DISABILITY RIGHTS ADVOCATES Annual Report 2011 DISABILITY RIGHTS ADVOCATES A non-profit corporation Table of Contents MEET OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ACCESS TO TRANSPORTATION EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS VETERANS' RIGHTS HIGH-IMPACT CASE WORK FELLOWSHIPS BOARD MEMBER PROFILES Project Manager: Alicia Reyes Design By: Aubrey Ferreira MEET OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR "Our work is to make sure everyone is treated with dignity and respect." Dear Friend of the Disability Rights Movement, All of the staff and attorneys at DRA are deeply committed to ensuring that people with all types of disabilities are treated with dignity and respect. DRA's ground breaking legal achievements have signaled that the inclusion of people with disabilities is not only the law, but a win-win situation for everyone. I am fired up about leading the fight for the removal of attitudinal and physical barriers that remain. I'm honored to be working with folks like Larry Paradis, our former Executive Director, who now has become President of the organization and Sid Wolinsky, the Director of Litigation and Co-founder with Larry. Our goal is to get entities, both public and private, to do what they should have done in the first place, namely follow the law and help people with disabilities achieve full participation. With our new offices in New York City and our headquarters in Berkeley, California, the home of the first curb cut in America, we are truly a national organization that can be that much more vigilant in ensuring access for people with all types of disabilities to work, school and everything else that we value in our community. Please feel free to reach out to me directly or to any of our staff if you are interested in getting involved here, where our work is to make sure everyone is treated with dignity and respect. Yours truly, Benjamin P. Foss Ben Foss, A National Disability Leader and Former Head of Access Technology at Intel Ben Foss became Executive Director in May 2011 after serving four years as Vice President on its Board of Directors. Foss, a nationally recognized civil rights advocate, is featured in the HBO Documentary Journey into Dyslexia, a poignant film that explores his experience as a dyslexic person and his success as an inventor of ground breaking digital technology. Foss, who holds a J.D./M.B.A. from Stanford University, is an expert in technology, entrepreneurship and disability issues, and has been sought after for his insights by the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business News, ABC News and the BBC. Before joining DRA, Foss spent seven years at Intel, most recently as Director of Access Technology. In this role, he received two U.S. patents and invented the Intel® Reader, a product CNN called "too ground breaking to ignore." This digital device takes a photo of any printed material and reads it aloud on the spot. It helps those with vision and learning disabilities. Previous to that, he also worked in the Clinton White House and for the Children's Defense Fund. GAIN FOR NEW YORKERS WITH DISABILITIES A federal court in New York City ruled that New Yorkers with disabilities can move forward with a lawsuit challenging the Taxi and Limousine Commission's (TLC) refusal to provide accessible taxis to tens of thousands of people who use wheelchairs in the city. The suit was filed after many years of struggling with a taxi fleet that is almost completely inaccessible. New York City has more taxis than any city in America. Yet only around 232 (1.7%) of the 13,237 taxis are accessible to people who use wheelchairs, and at any given time only a fraction of the accessible taxis are on the road. We filed suit along with Outten & Golden LLP on behalf of a coalition of New York based disability organizations including United Spinal, The Taxis for All Campaign, 504 Democratic Club and Disabled in Action as well as two individuals, Christopher Noel and Simi Linton. This victory is significant because the TLC is in the final stages of negotiating a contract with a manufacturer for a uniform taxi vehicle model, which is slated to become the city's one and only taxi. If New York does not choose an accessible taxi cab, people who use wheelchairs will, for the next decade, be excluded from over 98% of New York's cabs. "New York City needs a taxi system that is equally accessible for all its citizens. The lack of accessible taxis is blatant discrimination; it compromises my work life and personal life and my health and well being " -Dr. Simi Linton Plaintiff Simi Linton, Ph.D., is a lifelong New Yorker and power wheelchair user who works primarily in New York City. " I hope an accessible taxi cab model will be chosen so I can easily hail a taxi the way I used to before I began using a wheelchair.” -Chris Noel Plaintiff, Chris Noel, has been using a wheelchair for almost ten years. