[Ccb-alumni] Jury finds IA Dept. for Blind's guide dog policydoes not discriminate

Fri Feb 20 17:03:15 UTC 2009

Hey Everyone,

Melissa, I'm not sure I understand your email.

The verdict seems to say that centers are not legally required to
accept clients with dog guides.

Your email seems to say that you think its a good idea having clients
with dog guides at the center.

So, what do you mean when you say that this is a "correct verdict?"

Just curious,

Jim

On Thu, Feb 19, 2009 at 11:38:39PM -0700, melissa Green wrote:
> This is a correct verdict.  I know that CCb has had guide dog users go  
> through the center.  I was a student there when the first person who was 
> a guide dog user came to the center.  Once some of the kinks were ironed 
> out. It went well.  The student didn't use her dog on travel.  This 
> student and the staff worked to make her training a success.
>
> Melissa R. Green
> Someone's opinion of you does not have to become your reality.
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "George McDermith" 
> <george.mcdermith at gmail.com>
> To: "Colorado Center for the Blind mailing list" <ccb-alumni at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 5:41 PM
> Subject: Re: [Ccb-alumni] Jury finds IA Dept. for Blind's guide dog  
> policydoes not discriminate
>
>
>>    Great to see this being upheld. Thanks for sharing.
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Wilson,Joanne (by way of David 
>> Andrews <dandrews at visi.com>)"
>> <JWilson at nfb.org>
>> To: <david.andrews at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 3:24 PM
>> Subject: [Ccb-alumni] Jury finds IA Dept. for Blind's guide dog policy  
>> does
>> not discriminate
>>
>>
>>
>> ----------
>> 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
>> .  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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