[blindlaw] Jury finds IA Dept. for Blind's guide dog policydoes not discriminate
joe hines
jduncanhines at gmail.com
Fri Feb 20 23:29:13 UTC 2009
but has she developed her indepence on the dog hence, She uses it as I would
my cane? I would be lost without it so is her dog the same?
Joe Hines
jduncanhines at gmail.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Fry" <mikefry79 at gmail.com>
To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 5:41 PM
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Jury finds IA Dept. for Blind's guide dog policydoes
not discriminate
Yea Shane, I agree man. The whole point of the program seems to be to not
use a guide dog. On the other hand, the lady's probably very sensitve. If
she wants to use her dog, what's the big deal? Asnwering this question
would probably shed light on the courts ruling.
On Fri, Feb 20, 2009 at 1:10 PM, Shane D <chatter8712 at gmail.com> wrote:
> I agree. I just think, from reading, that the express purpose of this
> training was to volluntarily learn to live with no guide dog or cane.
> To show up with one and then call it discrimination sounds extremely
> stupid to me. You signed up.
>
> On 2/20/09, Craig R. Anderson <mar.cra at comcast.net> wrote:
> > I don't own a guide dog but nonetheless think the policy at issue in
> > this
> > case to be both legally unsound (why did they need a jury here anyway?)
> and
> > otherwise quite preposterous. It's supposedly illegal for a
> governmental
> > entity to deny services to an otherwise eligible recipient solely
> > because
> > the recipient uses a service animal. This is true despite any
> justification
> > the program's operator may advance for the discrimination. A judge
> > could
> > clearly not get away with excluding from his courtroom a blind
> > witness/lawyer/juror with a guide dog by claiming that the dog's
> > presence
> > would disrupt solemn judicial proceedings. Similarly, a rehab agency
> ought
> > not be heard to say that a client's use of a guide dog would require
> > some
> > undue alteration of itgs orientation program. That program's purpose,
> after
> > all, should be not so much to imbue uninitiated participants with a
> > pre-packaged "philosophy" as to impart relevant skills a student hasn't
> > previously learned. A client with a guide dog might well thus dispense
> with
> > the curriculum's cane travel component and concentrate instead on
> > Braille
> or
> > computer training -- activities with which noone seriously suggests a
> > dog
> > can interfere. I can't fathom what would be so bad about such tailoring
> of
> > an orientation program. Regards.
> >
> > Craig---- Joanne Wilson <JWilson at nfb.org> wrote:
> >>
> >> ----------
> >> From: Brammer, Robert [AG] [mailto:rbrammer at ag.state.ia.us]
> >> Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 1:53 PM
> >> To: Brammer, Robert [AG]
> >> Subject: Atty. Gen. release: Jury finds IA Dept.
> >> for Blind's guide dog policy does not discriminate
> >>
> >> To News Editors. From Bob Brammer (Iowa
> >> Attorney General's Office – 515-281-6699.)
> >> Please find a release pasted below. This will be
> >> posted soon at
> >> <http://www.iowaattorneygeneral.org/>www.IowaAttorneyGeneral.org<http://www.iowaattorneygeneral.org/>
> >> . A jury entered a verdict Wednesday in this
> >> case in Polk County District Court.
> >> Best regards, Bram
> >>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >> For immediate release – Thursday, February 19, 2009.
> >> Contact Bob Brammer – 515-281-6699
> >>
> >> Jury finds Iowa Department for the Blind's
> >> Guide Dog Policy Does Not Discriminate
> >>
> >> Des Moines. A Polk County jury has
> >> rejected a Des Moines woman's claim that the
> >> State of Iowa Department for the Blind
> >> discriminated against her by refusing her request
> >> to use a guide dog while she attended the
> >> Department's orientation and adjustment training program.
> >>
> >> The Department for the Blind
> >> orientation and training program is a
> >> comprehensive program that utilizes a totally
> >> non-visual approach to teaching blindness
> >> skills. Students with partial vision are
> >> required to wear eyeshades to prevent reliance
> >> upon any visual cues during training. Department
> >> policies prohibit the use of any visual aids
> >> within the orientation and training program,
> >> including guide dogs. The Department has no
> >> objection to guide dogs in other situations.
> >>
> >> Stephanie Dohmen, who is legally
> >> blind, attended the program for several months
> >> beginning in September 2000 and sought to
> >> re-enter the program in June 2002 accompanied by her guide dog.
> >>
> >> Dohmen claimed in her lawsuit that
> >> the Department's policy violated her rights under
> >> the Iowa Civil Rights Act and under federal laws
> >> that prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability.
> >>
> >> After a six-day trial, the
> >> eight-person jury rejected Dohmen's claims in a verdict entered
> Wednesday.
> >>
> >>
> >> The Department for the Blind, which
> >> was represented in the trial by the Iowa Attorney
> >> General's Office, argued that a totally
> >> non-visual approach – and training without
> >> assistance of a guide-dog or other visual aids –
> >> is the most effective approach for
> >> visually-impaired persons who are learning skills
> >> and techniques for dealing with blindness.
> >>
> >> The Department places no limitations
> >> upon the use of guide dogs in other settings,
> >> including in the Department for the Blind
> >> building in downtown Des Moines. For example,
> >> Karen Keninger, the Director of the Department,
> >> uses a guide dog, and the dog accompanied
> >> Keninger during her testimony at the trial.
> >>
> >> The orientation program typically
> >> includes about six months of full-time training
> >> in various problem-solving skills, such as
> >> cane-travel on public streets, using Braille,
> >> using computers, and dealing with many other situations.
> >>
> >> The Department for the Blind's
> >> orientation and adjustment program was
> >> established in 1959 and is considered by many to
> >> be one of the most effective in the country.
> >>
> >> During the trial, the State
> >> Department for the Blind presented testimony from
> >> Joanne Wilson and Frederic K. Schroeder, each a
> >> former Commissioner of the U.S. Rehabilitation
> >> Services Administration, which oversees programs
> >> for the blind around the country.
> >>
> >> "Iowa's orientation program
> >> profoundly changes lives," said Wilson, who also
> >> is Executive Director of the National Federation
> >> of the Blind. "It works. It's a cutting-edge
> >> program and a model for other states." Wilson is
> >> a Webster City native and ISU graduate who went
> >> through the Iowa Department for the Blind's orientation program
> >> herself.
> >>
> >> Schroeder said: "To me the central
> >> point is that individuals have a choice in the
> >> type of training they take. While programs must
> >> and should make reasonable accommodations, they
> >> cannot be required to alter the fundamentals of the program."
> >>
> >> - 30 -
> >>
> >>
> >>
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> >
> >
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>
>
> --
> -Shane
> Website: http://www.blind-geek.com
> AIM: inhaddict
> MSN: shane at blind-geek.com
> Skype: chatter8712
> Twitter: blind_geek
>
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