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES Recent disasters like the quake-tsunami in Japan and Hurricane Katrina have highlighted that people with disabilities and the elderly are at greater risk of being harmed and left behind when disasters strike. As a result of Hurricane Katrina, we learned that almost half of the 1,000 people killed were 75 or older, many with disabilities. Similarly, more than half of those killed by Japan's massive quake-tsunami were elderly. Recognizing that planning for the needs of people with disabilities in emergencies is an issue of life and death, DRA several years ago launched an emergency preparation project. The aim is to lead cities and counties to include people with disabilities and the elderly in their emergency planning. Such planning is critical if we are to keep our most vulnerable citizens safe during natural and other disasters. This project is making dramatic progress by convincing public entities both large and small to develop and implement plans that cover the range of disabilities. These emergency plans, developed through negotiations and with the assistance of experts, have a cross-disability focus. They ensure that the needs of people with various disabilities are improved. This means that wheelchair users, persons with diabetes, people who rely on electrical medical equipment, and persons with hearing and vision loss are safer when disasters strike. It also helps all people in the community since addressing the needs of citizens with disabilities often means improving emergency planning for everyone. DRA through a combination of negotiation and litigation, has already successfully compelled large and small cities in California such as Los Angeles, Oakland, and Richmond to adopt new emergency plans that take the disabled and elderly into account. Our goal is to make public entities nationwide incorporate a cross-disability component in all emergency planning. This type of emergency planning, is not only the law, it can save tens of thousands of lives. To read more about the cross-disability emergency planning that cities are in the process of implementing as a result of DRA's advocacy, visit: www.dralegal.org/projecls/eprep CALIF v. LA Los Angeles is home to more than half a million residents with disabilities and is susceptible to a variety of emergencies, including earthquakes, fires, landslides and terrorist attacks. DRA's investigation of LA's emergency plans revealed that the city and county lacked adequate disaster planning for people with disabilities. Many shelters lacked basic access features required for wheelchair users. Shelters also generally lacked back up generator capabilities and refrigeration for medication, which are essential for people who rely on electrical medical equipment and refrigerated medication. LA's emergency plan also failed to address accessible transportation and evacuation, and overlooked the need for communication assistance for people with disabilities. The emergency plan in place left people with disabilities behind and was not acceptable. When the City and County of Los Angeles failed to respond to DRA's efforts at a negotiated solution, DRA filed suit seeking comprehensive injunctive relief. The Plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Communities Actively Living Independent and Free (CALIF) and one individual with a disability. Early this year, the court ruled that the City of Los Angeles has in fact violated federal law, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, by failing to meet the needs of people with disabilities in planning for emergencies. The ruling was the first of its kind in the country. The Court ordered the city to develop a comprehensive emergency plan for persons with disabilities. "This victory means that over half a million residents with disabilities in L.A. will now have a better chance of survival when the next disaster strikes" - Lilibeth Navarro Lilibeth Navarro is Executive Director of CALIF and a wheelchair user DEFENDING VETERANS' RIGHTS Eighteen veterans commit suicide a day. That is more than six thousand each year. Some sources report that we have lost more veterans to suicide then in combat as of 2010. Many of these deaths are related to the lack of proper mental health care treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), the most prevalent mental health disorder arising from combat. In 2007, DRA with Co-counsel Morrison Foerster brought a landmark case on behalf of veterans with PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) to address the VA's failure to provide effective treatment for the rapidly increasing number of veterans with these disabilities. The lawsuit also seeks to correct a growing backlog of unresolved disability compensation claims in the VA system. At the time this lawsuit was filed, the VA had a backlog of over 600,000 claims, and a decision on a claim took an average of more than four years. In some cases, claims took up to fifteen years to resolve. The Plaintiffs in the case are two organizations: Veterans for Common Sense (VCS) and Veteran's United for Truth (VUFT). This year the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found in favor of the