I was just on Mike McConnell’s show to talk about the ADA and its abuses on its 20th anniversary. For more on ADA repeat complainants and their lawyers, check this category; a couple of older pieces about the law’s outlandish results in the workplace are here and here.
Posts Tagged ‘disabled rights’
“Handicapped man sues Tampa strip club”
In Tampa, the Mons Venus strip club “is being sued for its alleged uninviting nature to people with disabilities.” Kendrick Duldulao, who uses a wheelchair, says there are no suitable ramps, “the hostess stand is too high, and the toilets and jukebox are inaccessible.” [BayNews9.com] More: Radley Balko (“Reached for comment, other Mons Venus patrons replied, ‘There’s a jukebox?'”)
On the John Stossel show: video
Cato has posted a video on YouTube from my appearance on the John Stossel show on ADA the other week (related syndicated column). There’s also this clip on the Cato site. And a post from the American Association of People with Disabilities encourages constituents to express discontent with us.
P.S. Note that by editing down Stossel’s words AAPD has made it appear that his harsh criticism of “parasites” was somehow aimed at disabled persons generally, rather than, as was entirely clear from the context, at opportunistic lawyers and litigants who generate complaints to obtain assembly-line cash settlements. Sure enough, I’ve been getting cc’s of furious letters to Stossel saying, “How dare you call disabled persons parasites?!” He didn’t say that, folks. The AAPD should consider carefully whether it wants to go on claiming that he did.
P.P.S. I respond at more length at Cato at Liberty.
On tonight’s John Stossel show (FBN)
I’m a guest on tonight’s John Stossel program on the Fox Business Network, on the subject of the consequences of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The show was shot live to tape yesterday in New York and was fascinating throughout; even those who think they know this subject well will learn a lot. I’m also quoted in John’s latest syndicated column on the same issue.
Among the highlights of the taping: a disabled-rights lobbyist defended several extreme applications of the law, including the notion that it might be appropriate to force networks to hire someone who suffers from stuttering as on-air television talent. We also shed some light on the state of California’s up-to-$4,000-a-violation bounty system for freelancers who identify ADA violations in Main Street businesses, and the case for at least requiring complainants to give business owners notice and an opportunity to fix an ADA violation before suing. (The disabled-rights lobby has managed to stifle that proposal in Congress for years.) Also mentioned: the suit against the Chipotle restaurant chain recently covered in this space.
Other recent coverage of the ADA here and here (cross-posted from Cato at Liberty). More: Amy Alkon notes some New York City examples from a commenter.
“Pregnant = disabled, at least according to the 6th Circuit”
Jon Hyman at Ohio Employment Law spots a potentially significant ruling, and has a followup.
P.S. The topic is also discussed on Thursday’s John Stossel show, with guests Katherine Mangu-Ward of Reason and Steve Lonegan of Americans for Prosperity.
“Requiring Fitness for Duty Exam for Erratic Behavior Did Not Violate ADA”
“In Brownfield v. City of Yakima, the Ninth Circuit held that the City did not violate the ADA by requiring a police officer employee to undergo a fitness for duty exam following several incidents of erratic behavior by the employee.” [Robin Weideman, California Labor and Employment Law Blog]
Newsweek on the ADA’s effects
Ben Adler at Newsweek (Aug. 5) rounds up the recent controversy over the Americans with Disabilities Act after twenty years, and cites my own contribution, as well as quoting a number of disabled-rights advocates who take a differing view.
August 6 roundup
- “Vision Media Suit Over Criticism on 800Notes Dismissed” [Paul Alan Levy, Consumer Law & Policy, more; earlier here and here]
- “In Search Of a Definition for the term ‘Patent Troll'” [Gene Quinn, IP Watchdog]
- U.K.: “The end of ‘have-a-go’ litigation?” [Guardian, Telegraph]
- “Lessons in Blogging”: it won’t kill you to link to opposing views [Turkewitz]
- Briefing and fairness hearing in Volkswagen sunroof leak settlement [CCAF]
- Troublesome treaty signed by US on ADA anniversary: “Ratification of the Disabilities Convention Would Erode American Sovereignty” [Steven Groves, Heritage]
- Abolish summary judgment? Now hold on a minute [Ronald Miller]
- A strong liability-reform advocate on a Democratic national ticket? It happened when Gore slated Sen. Lieberman as VP pick [ten years ago on Overlawyered]
ADA at a South Carolina courthouse
Fixing the restrooms and other design problems is going to cost Oconee County $2 million, of which it will have recovered about half by suing a now-defunct architect. One big problem, per Spartanburg’s WSPA, is that “ADA requires toilets to measure 18 inches from the center of the bowl to the wall” and some of the courthouse toilets were mistakenly built at 19 inches instead.
“If they were mounted in the floor like the one at your house, you could just put in an offset flange and slide it over one inch to be in compliance,” says [county facilities director] Julian. “But since it’s mounted into the wall, all of the plumbing runs up through the wall.”
Which means the entire wall will have to be torn out and all of the plumbing shifted over — one inch.
More on courthouses and accessibility here.
Ross Douthat, “Did The Americans With Disabilities Act Work?”
Continuing the discussion from my Cato piece earlier this week [New York Times, citing Jonathan Cohn/New Republic; Foster’s Daily Democrat (New Hampshire), Mark Perry]. Other links and reactions on the more recent Chipotle decision: Ann Coulter (right links column), George Leef/John Locke, Above the Law, Zincavage, Perry, Fisher/Atlantic Wire. Pat Cleary points out that the top source of ADA charges before the EEOC remains back injuries, followed by pain, stiffness or loss of movement in bones or joints, and depression. And at Richard Epstein’s piece at Ricochet, commenter Duane Oyen tells the story of ADA’s arguably perverse effects on a shuttle bus service in Minneapolis-St. Paul.