For those of you who work in law firms

[swifty]

Do any of you lucky folks work for a firm that is familiar
with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)?  I am
looking for someone who works in a firm that mainly consists
of representing people with disabilitites, and deal with
people who have suffered a loss due to an entity's violation
of the Act.  Please email me yelbag@earthlink.net or PM me.

I guess I better explain or no one will reply.  I know of an
"entity" that is in direct violation of this ACT, however,
I cannot afford an attorney, I do not want any money, and I am
just looking to get the policy changed so they are in compliance
with the Act.  It's best to run it by your paralegal first as I
see that is a part of the paralegal role, the screening process.
Hey, you might get a cut of the attorney fees. (if found guilty,
the "entity" will pay your law firms legal fees in case you were
wondering).   

Thanks in advance!!!!

[Casper]

Enforcement of ADA regulation is through EEOC (equal employment Oppourity Commission).  You don't need a lawyer to protect your ADA rights.  Call your local EEO office for help.  They will provide a lawyer for your, and basically go to court and defend your rights.  It's part of your civil rights. 

EEO.  Have the partied tried to contact HR to fix the problem?  If not, I believe you will have to try that first, then use legal remedies to fix the problem.  EEOC will investigate your parties claim to see if it's valid. 

Note: I had a great professor for HR. 

[swifty]

Not an employment issue or anything to do with LSAC (some
of you think I am going there, no) it's about handicap
parking.  A small jurisdiction has decided to make up their
own rules, directly violating the ADA. 

[akwolf]

It's a tough road, swifty. Even though the law may support your position, Captial will fight you all the way. Well, perhaps, that's a bit too strong. If you're dealing with a corporation with the capital to make improvements, you can negotiate with them. They know they are violating your rights, and typically, they will make the required adjustments. A small company, however, typically will not. They don't want to shell out the dough to be fair (big companies don't either, they just have more dough to shell out).

I had a ADA complaint with UPS a few years ago, as an employee. They were willing to fight me all the way. I have to respect them for that. I was able to perform the job they hired me for, but the job, in effect, required much more than my disability allowed. That is, the job described required more than the job in reality. They didn't care about the difference. The EEOC may have cared about the difference, but they were so backed up in other cases that they really didn't care either. I wasn't so disabled as to attract immediate EEOC attention. Bottom line: I have a prosthetic hip joint. The physician who performed the surgery advised me that I lift 50# only rarely. The UPS job description describes lifting 75# rarely. I can do that. In reality, the job required lifting that weight several times a day. In effect, UPS argued that lifting 75# several times daily was equivalent to lifting that weight rarely (you gotta love the evil in that position). Ironically, I won that battle after I had accepted a job for twice what UPS was paying. That is just capitalism, and I must admit, I admire their claim. I was replaceable, and they knew it. I will never, ever, ship or accept shipment from UPS, and UPS could give a damn about that. Anyway, if I can help you, I will do what I can. I am paralegal, however, which means I can give less legal advise (more correctly, no legal advice) than anyone not a paralegal on this board. I guess that means that I can't do much. It's outside my bounds to even ay that, if you are disabled, then the law is on your side in this situation as I understand it. Unfortunately, being right doesn't mean very much.

[swifty]

Interesting.  I had my hip replaced when I was 36, 4 years ago, had to fight my HMO because they said I was TOO YOOUNG to get it replaced.  I said I'm too YOUNG not to get it replaced.  I finally got it done, then my other hip went.  @#!*.

But that has nothing to do with my situation.  Well it does because I use a handicap placard and this is not a corporate issue, it's a government, specifically a schools' policy (who have thier own jurisdiction) and think they only answer to the state and even then they are wrong because it is a federal law.  Funny thing is, I purposely got a parking ticket, and they caught on before I could get to their website to print out thier absurd policies.  I can't believe they changed them so fast, so they know they are wrong.