Plaintiffs and ordered an overhaul of mental health care for veterans and of the extensive delays in benefit claims determinations. The ruling acknowledged that among all veterans enrolled in the VA system, an additional 1,000 attempt suicide each month. The delay in mental health care treatment and the backlog of benefit determinations claims are both a clear violation of veterans' constitutional rights. "This is a golden opportunity for thegovernment to work on a plan to improve the VA's mental health care system and save the lives of thousands of veterans." -Paul Sullivan, Executive Director of VCS "DRA's work on behalf of returning veterans with disabilities ranks amongst the most important work we have ever done. The decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is a resounding condemnation of the VA's and of this nation's treatment of our returning heroes." -Sid Wolinsky, Director of Litigation "The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ordered an overhaul of mental health care for veterans, who are killing themselves by the thousands each year because of what the court called the 'unchecked incompetence' of the Department of Veterans Affairs." - The New York Times, May 18, 2011 ALDA v. Cinemark As a result of an action by DRA and Co-counsel John Waldo filed in November 2010, Cinemark will offer closed captioning at all of its first-run theaters in California by mid 2012. Plaintiffs are the Association of Late Deafened Adults (ALDA) and two deaf individuals. Technology for Accessibility Movie Captioning conveys the dialogue, narration, musical cues, and key sound effects, in the form of written text for viewers who have difficulty hearing the movie sound track. Closed captions are relayed only to members of the audience who choose to receive them via a personal display device. The captions are not visible on the screen to the rest of the audience. JAWS is a screenreading tool for the blind that turns any computer into a talking computer. JAWS also provides braille output in addition to, or instead of, speech. ZoomText Magnifier enlarges and enhances everything on a computer screen, making applications easy to see and use for people with low vision. HIGH-IMPACT CASE WORK Jantz v. SSA In 2010, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission affirmed the October 2008 decision to certify the case as a class action. Disabled employees of the Social Security Administration (SSA) can move forward with the suit, which alleges that the SSA discriminates against employees with disabilities by creating a glass ceiling and limiting promotions and other career advancement opportunities. The class is estimated to include approximately 2,000 members. DRA co-counseled with a consortium of law firms Berger & Montague, P.C., Brown Goldstein Levy LLP, Schneider Wallace Cottrell Brayton Konecky LLP. Guzman v. Wells Fargo For deaf customers, relay calling in which an interpreter enables them to communicate by phone, is essential for conducting business. DRA and Co-counsel Schneider Wallace Cottrell Brayton Konecky LLP reached an agreement with Wells Fargo Bank to ensure that relay calls are accepted and that the bank's staff are properly trained to respond to relay calls. DRA has worked with attorneys in other parts of the country who are now using this as a model to improve responses by many types of businesses to relay calls from disabled customers. Tucker v. CA State Parks In 2005, DRA reached a landmark statewide class action settlement with the California State Park System. Over 250 state parks agreed to improve access through comprehensive barrier removal. The access improvements include making a reasonable portion of the trail system accessible for people in wheelchairs, providing access to beaches and shores, accessible signage for blind and low vision park visitors, and providing captioned videos and sign language interpreters for park activities. We are pleased to report that the California State Park System has improved access to over 50 parks under the settlement. As a result of this settlement, thousands of people with sensory and physical disabilities will have an equal opportunity to visit and enjoy California's state parks. Garbacz, DHHSWU, et al. v. State of California, et al. DRA and Co-counsel Chavez & Gertler LLP are representing a group of deaf state employees who are being denied workplace accommodations such as sign language interpreters. The suit aims to improve communication access for the state's deaf employees. Enyart v. NCBE The Ninth Circuit granted Stephanie Enyart, a blind law school graduate, the use of assistive technology to take the Bar exam. The circuit court decision established for the first time under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), that test-takers with disabilities are entitled to accommodations on licensing exams which will best ensure they are tested on their knowledge and ability rather than on their disability. Ms. Enyart thus won the right to take the Bar exam using specialized software that reads aloud (JAWS) and magnifies