[nfbmi-talk] case relevent to dhs access in new york

[joe harcz Comcast]

 Table with 2 columns and 1 rowFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 
March 12, 2013 
PRESS CONTACT: 
Cary LaCheen. 212.633.6967 lacheen at nclej.org Table end FEDERAL CLASS ACTION FILED AGAINST NEW YORK AGENCIES THAT FAIL TO MAKE 
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ACCESSIBLE TO BLIND AND SERIOUSLY VISUALLY 
IMPAIRED INDIVIDUALS 
  New York City and Philadelphia – A class action has been filed on behalf of the thousands 
of blind and seriously visually impaired residents of New York who receive Medicaid or 
Food Stamps benefits. The complaint alleges that New York City and state agencies and 
their commissioners have flouted federal, state, and local law by failing to make important 
information about those programs accessible to blind and seriously visually impaired 
individuals. The Defendants are the New York City Human Resources Administration, the 
New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, the New York State 
Department of Health, and their respective Commissioners, namely Robert Doar, Kristen 
Proud, and Nirav Shah, M.D. The lawsuit is pending in the United States District Court for 
the Southern District of New York and is docketed at Rafferty, et al. v. Doar, et al., No. 13-
Civ. 1410 (S.D.N.Y.). 
 Because the class members cannot read standard print materials, they need information in 
alternative formats such as Braille, large print, audio tapes, or accessible electronic formats. 
The law requires that government agencies communicate effectively with people with 
disabilities, and provide information in alternative formats when it is necessary to do so. 
Nevertheless, the Defendants have failed to create or distribute notices, applications, 
instructions, and other important documents in accessible alternate formats. The lawsuit 
alleges that their conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the 
Rehabilitation Act, the public accommodation requirements of the New York State and City 
Human Rights Laws, New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance 
regulations, and the procedural due process rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth 
Amendment to the United States Constitution. 
 “Blind and seriously visually impaired individuals have a right to equal access to 
information about their public benefits. The failure to provide it is unlawful 
discrimination,” said Cary LaCheen, senior staff attorney at the National Center for Law and 
Economic Justice, and counsel for Plaintiffs. She added, “utilities and banks send notices 
and bills in alternative formats. Information about these public benefits programs is no 
less important. Yet the Defendants provide it in a format that is impenetrable to our 
clients.” 
 Michael Daly, a partner with Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, co-counsel for Plaintiffs, agreed. 
Michael Daly, a partner with Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, co-counsel for Plaintiffs, 
agreed. “When the government creates a public benefits program, it is obliged to make 
information about that program available to the public. Not just some convenient subset of the 
public. The Defendants would hopefully agree that they cannot give our clients information that 
is inaccurate. It is passing strange, then, that they think they can give our clients information that 
is inaccessible.” 
 About the National Center for Law & Economic Justice: 
 The National Center for Law and Economic Justice is a national organization that uses 
litigation and other advocacy strategies to ensure that public benefits programs comply 
with the law. For nearly 50 years, its lawyers have led the way in advancing economic 
justice across the country; securing systemic reform in the delivery of income support and 
related human services; and safeguarding important legal and constitutional rights. www.nclej.org  About Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP: 
 Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP is a national law firm with more than 650 lawyers in 11 offices. 
Its lawyers serve clients in areas such as complex litigation, products liability, intellectual 
property, corporate and securities, corporate restructuring, employee benefits and 
executive compensation, environment and energy, government and regulatory affairs, 
health care, insurance coverage, investment management, labor and employment, life 
insurance and annuities, private client services, and real estate. The firm’s work on this 
matter is part of its Barbara McDowell High Impact Pro Bono Initiative, which it launched 
in 2009 in conjunction with the establishment of the McDowell Foundation 
(www.mcdowellfoundation.org) to honor the work of the late Barbara McDowell, a national 
leader in public interest advocacy who died of brain cancer. Ms. McDowell served as the 
founding director of the Appellate Advocacy Project of the Legal Aid Society of the District 
of Columbia and was the wife of Drinker Biddle partner Jerry Hartman, one of the attorneys 
representing the plaintiffs in this case. www.drinkerbiddle.com