DBTAC - Great Lakes ADA Center

Impact of the Supreme Court's ADA Decisions

February 3, 2010 1-2:30 CST.

 

When Congress passed the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, it repudiated two of the U.S. Supreme Court's ADA decisions. (Sutton and Williams) But what about the other ADA cases decided by the Supreme Court? These cases involved important issues including reasonable accommodation and seniority systems, the definition of employee and employer, pretext, the impact of qualifying for Social Security benefits, and direct threat. What impact have these cases had? This session will provide an in-depth review of lower court interpretations of the major Supreme Court ADA decisions that were not covered by the ADA Amendments Act and provide guidance for interpreting those issues in the future.

 

For more information visit ADA Legal Webinar Series site at http://ada-audio.org/Webinar/ADALegal/Schedule/ or call (877) 232-1990.

Federal Facilities and the ABA Standards

February 4th, 2010 1:30-3:30 PM CST.

 

Whether you are responsible for a large project funded by the Recovery Act or the alteration of a Federal building, you need to know and follow the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) Accessibility Standards. This session will help familiarize you with the ABA standards and other applicable requirements with emphasis on those governing federally funded alteration and renovation projects.

 

For more information visit Accessibility Online site at http://www.accessibilityonline.org/Schedule/ or call (877) 232-1990.

Aging Workers with Disabilities: Implications for Employers

February 16th, 2010 1-2:30 PM CST.

 

The aging workforce is likely to result in increasing numbers of workers with disabilities. By the year 2010, this group will account for nearly half (44%) of the working age population (20-64), and the number of people with disabilities between the ages of 50 and 65 is predicted to double. Disability management and accommodation policies and practices readily lend themselves to addressing the challenges employers will face with an aging workforce, and the increasing prevalence of disability that these demographics bring. Join this session for a discussion of the practices associated with maximizing the productivity of an aging workforce and contribute to aging worker retention.

 

For more information visit ADA Audio Conference site at http://ada-audio.org/Schedule/ or call (877) 232-1990.

Introduction to Disability Benefits online course

February 23 to April 20, 2010

 

The University of Wisconsin-Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute (SVRI) and Employment Resources, Inc. (ERI), the primary training entity for work incentive benefits specialists in Wisconsin, are partnering to offer the first in a series of online courses, Introduction to Disability Benefits. This course was developed specifically for working professionals and is asynchronous which means there are no specific times to login. Individuals can enjoy the flexibility of working on the course when it is convenient.

 

For more information and registeration visit http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Summary.aspx?e=8434b6c7-76a3-42dc-a834-17db70247179 or call (877) 232-1990.

Best Practice in Developing and Disseminating Documents Electronically

March 10th, 2010 1-2:00 PM CST.

 

This webinar will identify best practices for creating accessible and optimized digital documents and web content for maximized usability, functionality and cost-savings. Specifically addresses issues and remedies pertaining to Portable Document Format (PDF), Microsoft Office Word and PowerPoint, and public websites. Recommended participants include: IT managers, web designers, and content creators of all skill levels.

 

For more information visit Accessible IT Webinar Series site at http://ada-audio.org/Schedule/ or call (877) 232-1990.

CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS

April 27 and 28, 2010

 

The Tenth Annual Multiple Perspectives conference continues a decade of community exploration of disability as an individual experience and social reality that cuts across typical divisions of education & employment; scholarship & service; business & government; race, gender & ethnicity. Proposals are due November 7, 2009. For information on proposal submission visit the conference web site.

 

Ohio State University

Columbus, OH

http://ada.osu.edu/conferences.htm

Save the Date!

June 20-23

 

The Network of DBTAC-ADA Centers will host the 2010 National ADA Symposium, A 20th Anniversary Celebration, in Denver, CO. As session details, activities and registration options develop, they will be posted on the National ADA Symposium website.

 

Hyatt Regency - Denver, CO

http://www.adasymposium.org

Saks Fifth Avenue has agreed to pay $170,000 to settle a disability discrimination suit brought by the EEOC. The settlement resolves the charge of a former Saks makeup artist, Marlene Babin+, who claimed that Saks fired her from its New Orleans store because of her disability, ulcerative colitis.

The EEOC has settled a disability discrimination lawsuit against property management firms Riverstone Residential, SW, LLC and Realty Management. The lawsuit had charged that companies with failing to accommodate and then firing an employee because the employee has a bipolar disorder. In 2008 the employee was involuntarily hospitalized and was subsequently fired by the company.

The EEOC announced it had resolved a lawsuit for $50,000 and received remedial relief against Freeman, S.D.-based Merchant State Bank under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). According to the EEOC lawsuit Merchant prevented a former custodian from returning to work while he was undergoing chemotherapy treatments. When the employee attempted to return to work at the completion of his therapy, he was told that he had been replaced.

The Justice Department announced it has entered into a consent decree with Wales West, LLC, d/b/a. The decree resolves a complaint that had been filed against the park under Title III of the ADA. In the complaint the parents of a 2 year old with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) alleged that the operators of the recreation park told the parents that their son would not be allowed to use the common areas of the facility, including the pool and showers. The decree requires that the park develop a non-discrimination policy, create policies and procedures to afford individuals with disabilities equal opportunity to benefit from the goods and services and that the park would conduct yearly training of employees on the requirements of Title III of the ADA.

