOC history.

Under the terms of the decree, the EEOC provided claim forms to certain Sears employees who had been terminated under Sears’ workers’ compensation leave policy. The claimants were asked to report to the EEOC, among other things, the extent of their impairments, their ability to return to work at Sears, and whether Sears had made any attempt to return them to work. Based on these criteria, the EEOC found that 235 individuals were eligible to share in the settlement. The average award was approximately $26,300. More than twenty claimants were found to be ineligible by the EEOC. As with all EEOC litigation, none of the settlement fund will retained by the EEOC; all of it will be distributed.

EEOC Trial Attorney Aaron DeCamp noted that, in addition to the disbursement of settlement funds, the EEOC is seeing positive effects from the consent decree. “As a result of the decree, we believe Sears has an improved workers’ compensation leave process, and it has posted notices regarding the decree. We know that employees have been seeing the notices because we’ve been receiving inquiries as a result. So we think it’s pretty clear that our lawsuit genuinely benefited the employees of Sears and strengthened the company’s human resources processes.”

The lawsuit, filed in November 2004, was assigned to Federal District Court Judge Wayne Anderson of the Northern District of Illinois and Magistrate Judge Susan Cox, and is captioned EEOC v. Sears Roebuck & Co., N.D. Ill. No. 04 C 7282. Judge Anderson entered the order approving the monetary distributions on February 4.

Updated January 27, 2010

Free Online Conference Series on Paratransit Operations

Project ACTION, in Partnership with the ADA National Network, will present a free online conference series for four weeks in February. Promising Practices and Solutions in Accessible Transportation: Paratransit Operations Series will begin Feb. 3 and continue Feb. 10, 17 and 24. The deadline to register is Jan. 29. The one-hour sessions will feature nationally renowned experts addressing the topics of Origin to Destination; Personal Care Attendants, Companions and Visitors; Scheduling; and the Appeals Process. Each session will be presented via Webinar and teleconference. Connection information will be provided to registered participants.

Registration information for the Paratransit Operations Series .

Updated January 21, 2010

American Indians with Disabilities Public Awareness Campaign

January 13, 2010 – The Disability Law Lowdown podcast just posted a podcast called American Indians with Disabilities Public Awareness Campaign --a technology adoption model for individuals with disabilities from minority populations, with our guest, Andy Winnegar. This podcast features a discussion of assistive technology awareness and outreach “best practice” utilizing Andy Winnegar’s work with Everett Rogers and his diffusion model. Although his model is well documented, the application for people with disabilities, including those from minority populations, has not been.

Mr. Winnegar has been Deputy Director for Program Development and Support, New Mexico Division of Vocational Rehabilitation since 1991. He is the Director of the New Mexico Technology Assistance Program. He has authored successful federal proposals including working directly with Dr. Everett Rogers (Diffusion of Innovations Model) on the American Indian Public Awareness Campaign on Assistive Technology. Andy was co-principal investigator for the Consumer Funded Technology Transfer Network that developed interactions between consumers and NIDRR funded rehabilitation engineer centers, fifty state assistive technology programs and seven hundred federal laboratories. This project was acknowledged as a best practice by the National Center for Dissemination and Disability Research and also received the non-government recognition award from the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer.

The Disability Law Lowdown podcast is available at www.DisabilityLawLowdown.com, as well as on iTunes. People can listen to the podcast directing from a computer or can download it to an MP3 player, like an iPod.

The Disability Law Lowdown provides the latest information about disability rights and obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and other disability-related topics. Subscription is free.

The Disability Law Lowdown is provided by the National network of ten ADA Centers across the country, offering technical assistance and training in the Americans with Disabilities Act and other disability-related laws. The Disability Law Lowdown is available in English, Spanish, and American Sign Language.

Updated December 3, 2009

Briefs Filed in Three States to Enforce Supreme Court’s Olmstead Decision

Posted by Tracy Russo on the U.S. Department of Justice's blog

Last week proved to be a landmark for federal enforcement of the Supreme Court decision in Olmstead v. L.C., a ruling requiring States to eliminate unnecessary segregation of persons with disabilities and to move persons who can function in the community out of segregated facilities.