the printed text (ZoomText). DRA co-counseled this case with two firms LaBarre Law Offices and Brown Goldstein Levy LLP. Similarly, in the case Elder v. National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) a preliminary injunction was issued requiring the NCBE to allow a blind test-taker to take the California Bar Exam with similar assistive technology (JAWS). NFB v. LSAC The Law School Admission Council's (LSAC) website is the gateway for aspiring law students to register for the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) and to apply to law schools. LSAC's inaccessible website prevented blind law school applicants who use screen reader software from using these features of its website. A settlement was reached this year, two years after the lawsuit was filed. Under the settlement, LSAC agreed to make its entire website accessible to blind law school applicants by early September 2011, in time for the next cycle of law school admissions. The Plaintiffs in the case are the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and several blind individuals. DRA co-counseled this case with two firms Brown Goldstein Levy LLP and LaBarre Law Offices. Californians for Disability Rights, Inc. v. CALTRANS We are proud to announce that Larry Paradis, President and Co-Director of Litigation for DRA and Mary-Lee Kimber Smith, Staff Attorney at DRA along with Jose Allen of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates, are winners of the 2011 California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year Award for their outstanding achievements in the case: Californians for Disability Rights, Inc. v. California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS) which concerned access for people with mobility and vision disabilities to thousands of miles of sidewalks and crosswalks provided by CALTRANS throughout California. The CALTRANS case was hard fought from the beginning with CALTRANS challenging every issue including the constitutionality of the ADA. Ultimately, CALTRANS agreed to a precedent-setting settlement including the removal work that will improve 2,500 miles of sidewalks across the State of California. In short, this means safer access to sidewalks throughout the state for the disabled and elderly. DRA's work resulted in the largest architectural access settlement to date for people with disabilities. GLAD v. Time Warner CNN.com refuses to provide any captioning of its online videos, excluding the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities from accessing video news content on its website. The suit is brought by The Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness (GLAD) on behalf of its constituents with hearing loss, and three individual Plaintiffs. The Plaintiffs are represented by DRA and Co-counsel Goldstein, Demchak, Ballet Bo/gen & Dardarian. FELLOWSHIPS "Throughout law school, my dream was to work at a non-profit public interest legal center engaged in high-impact litigation, to improve the lives of people with disabilities. So I am thrilled to be starting my career as the John W. Carson/LD Access Fellowship Attorney at Disability Rights Advocates. Since starting my fellowship, I have witnessed a monumental victory in one of our Southern California cases. In this case we won our Motion for Summary Judgment when the Judge ruled that the City of Los Angeles was in violation of federal law because of its failure to meet the needs of its residents with disabilities in planning for natural and other disasters. Leveraging the success in this case, I am assisting with the investigation of other cities in Southern California to ensure that the disabled and elderly are included in emergency planning. I also represent consumers with disabilities before the California Public Utilities Commission. This work has a real impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of Southern California residents with disabilities, many of whom are simply unable to go without electricity and gas due to the serious risks it would pose to their health and ability to live independently" - Kara Werner, John W Carson/LD Access Fellowship Attorney "My fellowship project focuses on ensuring that people with disabilities have equal access to technology. During my first week at DRA, I helped draft a complaint against the Cinemark movie theater chain for its failure to provide closed captioning technology in any of its theaters. Once the lawsuit was filed, Cinemark decided to work with us to add closed captioning to all of its first-run theaters in California. Now deaf or hard-of-hearing people can have a personal device that lets them enjoy this all American experience. I have also begun working on a case that aims to extend our favorable decision in Enyart v. NCBE to a student with dyslexia. Anyone who has difficulty with text, be it a blind person or a dyslexic person, should be granted the use of basic assistive technology that allows them to show their knowledge on high-stakes tests such as the Bar exam. I hope we will break new ground here and help more