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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'>BLIND WAR HERO'S NEXT FIGHT IS IN FEDERAL COURT Blind War Vet denied bank<br>loan because he didn't have a driver's license HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif.,<br>October 17, 2013- Army Sgt. Major Jesse Acosta's latest fight is against his<br>bank, who denied his approved and fully executed loan, only after finding<br>out that Sgt. Major Acosta is blind. In 2006, Sgt.<br>Major Acosta was hit by a mortar while leading his men on a mission in Iraq.<br>He returned to his job at SoCal Gas Company in Garden Grove, with a Purple<br>Heart, but suffering with Traumatic Brain Injury, severe Post Traumatic<br>Stress Disorder (PTSD); and without his eyes. <br><br>On Tuesday, October 22, 2013, Sgt. Major Acosta will ask a federal jury to<br>find that Huntington Beach-based NuVision Federal Credit Union ("NuVision")<br>refused to fund a $20,000 loan they offered him after he went to sign loan<br>documents and the bank realized Sgt. Major Acosta was blind. NuVision<br>reneged on the fully executed loan, and told Sgt. Major Acosta "You didn't<br>tell us you were blind, that's a problem." NuVision claimed that Sgt.<br>Major Acosta had to produce a valid driver's license to qualify for a loan.<br><br>In a move reminiscent of the 1950's, when women could not borrow money<br>without their husbands or fathers co-signing loans for them, NuVision's<br>manager told Sgt. Major Acosta to get a co-signer for a new loan. The only<br>qualifications Jesse's co-signer needed, according to NuVision, was a valid<br>drivers' license-the one qualification no blind person could ever meet. <br><br>Since returning from Iraq, Sgt. Major Acosta, a father of four, has been a<br>leader in advocating for the needs of returning disabled vets, testifying<br>before Congress, speaking at the White House, and working with injured vets.<br><br>Pursuant to the American's with Disabilities Act, and the Unruh Act,<br>businesses cannot discriminate on the basis of a person's disability. Sgt.<br>Major Acosta will prove that NuVision denied him a loan because he was<br>blind, and not on the basis of a legitimate business purpose. <br><br>This is "the first time I was made to feel that I was less of a person<br>because of my disability," stated Sgt. Major Acosta. He has been battling<br>depression, anger and severe episodes of PTSD that cause him great physical<br>and mental anguish, as he relives the helplessness he felt in dealing with<br>NuVision's denial of his loan." Sgt. Major Acosta's anger and depression<br>has turned into a new mission to stop NuVision's discrimination, and teach<br>business that discrimination injures returning vets.<br><br>Sgt. Major Acosta was referred to civil rights attorney Patricia Barbosa,<br>the founder of Barbosa Group, who has 26 years of experience enforcing civil<br>rights. "NuVision's policy-that blind customers must have valid driver's<br>licenses-is discrimination on its face and violates the ADA and California's<br>Unruh Act," said attorney Barbosa. "I want to vindicate Jesse's belief that<br>he is a full member of society, even if he is disabled," said attorney<br>Barbosa.<br><br>The jury trial will be heard by Judge Margaret Morrow in the Roybal Federal<br>Courthouse in Los Angeles on October 22nd-24th. "I want NuVision to<br>understand that discrimination is wrong, and is not just business as usual,"<br>said Sgt. Major Acosta.<br>###<br>For more information, or to schedule an interview with Sgt. Major Acosta,<br>please call Patricia Barbosa at 714/465-9486 or email<br><a href="mailto:PBarbosa@Barbosagrp.com">PBarbosa@Barbosagrp.com</a> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:white'>__._,_.___<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></body></html>