[NFB-NM] FW: [Nfbnet-members-list] Fwd: National Federation of the Blind and Two Blind Students File Suit against Los Angeles Community College District

[Tonia Trapp]

From: NFBNet-Members-List [mailto:nfbnet-members-list-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of David Andrews via NFBNet-Members-List
Sent: Friday, March 03, 2017 11:34 PM
To: nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Nfbnet-members-list] Fwd: National Federation of the Blind and Two
Blind Students File Suit against Los Angeles Community College District

 


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


National Federation of the Blind and Two Blind Students File Suit Against
Los Angeles Community College District


 

Los Angeles, California (March 3, 2017): The National Federation of the
Blind, the nation's leading advocate for equal access to higher education
for the blind; its California affiliate, the National Federation of the
Blind of California; and two blind students, Roy Payan and Portia Mason,
have filed suit in the United States District Court for the Central District
of California, Western Division, against the Los Angeles Community College
District (LACCD) (Case 2:17-cv-01697). The lawsuit alleges that the LACCD
has violated the Americans with Disabilities act and Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation act of 1973 by failing to provide accessible instructional
materials and other accommodations required by these statutes and needed by
these students. As a result, Mr. Payan and Ms. Mason have been unable to
complete required coursework or have received grades that do not reflect
their true aptitude, intelligence, and industry, but rather the artificial
educational barriers that have been erected by LACCD.

Mark A. Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said:
"The National Federation of the Blind continues to expect that our nation's
institutions of higher education meet their legal obligations to make their
educational programs accessible to the blind. Many colleges and universities
fail to meet accessibility requirements because of a lack of knowledge about
accessible technology and best practices for creating accessible content,
and the National Federation of the Blind is actively engaged in efforts to
give educational institutions the information and resources they need in
order to provide equal educational opportunities to their blind students.
But the experiences of Mr. Payan and Ms. Mason also demonstrate that there
are low expectations of blind students and other attitudinal barriers as
well. Faculty and staff in the Los Angeles Community College system have
demonstrated a deliberate lack of regard for the rights of Mr. Payan, Ms.
Mason, and other blind students. The National Federation of the Blind will
not tolerate this discriminatory behavior."

The plaintiffs are represented by Patricia Barbosa and Ayman Mourad of the
Huntington Beach, CA firm The Barbosa Group, and by Daniel F. Goldstein,
Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum, Joseph B. Espo and Jean M. Zachariasiewicz of the
Baltimore firm Brown, Goldstein & Levy LLP.

###


About the National Federation of the Blind

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back.


 







 
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