people fully participate in society" - Elizabeth Leonard, Penn Law Public Interest Fellowship Attorney BOARD MEMBER PROFILES Bill Alderman is a partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP in San Francisco, where he specializes in business litigation and dispute resolution. His career-long commitment to pro bono representation has included collaboration with DRA and other disability rights organizations and work on significant Supreme Court cases such as Bakke v. Regents of the University of California and Hamdan v. Rumsfeld. In addition, Mr. Alderman has supervised Orrick lawyers on hundreds of matters covering a wide variety of public interest issues such as eviction defense, human trafficking, minority businesses, discrimination and consumer protection. The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area recognized Mr. Alderman's dedication to pro bono efforts and honored him with its Robert J. Sproul award in 1996. "DRA has flourished in its work and reputation as a leading civil rights legal center and has made significant improvements to the lives of people with disabilities. As a person with a mobility disability, I know how important this work is." - Bill Alderman Janice (Janni) Lehrer-Stein is a former labor and employment discrimination litigator who practiced in Washington D.C. and San Francisco. Ms. Lehrer-Stein has served on the Board, and as an officer of Medical Research Charities. A national trustee, she served in various volunteer leadership positions with the Foundation Fighting Blindness, including several Walk for Sight and Visionwalk campaigns, and as chairperson for the San Francisco Dining in the Dark in 2010 and 2011. Blinded by retinitis pigmentosa since 1982, Janni has lectured, toured schools, and participated in local and national forums on the need for respect, dignity and equal access for people with disabilities. Ms. Lehrer-Stein was nominated as a member of the National Council on Disability (NCD) by President Barack Obama and was recently confirmed by the United States Senate. DRA is proud to announce the publication Lawyers Lead On: Lawyers with Disabilities Share Their Insights, which features DRA President Larry Paradis and Attorney Rebecca Williford as well as DRA's Executive Director Ben Foss. This book is a collection of candid letters from lawyers with various disabilities about their experiences in law school and in the legal profession. This book is recommended for people with disabilities who are interested in pursuing legal careers and for anyone who wants to learn about the experiences of lawyers with disabilities. Now available for purchase at www.abanow.org. BOARD OF DIRECTORS William F. Alderman Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP Leslie Aoyama Nordstrom Inc. Mark A. Chavez Chavez & Gertler LLP Linda Dardarian Goldstein, Demchak, Bailer, Borgen & Dardarian Lucy Lee Helm Starbucks Coffee Company Pat Kirkpatrick Fundraising Consultant Joshua Konecky Schneider Wallace Cottrell Brayton Konecky LLP Janice L Lehrer-Stein Trustee The Foundation Fighting Blindness Bonnie Lewkowicz Access Northern California Jessica Lorenz Independent Living Resource Center San Francisco Laurence Paradis Disability Rights Advocates Eugene Alfred Pinover Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP Cristina Rubke Shartsis Friese LLP Michael P. Stanley Legal Consultant CALIFORNIA ADVISORY BOARD Joseph Cotchett Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy Hon. Joseph Grodin Retired Justice, California Supreme Court Kathleen Hallberg Ziffren, Brittenham & Branca Karen Kaplowitz New Ellis Group Hon. Charles Renfrew Retired, United States District Judge Margaret R. Roisman Roisman Henel LLP Guy T. Saperstein Todd Schneider Schneider Wallace Cottrell Brayton Konecky LLP Fernando M. Torres-Gil, Ph.D. University of Calif. Los Angeles Gerald Uelmen Santa Clara University School of Law NEW YORK ADVISORY BOARD Evan Davis Partner Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP Blaine V. Fogg Ref. Partner Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP Margaret M. Foran Chief Governance Officer Prudential Financial Stephen G. Foresta Partner Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP Janice L Lehrer-Stein Trustee The Foundation Fighting Blindness Alan Levine Partner Cooley Godward Kronish LLP Gary Phelan Special Counsel Cohen & Wolf, P.C. Eugene Alfred Pinover Partner Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP Susie Wilson Fundraiser MANE DRA's work is supported by friends like you. To donate go to dralegal.org/donation or contact Laurie Ferreira, Finance Director 510-665-8644 DISABILITY RIGHTS ADVOCATES DRA focuses on high-impact legal work to protect the civil rights of people with all kinds of disablities nationwide. We are a national legal center that represents people with various disabilities in many high-impact cases, focusing on public accommodations, education, employment, and health care access. Disability Rights Advocates 2001 Center Street, Fourth Floor Berkeley, CA 94704-1204 USA www.dralegal.org