The Department of Justice announced separate agreements under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Pace University in New York City and Reed College in Portland. The agreements resolve complaints regarding the use in a classroom setting of the electronic book reader, the Kindle DX. The Kindle is a hand-held technological device that simulates the experience of reading a book.

Under the agreements reached today, the universities generally will not purchase, recommend or promote use of the Kindle DX, or any other dedicated electronic book reader, unless the devices are fully accessible to students who are blind and have low vision.

Resources:

• Read about agreement with Case Western at http://www.ada.gov/case_western_univ.htm
• Read about agreemment with Reed College at http://www.ada.gov/reed_college.htm
• Read about agreement with Pace University at http://www.ada.gov/pace_univ.htm

The U.S. Department of Justice has posted 2 new Project Civic Access settlement agreements with the City ofSanta Rosa, CA and the City of Atlanta, GA to its web site. The DOJ Project Civic Access Initiative strives to ensure that counties, cities, towns, and villages comply with the requirements of Title II of the ADA. By eliminating physical and ommunication barriers Project Civic Access strives to insure that persons with disabilities are able to fully participate in the activities and services offered by their communities.

A New Day: We're Listening

In early 2010, the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) and its Federal partners will hold a series of six Listening Sessions across the country on disability employment. Each Listening Session is an opportunity for members of the public to provide input to senior Federal officials on their ideas for more effective ways to employ all people with disabilities, including women, Veterans and minorities with disabilities and what is currently working in their regions to increase employment of people with disabilities.

ODEP seeks input particularly from:

• Individuals & Consumers: youth and adults with disabilities, parents and caregivers.
• Employers: public and private
• Service Providers & Advocacy Organizations (such as Employment Services and Partners): Independent Living Centers, One-Stops, State Vocational Rehabilitation Programs.

Partners Include:

• U.S. Social Security Administration
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• U.S. Department of Education
• DOL Employment Training Administration
• DOL Veterans' Employment and Training Service
• DOL Women's Bureau
• U.S. Office of Personnel Management
• Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP)

Nancy Erdman was a long-term employee of Nationwide Insurance Company. In 1998, she began working part-time in order to care for her daughter with disabilities. When she worked extra hours outside of the office, her supervisor allowed her to take compensatory time off. This was time accumulated by working more hours during the week then she was scheduled to work.

Her employer told her to stop using this comp time. She eventually came back in a full-time capacity. When she requested to take off two months under the Family Medical and Leave Act the request was denied because the employer stated she had not worked enough hours over the previous twelve months. Shortly after this she was terminated for swearing on a call with a customer that was being monitored for quality purposes.

Erdman filed suit under the FMLA alleging that she had been fired in retaliation for requesting leave and under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) alleging she was discriminated against on the basis of her association with some one with a disability. The District Court dismissed all claims against the employer in a summary judgment ruling. The Third Circuit reversed the District Courts decision regarding the FMLA claims but affirmed the summary judgment with regards to the ADA claim.

Under the association provision of the ADA there is a material distinction between firing an employee because of a relative's disability and firing an employee because of the need to take time off to care for the relative. The statute clearly refers to adverse employment actions motivated by the "known disability of an individual with whom an employee associates, as opposed to actions occasioned by the association. Therefore, Erdman must show that Nationwide was motivated by [her daughter's] disability rather than by Erdman's stated intention to miss work; in other words, that she would not have been fired if she had requested time off for a different reason.

The court distinguished the line of association cases in which an employee was allegedly fired based on the employer's fears that the employee might miss work to care for a disabled relative even though he or she had not taken or requested time off, reasoning that "a decision motivated by unfounded stereotypes or assumptions about the need to care for a disabled person may be fairly construed as 'because of the . . . disability itself.'" The court concluded that there was no dispute in the record that Erdman had been employed for years after her daughter was born with a disability. "The most Erdman can hope to show is that she was fired for requesting time off to care for [her daughter] (the basis for her FMLA claim), not because of unfounded stereotypes or assumptions on Nationwide's part about care required by disabled persons."

Answer:

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that state and local governments and places of public accommodation to provide individuals with disabilities with the same level of access to information that is provided to individuals without disabilities. In some instances that may require the provision of auxiliary aids and services. An example of such an auxiliary aid or service used to communicate with something that is deaf is a qualified interpreter. Every time a covered entity communicates with some one that is deaf an interpreter may not be necessary. Consideration of the complexity of the information being communicated and the length of the communication taking place, along with consultation with the deaf individual should help determine what auxiliary aid or service is needed.

Addressing your specific question, if as you state the college is only providing the space for the event then the college has no responsibility for insuring equal access for the individual that is deaf to the information being presented. The group putting on the event would have the responsibility for providing access to the information if the group is covered by the ADA or receives federal funds requiring compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

If you have additional questions please contact the DBTAC Great Lakes ADA Center by calling (800) 949-4232 (V/TTY) or through the Contact Form at http://www.adagreatlakes.org/WebForms/ContactUs/.

Resources:

• Department of Justice ADA Title III Regulation 28 CFR Part 36
• ADA Title III Technical Assistance Manual