[nfbmi-talk] blind people sue paint ball park

[joe harcz Comcast]

Blind people sue paintball park

 

Posted: 2:05 pm Tue, December 13, 2011

By Ben Mook

 

A group of blind people alleging they were turned away from a paintball park have filed a lawsuit claiming the action was violation of the Americans with

Disabilities Act and a state law protecting the rights of the blind.

 

Blind Industries and Services of Maryland, two of its instructors and one of its students filed the lawsuit against Route 40 Paintball Park in U.S. District

Court in Baltimore on Monday. Halethorpe-based Blind Industries and Services of Maryland was established in 1908 by the Maryland General Assembly and is

a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. The organization provides rehabilitation and training programs to its students.

 

According to the lawsuit, a group of six of Blind Industries and Services’ students and two instructors went to Route 40 Paintball on May 21 as part of

a training program that requires a group social outing to demonstrate their mobility skills. The complaint said the group made a reservation to use the

park and were turned away by the owner when they arrived.

 

Gregory Care with Brown Goldstein Levy LLP said people in the group had played paintball before and tried to explain how they would be able to play. Care

said the group was rebuffed even when informed that not allowing them to play was a violation of the Maryland White Cane Law.

 

A message left on the answering machine of Route 40 Paintball was not immediately returned Tuesday.

 

The lawsuit claims that Route 40 Paintball’s actions violated Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act as well as the Maryland White Cane Law, a

state law that protects people from discrimination based on blindness.

 

Violations of the White Cane Law are misdemeanors that carry fines. Under the ADA, monetary damages outside of legal costs are not awarded, so Care said

the lawsuit is meant to compel Route 40 Paintball to abide to the letter of the law.

 

“A lot of this is the assumption that blind people aren’t interested in and can’t do things like paintball that sighted people can,” Care said. “The law

protects my clients’ rights to pursue those interests and that’s what we’re doing with this case.”

 

Care said the group tried to open a dialogue with Route 40 Paintball after the incident and before filing suit, but met with little interest in resolving

the situation.

 

“It was very disappointing, the people are understanding of the curious questions that can come from them wanting to play paintball,” he said. “But, they

didn’t seem interested at all in any of the explanations.”

http://thedailyrecord.com/2011/12/13/blind-people-sue-paintball-park/