[nabs-l] I believe I have been discriminated against, where to turn for help?

Thu Feb 14 19:50:04 UTC 2013

The problem here also is that if the prof is chair of the department, then
she is probably tenured.  This makes it harder to bring complaints against
and have any sort of meaningful action taken.  But you should follow the
chain of command first.  

Loren 

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kaiti Shelton
Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2013 1:03 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] I believe I have been discriminated against, where to
turn for help?

Josh,

The ADA is great, but you can't just automatically slap everyone who
descriminates against someone with a disability with a lawsuit.  If it comes
down to it and that's what must be done then that's one thing, but there are
certain steps which should be taken before putting the time, effort, and
money into suing a person.  Plus, I'm assuming that this is not Laurel's
last semester in school, so it wouldn't be wise to just hire a lawyer and
make a bunch of legal fuss without going through the chain of command first.
I feel that would just create more enemies than this one professor, not to
mention make Laurel look bad for not trying to resolve the issue in a more
dignified and civilized way before going to court.  A sensible dean will not
stand for descrimination from a faculty member, especially if they see
Laurel in an appointment.  College administrators are mindful of things
which could causse lawsuits and will do what they can to avoid them, and if
this French professor really did descriminate and Laurel can prove it in a
calm, civilized way by presenting the facts I bet her prof will have some
form of consequences from the university.

On 2/14/13, Kaiti Shelton <crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Laurel,
>
> If Scott Labarre were to even represent you, you wouldn't get the case 
> up and running till after this semester was over and your grade would 
> surely be final.  Talk to your disabilities councelor and see if they 
> can help; part of their job is to advocate for you in situations like 
> these.  Make an appointment with the dean of the language department 
> first.  Make sure it's face-to-face.  If you have a copy of your exam 
> instructions or the disabilities office has them on file bring them so 
> that you can show the dean.  It would also be helpful if you could get 
> a sighted student to describe either verbally in the meeting or in 
> writing which they can give to you what their exam procedures were so 
> the dean could compare.  If the dean refuses to do nothing go to his 
> boss, and if that doesn't work then I'd look into legal action against 
> the university, but follow the chain of command first.  You don't want 
> to overstep people who could help you without making a bigger deal out 
> of the situation.
>
> On 2/14/13, Joshua Lester <JLester8462 at pccua.edu> wrote:
>> I'll write you offlist, because I need to ask you something anyway.
>> Thanks, Joshua
>> ________________________________________
>> From: nabs-l [nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] on behalf of Laurel 
>> [laurel.stockard at gmail.com]
>> Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2013 12:43 PM
>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] I believe I have been discriminated against, 
>> where to turn for help?
>>
>> What's his email? Sorry, I'm in school and can't answer the phone, 
>> but I can get away with email. :-)
>>
>> On 2/14/13, Joshua Lester <JLester8462 at pccua.edu> wrote:
>>> Good grief!
>>> You better sue them!
>>> Contact Scott LaBarre, and he'll help you!
>>> That's terrible!
>>> Blessings, Joshua
>>> ________________________________________
>>> From: nabs-l [nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] on behalf of Laurel 
>>> [laurel.stockard at gmail.com]
>>> Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2013 12:32 PM
>>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>>> Subject: [nabs-l] I believe I have been discriminated against,  
>>> where to turn for help?
>>>
>>> As my subject says, I believe that I have been discriminated against 
>>> by a professor at my university. I am wondering if one of you fellow 
>>> listers can tell me where to get help. I had a French professor last 
>>> semester. With out making this too long of a story, basically, I 
>>> have just found out that she gave me different exams and quizzes 
>>> than she gave everybody in the class. She made me do a different and 
>>> much harder final exam for example. On the final, I had to go to my 
>>> Disability Servic Testing office and answer 4 or 5 questions, in 
>>> French of course, one page responses single spaced without use of a 
>>> dictionary. I did not know then what everybody else did, I assumed 
>>> they did the same as me. I found out yesterday, accidentally, that 
>>> what she did was have everybody else come to class and get in groups.
>>> She then gave each group a dictionary, and assigned the groups 1 
>>> question each. They then had to answer it and write their answers on 
>>> the board. The whole class then discussed each question. All 20 
>>> students made 100s on the exam. I made a 74. Had I made an "A" I 
>>> would have made an "a" in the class. This is the most major thing 
>>> she did, there's a lot of smaller things, but I think I can pin her 
>>> down on this one. Where/what NFB resource/resources should I turn to for
help?
>>> Thanks
>>> Laurel
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> nabs-l mailing list
>>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info 
>>> for
>>> nabs-l:
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/jlester8462%40pc
>>> cua.edu
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> nabs-l mailing list
>>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info 
>>> for
>>> nabs-l:
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/laurel.stockard%
>>> 40gmail.com
>>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nabs-l mailing list
>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> nabs-l:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/jlester8462%40pcc
>> ua.edu
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nabs-l mailing list
>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> nabs-l:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/crazy4clarinet104
>> %40gmail.com
>>
>
>
> --
> Kaiti
>

--
Kaiti

_______________________________________________
nabs-l mailing list
nabs-l at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
nabs-l:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/theweird1%40centurylink.
net