Thanks to the generous support of our donors, Disability Rights Advocates is pleased to make available on our website and in our offices the work of artists from the National Institute of Art & Disabilities (NIAD). NIAD provides an art program that promotes creativity, independence, dignity, and community integration for people with developmental and other disabilities.
DRA is proud to announce the publication: Lawyers Lead On: Lawyers with Disabilities Share Their Insights, which features DRA attorneys Larry Paradis and 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.
Click here to purchase the publication.San Francisco, California - The National Federation of the Blind, the nation’s oldest and largest organization of blind people and the leading advocate for accessible technology, and three blind individuals—Michael Hingson, Mike May, and Tina Thomas—who reside in California and frequently fly United, filed a class-action lawsuit today in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against United Airlines. United uses airport kiosks that employ touchscreen technology in a manner such that they cannot be used by blind passengers. Passengers who are able to use the kiosks can access information about flights, check in for flights, print tickets and boarding passes, select seats, upgrade to United’s business or first class cabins, check baggage, and perform other transactions relevant to their air travel plans. The suit alleges that United is violating the California Disabled Persons Act and the Unruh Civil Rights Act because the services it provides through these kiosks are not available to blind passengers. United could easily add an audio interface, a tactile keyboard, or interactive screen reader technology that works with touchscreens to its kiosks, as other companies have done.
Read the Press ReleaseNew York, New York - A lawsuit filed today in federal court for the Southern District of New York alleges that the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) and the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) discriminate against people who use wheelchairs, the elderly, and anyone else living with a mobility impairment.
Read the Press ReleaseA group of disabled employees of the Social Security Administration has secured another victory in a class action before the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. On August 25, 2010, the EEOC Office of Federal Operations affirmed the October 8, 2008 decision of the Administrative Judge to certify the case as a class action. The action alleges that the Social Security Administration discriminates against employees with targeted disabilities by creating a glass ceiling and limiting promotions and other career advancement opportunities. The certified class includes all current and former employees with targeted disabilities at the Social Security Administration who, on or after August 22, 2003, have applied for promotions, appeared on a best qualified list and been denied promotion opportunities. The class is estimated to include approximately 2,000 members, and is represented by a consortium of law firms including Berger & Montague, P.C., Brown Goldstein & Levy LLP, Schneider Wallace Cottrell Brayton Konecky LLP, and Disability Rights Advocates.
Read the Press ReleaseNew York, New York – A lawsuit filed in Federal District court in the Southern District of New York alleges that the Board of Elections in the City of New York discriminates against registered voters with mobility and vision disabilities, because it fails to ensure that polling places are accessible on Election Day.
Read MoreATTENTION: All persons with a disability who have sought or will seek access to San Francisco’s single adult emergency shelter system for homeless persons. You may be a member of the proposed settlement class affected by this lawsuit.
Read More about the CaseEmployees for the State filed a class action lawsuit against the State of California alleging that the State has systemically failed to provide basic accommodations for its deaf employees in violation of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and state law. Deaf and Hard of Hearing State Workers United, an organization formed to protect the rights of employees with hearing disabilities, is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit. The employees are represented by Disability Rights Advocates, a Berkeley-based non-profit law center, and the civil rights firm Schneider Wallace Cottrell Brayton Konecky LLP, which together brought a similar, and successful, nationwide class action against United Parcel Service in 1999.
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