But the new policy is so vague, it's tougher now to prove how blatantly wrong they were.  All I have left is the people I talked to at the Campus Police department, and rely on their words.  They are students, maybe they will do the right thing.

Another interesting sidenote, I am taking paralegal classes too, and I was told the first day that as a paralegal, I cannot give out any legal advice, and that includes tax advice.  I even asked the instructor, "you mean I can't tell my friends who call me every year what form to use, or should I do this or that?"  She said not unless you are licensed.  *&^%, I did taxes for ten years, quit that, didn't renew my license, and can't tell my friends anything, even free advise is a no no.  Well at least you are an ethical paralegal.   

[akwolf]

Sounds like you suffer from the same ailment I have: avascular necrosis. It sucks; your joints start falling apart, but you're only in your 20's or 30's. I think it's fairly clear that if your physician is willing to sign for a disability tag, then federal law is behind you. If you have the physician's signature, then the school is flat-out screwed in a civil lawsuit, regardless of what their legal counsel says.

I've been in that situation where walking just 50 ft means experiencing immense pain. If you can't get satisfaction from the school, talk to an attorney. The case you describe would make most attorneys see dollar signs. If they know their stuff, they can make a buck off your case, and that is enough for them to take your case. You'd be damn lucky to find an attorney to argue the case on the basis of social justice, alone -- go civil lawsuit.

[Casper]

Under ADA, the regulation was meant to be vague, in order to get the legislation passed.  There's the term, reasonable accommendation.  That you will need to go to court and get it resolved.  Since it's subjective, "what is reasonable to you, might be unreasonable to me", it requires the court to remediate.  The school may accommendate your disability, but you might not like it, but as long as it's deemed reasonable, they within the laws.  Also, ADA included an exemption for small businesses, that they can claim, "Undue hardship,"  meaning that if compling with ADA would put them in hardship, they are exempted from ADA regulations.  I believe your school is recieving federal dollars for supporting education, so they are required to abid by ADA. 

[swifty]

Sounds like you suffer from the same ailment I have: avascular necrosis. It sucks; your joints start falling apart, but you're only in your 20's or 30's. I think it's fairly clear that if your physician is willing to sign for a disability tag, then federal law is behind you. If you have the physician's signature, then the school is flat-out screwed in a civil lawsuit, regardless of what their legal counsel says.

I've been in that situation where walking just 50 ft means experiencing immense pain. If you can't get satisfaction from the school, talk to an attorney. The case you describe would make most attorneys see dollar signs. If they know their stuff, they can make a buck off your case, and that is enough for them to take your case. You'd be damn lucky to find an attorney to argue the case on the basis of social justice, alone -- go civil lawsuit.

Yes AVN it is.  They first drilled holes into my hips to try to get the blood flowing, and was in a wheelchair for 6 weeks.  (total non weight bearing)  It didn't work, but the replaced hip is really pain free.  The other hip is not so bad as to go through the
whole process again right now, but it still hurts to walk, but my main problem is that if I walk to much, my legs will throb at night making sleeping difficult.  It just doesn't make sense to me tha faculty, who have treachers younger than me, get to park closer than students with handicaps.  I am not allowed to park in staff parking, even if I display a placard.  This policy needs to be changed.  This is far more important thsn getting any money, but if I need an attorney, they will have to sue to get their attorney fees.  Thus, my original post. 

BTW, they said I drank too much and smoked, and that was the cause of the AVN.  I'm pretty sure they just took my bad habits and blamed the AVN on that basis.  Bo Jackson had AVN, but his resulted from an injury.  The next common cause is steroids, like asthma inhalers.  I don't use those.  What did they tell you about what caused your AVN?

[akwolf]

Yeah, don't let that drinking and smoking argument get to you. It's true that even one night of heavy drinking, as one doctor told me, can create the problem. Nevertheless, I've known many people who drank (or drink) heavily, and they never got avascular necrosis. George Bush doesn't have it.