[nabs-l] did anyone hear about the FSU lawsuit?

Sat Jul 2 23:47:57 UTC 2011

Beth,
I thought you attended FSU. So
do you have problems with accomodations?
Yes, I hope they win the lawsuit.
This situation sounds very familiar. Northern virginia community college, 
Nova, did not provide adaquate math accomodations to some blind students 
either,  like no brailled book.
II'm glad NFB is fighting this because something needs to be done to hold 
schools accountable. Nova doesn't even have an updated jaws. So if you need 
to use the school's computers for research or anything, you are at a 
disadvantage. If your class goes to a computer lab to do assignments, you're 
also at a disadvantage because
jaws doesn't work well with the new windows systems; they really need to 
upgrade jaws.
Ashley

-----Original Message----- 
From: Beth
Sent: Saturday, July 02, 2011 6:16 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] did anyone hear about the FSU lawsuit?

I won't be in Orlando, but call me and tell me what happens
during the general sessions.  I can't go because of money and
stuff.  Jamie, I'd love to see FSU get bombed with more than one
lawsuit about discrimination against the blind.  You got lots of
errors in their accessibility policy, but I have yet to see those
errors.  I hope to see an article about this in the Monitor.
Beth

----- Original Message -----
From: blackbyrdfly at gmail.com
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Sat, 2 Jul 2011 17:22:36 -0400
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] did anyone hear about the FSU lawsuit?

Thanks to everyone who wished us luck in our case. I'll relay
your words of encouragement to Christopher as well.

See you all in Orlando!

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 2, 2011, at 3:21 PM, Joshua Lester
<jlester8462 at students.pccua.edu> wrote:

Yes she is.
Jamie, this message is to you, when you look at this list again.
I pray that you're successful, and that other universities stop
discriminating against the disabled.
Blessings, Joshua

On 7/2/11, Chris Nusbaum <dotkid.nusbaum at gmail.com> wrote:
That is...  outrageous! I believe Jamie's on this list, so I
wish
you the best of luck! Mr.  Goldstein is a great lawyer and one
that NFB has been working with for 20 years, so I think you'll
have a good chance of winning the case! Good luck!

Chris

"A loss of sight, never a loss of vision!" (Camp Abilities
motto)

The I C.A.N.  Foundation helps visually impaired youth in
Maryland have the ability to confidently say "I can!" How? Click
on this link to learn more and to contribute:
www.icanfoundation.info or like us on Facebook at I C.A.N.
Foundation.

Sent from my BrailleNote

----- Original Message -----
From: Beth <thebluesisloose at gmail.com
To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Fri, 01 Jul 2011 22:15:42 -0600
Subject: [nabs-l] did anyone hear about the FSU lawsuit?

Hi, guys.  I thought I might ask you Florida students or any
students out there if you've heard that two of my friends are
suing FSU, my old university.  They're suing because of the math
department and the way the faculty has been treating them.  For
more, here's a clip of the article.

Blind Students Sue Florida State University for Discrimination
6/29/2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Chris Danielsen
Director of Public Relations
National Federation of the Blind
(410) 659-9314, extension 2330
(410) 262-1281 (Cell)
cdanielsen at nfb.org

Blind Students Sue Florida State University for Discrimination
National Federation of the Blind Outraged at University's
Actions
Baltimore, Maryland (June 29, 2011): With the assistance of the
National
Federation of the Blind, two blind students-Christopher Shane
Toth and Jamie
Ann Principato-filed suit today against Florida State University
(FSU) and
its board of trustees.  The suit alleges that FSU's Department
of
Mathematics discriminated against Mr.  Toth and Ms.  Principato
by
failing to
provide them with proper accommodations so that they could
successfully
complete required math courses for their respective degree
programs.  The
violations include requiring the students to use an inaccessible
Web-based
application to complete homework assignments, tests, and
quizzes;
requiring
the use of clickers that cannot be used by a blind person to
respond to
in-class questions and obtain bonus credit; failing to provide
Braille
versions of the required textbooks in violation of agreed-upon
accommodation
plans; and engaging in retaliatory actions when the students
complained of
these violations.  In all cases, faculty members in the
Department of
Mathematics were generally uncooperative, unhelpful, and even
hostile, and
did not provide meaningful alternative methods for Mr.  Toth and
Ms.
Principato to successfully complete the required courses.  As a
result, both
students are currently unable to continue their degree programs
and find
their careers indefinitely on hold.

Dr.  Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the
Blind, said:
"Discrimination against blind students is all too common, but it
rarely
stems from actual animus towards the students.  This case,
however, involves
the repeated, deliberate, and intentional disregard of the
rights
of these
two students, whose academic records have now suffered
irreparable damage
and who have suffered lost opportunities, emotional distress,
embarrassment,
humiliation, and retaliation by university officials.  The
National
Federation of the Blind will not stand for this outrageous
treatment of
blind students and we will continue to support this lawsuit as
fully as
necessary in order to ensure that these young people are
compensated for the
egregious conduct of faculty and staff in FSU's Department of
Mathematics."

The plaintiffs are represented in this matter by Daniel F.
Goldstein, Sharon
Krevor-Weisbaum, and Brooke E.  Lierman of the Baltimore firm
Brown,
Goldstein, and Levy; and Matthew Dietz of the Miami firm Law
Offices of
Matthew W.  Dietz, P.L.

Beth Taurasi
Sent from my BrailleNote Apex

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