[NFB_of_Georgia] Three Workers with Disabilities Previously Paid Subminimum Wages Sue Roppe Industries for Employment Discrimination

[Beverly]

> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> Media Contacts:
>
> Stacy Brannan-Smith
> Communications Specialist
> Disability Rights Ohio
> 800-282-9181, ext. 101
> sbrannan-smith at disabilityrightsohio.org<mailto:sbrannan-smith at disabilityrightsohio.org>
>
> Chris Danielsen
> Director of Public Relations
> National Federation of the Blind
> 410-659-9314, ext. 2330
> cdanielsen at nfb.org<mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>
>
>
> Three Workers with Disabilities Previously Paid Subminimum Wages Sue Roppe 
> Industries for Employment Discrimination
> The National Federation of the Blind Supports Litigation Brought by Brown, 
> Goldstein & Levy, LLP, and Disability Rights Ohio
>
> December 18, 2018
>
> COLUMBUS, OHIO - Three long-time employees of Seneca Re-Ad, a workshop in 
> Fostoria that acts as the Sampling Division for the manufacturer Roppe 
> Corporation, are hoping to gain an equal chance to do their jobs and 
> access the same advancement, pay and benefit opportunities as other Roppe 
> workers. A lawsuit filed today in the Federal District Court for the 
> Northern District of Ohio by Disability Rights Ohio 
> (DRO)<http://disabilityrightsohio.org> and the Baltimore law firm of 
> Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP<https://www.browngold.com/>, with support 
> from the National Federation of the Blind<https://nfb.org/>, alleges 
> discrimination by Roppe and Seneca Re-Ad with assistance from the Seneca 
> County Board of Developmental Disabilities.
>
> The complaint outlines a number of ways in which Roppe Corporation, an 
> internationally-known flooring manufacturer that reported sales of $72.7 
> million in 2017, publicly considers Seneca Re-Ad a critical part of its 
> organization but fails to meet its equal employment responsibilities under 
> the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). For instance, Roppe clients are 
> often given tours of the organization's manufacturing facilities, with a 
> stop at what it calls its Sampling Division - the Seneca Re-Ad facility 
> where people with disabilities turn out more than 25 million merchandise 
> samples each year. But these highly productive employees, including 
> plaintiffs Pamela Steward, Mark Felton and Ralph (Joe) Magers, are not 
> paid the prevailing wage offered to other Roppe employees, are denied 
> robust cross-training and the chance to advance through the company and 
> receive the same benefits, including health insurance, vacation time or 
> retirement plans.
>
> The lawsuit further alleges that Ms. Steward, Mr. Felton and Mr. Magers 
> have been denied reasonable accommodations required by the ADA to do their 
> jobs. Ms. Steward has asthma but is not regularly provided with a 
> thirty-cent protective mask to prevent her from inhaling rubber dust, even 
> though she has made weekly requests for one. Mr. Magers is blind and needs 
> the floor tiles for the samples he assembles to be organized by color, but 
> this is not done. Furthermore, he has been provided with only printed 
> training materials, although he has repeatedly requested verbal and 
> tactile training. Mr. Felton has Autism and needs regular breaks to avoid 
> becoming overstimulated and to reorient himself, but he is denied these 
> breaks or is disciplined for taking them.
>
> "Roppe Corporation now has an opportunity to lead the way in the 
> manufacturing sector by providing truly integrated employment for the 
> people with disabilities they say they value," says Disability Rights Ohio 
> Director of Advocacy Kerstin Sjoberg. "We hope Roppe will work with us to 
> create something brand new that would be groundbreaking not only in the 
> Seneca County community, but also in the state of Ohio."
>
> "The work arrangement in which these three individuals and their coworkers 
> are trapped is a textbook example of virtually everything that is wrong 
> with the segregated model of employment for people with disabilities, 
> which is based on low expectations and erroneous stereotypes," said Mark 
> Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind. "Roppe 
> Corporation is missing an opportunity to be a model employer of people 
> with disabilities. Instead, the company appears to be willing to exploit 
> them for cheap labor, while both it and Seneca County officials 
> shamelessly tout that exploitation as a public good."
>
> ---
>
> About Disability Rights Ohio: Disability Rights Ohio is the federally and 
> state designated Protection and Advocacy System and Client Assistance 
> Program for the state of Ohio. The mission of Disability Rights Ohio is to 
> advocate for the human, civil and legal rights of people with disabilities 
> in Ohio. Disability Rights Ohio provides legal advocacy and rights 
> protection to a wide range of people with disabilities. 
> disabilityrightsohio.org<http://www.disabilityrightsohio.org/>
>
>
>
> About Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP: Brown, Goldstein & Levy is a 22-lawyer 
> law firm based in Baltimore, Maryland, that handles cases of every stripe, 
> both civil and criminal, including an active disability rights practice. 
> browngold.com<https://www.browngold.com/>
>
>
> About the National Federation of the Blind: The National Federation of the 
> Blind (NFB), headquartered in Baltimore, is the oldest and largest 
> nationwide organization of blind Americans. Founded in 1940, the NFB 
> consists of affiliates, chapters, and divisions in the fifty states, 
> Washington DC, and Puerto Rico. The NFB defends the rights of blind people 
> of all ages and provides information and support to families with blind 
> children, older Americans who are losing vision, and more. We believe in 
> the hopes and dreams of blind people and work together to transform them 
> into reality. Learn more about our many programs and initiatives at 
> www.nfb.org<http://www.nfb.org>.
>
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