Category: ADA News

H&R Block was sued by the Department of Justice for not providing assisted listening devices or interpreters for their tax preparation classes.

As we have been advising businesses, it has been coming. For your information (at least in California) Business Occupancy type B counts as an Assembly Area (type A) if there are 50 or greater people for the occupancy of that room.

This bodes strongly for hotels with conference rooms and restaurants which have performance areas, gyms, theaters and stadiums (among other types). Under the ADA (and the CBC) there must be provisions for providing either assisted listening devices or an interpreter. You can read the text below from the Department of Justice Briefing.

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced a comprehensive settlement agreement under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with HRB Tax Group Inc., H&R Block Tax Services LLC and HRB Advance LLC (H&R Block) to ensure effective communication with individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing in the provision of income tax preparation services and courses at more than 11,000 owned and franchised offices nationwide.

The settlement agreement, which resolves an ADA complaint filed by an individual who is deaf, requires, among other things, that H&R Block furnish appropriate auxiliary aids and services, including sign language interpreter services, when necessary to afford a person who is deaf or hard of hearing equal access to the goods, services and accommodations made available to others.

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This can strongly affects your site or (if you are hosting an event) your liability in choosing a site to rent. Don’t let yourself get caught unprepared. Braille Brochures and Braille handouts are readily achievable with today’s advanced printing technology. Restaurants also should provide Braille brochures.

For more information on how this will affect your site, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. Inquiries are welcome.

Often people assume that disabled access is a matter of providing or modifying a building. It’s not. Access starts with awareness that all people are connected; that we all need help of some kind for some things.

Nick Conway is just like every other kid on the practice field at Taft High School. He horseplays and talks trash. He carries himself with the same cheeky bravado. His grimy uniform could use a good washing too.

It would seem being born deaf could have been a problem. But the team shrugs it off. He’s one of them, they say. Some are even learning sign language.

“They’re family to me,” Nick, 16, a defensive lineman, said of his teammates. “They have welcomed me as a brother. They learned my language. They have learned to communicate with me.”

At Taft, the Woodland Hills school designated by the Los Angeles Unified School District for deaf or hard of hearing students in the San Fernando Valley, athletics are becoming a way for deaf students to make themselves part of the campus community, said Assistant Principal Robert Clarke.

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At Taft, the Woodland Hills school designated by the Los Angeles Unified School District for deaf or hard of hearing students in the San Fernando Valley, athletics are becoming a way for deaf students to make themselves part of the campus community, said Assistant Principal Robert Clarke.

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Read our ADA FAQ for more information.  For information assessing your site yourself or hiring an ADA expert, please look at our ADA Consultation page.  Or call us at 866 982 3212 x2 or email us at help@accesssolutionllc.com

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department and the Department of Transportation announced $55,000 in fines against Tornado Bus Company Inc., of Dallas, for violating passenger carrier accessibility requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In addition to the fine, a consent agreement reached with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the Justice Department requires the bus company to upgrade its fleet to meet ADA requirements by February 2011 or have its operating authority revoked.

An extensive investigation conducted by FMCSA uncovered that Tornado had only one accessible bus in a fleet of 53 buses, while ADA regulations require that at least 50 percent of a carrier’s vehicles must be accessible. The investigation also found the company had purchased new non-accessible buses, failed to train employees on interacting with disabled passengers and failed to establish a wheelchair lift maintenance program. The fine and citations came as a result of FMCSA’s ADA strike force held in May 2010.

“At the foundation of our society is the ability to live independently and move freely,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division. “This freedom is no less important to people with disabilities. We are grateful FMCSA takes accessibility requirements seriously and has reached this agreement.”

“Adhering to ADA accessibility requirements is not a choice, but a high standard that every commercial bus operator must follow,” said FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro. “FMCSA will continue to work closely with the Department of Justice to vigorously enforce ADA compliance so that all travelers can enjoy destinations across America by way of commercial bus.”

In February 2009, FMCSA and the Justice Department entered into a memorandum of understanding concerning the enforcement of commercial passenger buses. The memorandum between the two agencies was included in the Over-the-Road Bus Transportation Accessibility Act of 2007 and is designed to ensure consistent ADA enforcement nationwide.

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This is why architects and contractors are often at a loss.
Accessibility is NOT about Building Code.

Interesting story about Morse Merban and Thomas Mundy.

LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Serial plaintiffs are targeting Southern California businesses, suing for alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Your tax dollars are paying for hundreds of these lawsuits.

No one disputes that the ADA is an important and valuable law. But some disabled plaintiffs have turned this type of litigation into a full-time, high-paying job.

Kathie Reece-McNeil owns the historic Aztec Hotel in Monrovia.

“Marilyn Monroe stayed here, Clark Gable,” said Reece-McNeil.

When the hotel was slapped with a fraudulent ADA lawsuit, Reece-McNeil fought back.

She could have settled the suit for $18,000. Instead she hired an attorney and won the case. But she paid a steep price in attorney fees.

“Ultimately it ended up being in excess of $100,000 dollars,” said Reece-McNeil.

“This is more profitable than narcotics, literally,” said attorney David Warren Peters.

Peters is with Lawyers Against Lawsuit Abuse.

“You can make $12,000 a day just eating three meals out,” said Peters.

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This could happen to you!  Read our ADA FAQ for more information.  For information about assessing your site yourself or hiring an ADA expert, please look at our ADA Consultation page.  Or call us at 866 982 3212 x2 or email us at help@accesssolutionllc.com

SAN DIEGO – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced it has filed a disability discrimination lawsuit against Tarsadia Hotels, doing business as Comfort Suites, which operates several hotels throughout California.

The EEOC filed its suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California (EEOC v. Tarsadia Hotels dba Comfort Suites, Case No. 10-CV-1921-DMS-BGS), charging that the Comfort Suites Mission Valley hotel in San Diego failed to reasonably accommodate a front desk employee and effectively disciplined and discharged him due to his disability, in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA).

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This could happen to you!  Read our ADA FAQ for more information.  For information about assessing your site yourself or hiring an ADA expert, please look at our ADA Consultation page.  Or call us at 866 982 3212 x2 or email us at help@accesssolutionllc.com