It can get tricky when 1) having swine flu may itself count as a protected disability under laws like California’s; 2) innkeepers are required to report communicable disease to authorities; 3) they must nonetheless avoid infringing customers’ privacy; and 4) they can face liability for not taking steps to protect fellow guests and their own workers. And don’t even think of noticing that a new guest is arriving from Mexico… (via Childs; more on hotels and the ADA)
Posts Tagged ‘disabled rights’
ADA closes Cupertino business
California has a double-digit unemployment rate, and it’s certainly not helped by regulatory red tape. The disabled now have equal access to Kirk’s Steakburgers in Cupertino, a supposedly otherwise-profitable business that closed rather than spend tens of thousands of dollars to come up to Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, not to mention lose three parking spaces in its tiny parking lot. (“Kirk’s Steakburgers closing its West San Jose location”, Cupertino Courier, Mar. 16 (h/t D.R.)).
April 4 roundup
- The wages of addiction: former basketball star Roy Tarpley settles his $6.5 million ADA lawsuit against NBA and Dallas Mavericks [Randy Galloway, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Sports Law Blog]
- One result of litigation-fed “vaccines cause autism” scare: parents turn to dangerous quack treatments [Arthur Allen, Slate; in-depth coverage at Kathleen Seidel’s and Orac’s sites]
- Julie Hilden on First Circuit “true statements can be defamatory” ruling [FindLaw, earlier here and here]
- More coverage of conviction of Kentucky lawyers for grabbing much of fen-phen settlement [Louisville Courier-Journal, earlier]
- Judge dismisses most counts in lawsuit against Richard Laminack of Texas’s O’Quinn law firm [Texas Lawyer, earlier; FLSA overtime claims remain]
- All but three of the outstanding 9/11 airline suits due to settle for $500 million [AP/NorthJersey.com]
- One needn’t make the Community Reinvestment Act a scapegoat for unrelated credit woes to recognize it as an ill-conceived law [Bank Lawyer’s Blog]
- U.K.: Woman who plays classical music to soothe horses told she must pay for public performance license [Telegraph]
“The price of disability law”
As we reported a while back, a New Jersey rheumatologist has been required to pay $400,000 to a deaf patient for refusing to provide (at his expense) a sign language interpreter for her. (Instead, he exchanged written notes with help from her family members; there is no allegation that she suffered any physical harm.) Now Stephen Dubner of Freakonomics covers the case and notes that it could have an unintended and unpleasant consequence: doctors are now given a financial incentive to find excuses to turn away deaf patients from their practice.
U.K.: “Disability discrimination risk for council suing former MD”
American legal concepts crossing the Atlantic yet again: “A council suing its former managing director for £1m for allegedly lying on her job application is at risk of being accused of disability discrimination, an expert has warned.” Cheltenham Borough Council claims its former executive gave false answers on a medical history to conceal a history of depression, but an employment lawyer says employers should not assume they have a right to discipline workers for lying about their medical history during the application process.
Readers of my book on employment law, The Excuse Factory, may recall the somewhat similar case with which I started off Chapter 1. Incidentally, those who are curious what became of the Boston police officer cited in that account may be interested in following this link.
Deaf persons on juries
Of course they (and blind people, mentally disabled people, and persons who do not speak English well) are perfectly entitled to sit as jurors, right? Isn’t it their right not to suffer discrimination? Well, maybe not, argues New York criminal defense lawyer Scott Greenfield. For starters, “Part of the determination of whether a witness is telling the truth comes from observation of a witness’ demeanor,” tone of voice, and so forth. The empanelment of a competent jury
is not an affront to the rights of the citizens to serve, but a debt owed by society to a defendant. The ability to determine the credibility of a witness requires the use of three out of five senses minimum, as well as the absence of numerous other deficits. This may be politically incorrect, but it beats living in a fantasyland.
Wheelchairs, theaters, and “comparable viewing angles”
CalBizLit (Dec. 12) provides a guided tour to an area of disabled-rights litigation we’ve touched on several times in the past: see Aug. 1, 2004, Nov. 11, 2003, and links from there.
December 11 roundup
- Nastygrams fly at Christmas time over display and festival use of “Jingle Bells”, Grinch, etc. [Elefant]
- Claims that smoking ban led to instantaneous plunge in cardiac deaths in Scotland turns out to be as fishy as similar claims elsewhere [Siegel on tobacco via Sullum, Reason “Hit and Run”]
- Myths about the costs and consequences of an automaker Chapter 11 filing [Andrew Grossman, Heritage; Boudreaux, WSJ] Drowning in mandates and Congress throws them an anchor [Jenkins, WSJ]
- Mikal Watts may be the most generous of the trial lawyers bankrolling the Texas Democratic Party’s recent comeback [Texas Watchdog via Pero]
- Disney settles ADA suit demanding Segway access at Florida theme parks “by agreeing to provide disabled guests with at least 15 newly-designed four-wheeled vehicles.” [OnPoint News, earlier]
- Update on Scientology efforts to prevent resale of its “e-meter” devices on eBay [Coleman]
- Scary: business-bashing lawprof Frank Pasquale wants the federal government to regulate Google’s search algorithm [Concurring Opinions, SSRN]
- Kind of an endowment all by itself: “Princeton is providing $40 million to pay the legal fees of the Robertson family” (after charges of endowment misuse) [MindingTheCampus]
Update: “Judge says perfume lawsuit can proceed”
Susan McBride, who works as a planner with the city of Detroit, can proceed with her ADA lawsuit “alleging a co-worker’s perfume made it difficult for her to breathe and impossible to do her job, a federal judge has ruled.” (Paul Egan, Detroit News, Nov. 27, opinion in PDF courtesy Bashman, h/t reader Vicky Gannon). We covered the case earlier here, here, and here.
Microblog 2008-11-08
- Pics of 50 of the strangest buildings of the world, some look as if Hobbits must live there [Village of Joy h/t @CoolPics] #
- Research drugmaker held liable for misrepresenting drug even though plaintiff took generic [Beck & Herrmann h/t @billchilds] #
- Rep. Rangel can’t find 1 law firm to sift his tax mess that isn’t conflicted (like by being his donor). [NY Post h/t @jeffnolan] #
- Pot/kettle award? RIAA, of kid- and grandma-suing fame, calls adversary vexatious [Kravets, Wired “Threat Level” h/t @VBalasubramani] #
- “Disabled” LIRR retirees also got free lifetime passes to state owned golf courses [A Blog for All] #