The Olmstead decision has often been called the Brown v. Board of Education of the disability rights movement. Earlier this year, President Obama issued a proclamation launching the “Year of Community Living,” and has directed the Administration to redouble enforcement efforts.

Last week, the Justice Department filed amicus, or “friend of the court,” briefs in three separate cases in Connecticut, Virginia and New York. Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the department’s Civil Rights Division stated:

“As the Supreme Court determined in the landmark Olmstead v. L.C. case, unjustified institutionalization stigmatizes individuals with disabilities as unworthy of participation in community life. New York, Virginia and Connecticut can successfully provide community-based housing, such as scattered site apartments with supportive services, and the law requires them to do so to prevent unnecessary institutionalization.”

On November 25th, the department filed a “friend of the court” brief in support of plaintiffs in Connecticut Protection and Advocacy v. State of Connecticut, and opposing a pending motion to dismiss the lawsuit in federal court in Connecticut. That case challenges the State’s lack of community placements for persons with disabilities who are housed in large, private nursing homes.

The United States filed a “friend of the court” brief in ARC of Virginia v. Timothy Kaine in Richmond, Virginia, federal district court on November 24th. That brief opposed Virginia’s motion to dismiss a case that challenges the State’s decision to spend millions of dollars to construct a new, large, segregated facility for persons with intellectual disabilities in Chesapeake, Virginia, who could be better served in the community in supported housing.

On November 24, 2009, the department also filed a brief in support of plaintiff’s proposed remedy in Disability Advocates Inc. v. David A. Paterson, et al. in federal district court in Brooklyn, where the court has already ruled that placement of persons with mental disabilities in “large adult homes” violates the Supreme Court decision in Olmstead.

In the New York lawsuit, Disability Advocates, Inc., the Justice Department has been permitted by the court to intervene in the ongoing case. The case was filed by a protection and advocacy agency, part of a national system of such organizations established to serve persons with disabilities by providing legal services that are partially federally-funded.

The court granted the United States’ motion to intervene on November 23rd, and earlier ordered briefs be submitted on proposed remedies in that case. The Department filed a memorandum on November 24th arguing in support of plaintiff’s proposed remedy to require 6,000 new community-based placements and against the State’s proposal to provide approximately 1,000 new community spaces in the state-run system.

The full and fair enforcement of the ADA and its mandate to integrate individuals with disabilities is a major priority of the Civil Rights Division. The ADA protects individuals with disabilities from discrimination by public entities. People interested in finding out more about the ADA can call the Justice Department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 1-800-514-0301 or 1-800-514-0383 (TTY), or access its ADA Web site at http://www.ada.gov, where all relevant case filings can be found.

Updated November 25, 2009

Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008

Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) prohibits the use of genetic information in making employment decisions, restricts acquisition of genetic information by employers and other entities covered by Title II of GINA, and strictly limits the disclosure of genetic information.

Complaints should be filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

GINA went into effect on November 21, 2009.

Updated April 21, 2009

Texas Healthcare Workers Wanted for Study Participation

April 21, 2009
Austin, Texas

Do you work in health care in Texas and have a colleague or supervise someone who has a disability? Or, are you a person with a disability who works in health care in Texas?

(By 'disability' we mean any kind of physical or mental impairment you currently have or had that lasted more than 6 months that limits or limited a major life activity for you — it could be arthritis, diabetes, a back injury, depression or a history of cancer or addiction to drugs or alcohol.— any health condition or impairment that currently does or in the past made it a lot harder for you than for the average person to walk, lift, sit, stand, read, concentrate, learn, see, hear, speak, bathe or engage in other major life activities.)

If so, researchers from SEDL would like to interview you about your work experiences.

We will give you a gift card of $25 as a thank you.

Focusing on those who work in hospital, medical and dental clinics and similar settings, the goal is to conduct one-on-one interviews, either face-to-face or by telephone, with individuals with disabilities, and with people who manage or supervise people with disabilities.

Please e-mail dbtac@sedl.org or call 1-800-476-6861 and ask for Kathleen Murphy to make arrangements. The research protocol has been reviewed by the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (HSC-MH-08-0373).