[nfbmi-talk] Legal Settlement for Guide Dog Users

[lkeeler at comcast.net]

About time! This is great!

-----Original Message----- 
From: Terry D. Eagle via nfbmi-talk
Sent: Saturday, April 30, 2016 9:21 PM
To: 'NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List'
Cc: Terry D. Eagle
Subject: [nfbmi-talk] Legal Settlement for Guide Dog Users

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.



Groundbreaking Settlement to End Discrimination Against Blind Uber Riders 
Who Use Guide Dogs.

April 30, 2016.

“ Berkeley, California.

In an unprecedented settlement announced today, Uber has agreed to take 
affirmative steps to prevent discrimination against blind riders who use 
guide dogs in its transportation network across the United States.

The settlement resolves a lawsuit NFB of California, et al.. v. Uber 
Technologies, Inc. brought by the NFB, its California affiliate, and 
individuals who use guide dogs, to ensure that guide dog users have full and 
equal access to vehicles in the Uber network. This is the first nationwide 
class-action settlement of its kind against an app-based transportation 
network company.

While the growth of Uber’s on-demand transportation services has the 
potential to be a boon to blind people, drivers using the Uber platform have 
denied rides to blind people who use guide dogs. Any such discrimination 
violates federal and state laws that protect the rights of people with 
disabilities. Under the settlement, Uber will work to end this 
discrimination and blind individuals will be able to use Uber without the 
threat of discrimination.

Uber has agreed to take affirmative steps to tell drivers about their 
obligations to transport riders who are disabled and use service animals. 
Uber will require that existing and new drivers expressly confirm that they 
understand their legal obligations to transport riders with guide dogs or 
other service animals. Uber will also implement stricter enforcement 
policies—Uber will remove a driver from the platform upon a sinngle 
complaint if Uber finds that the driver knowingly denied a person with a 
disability a ride because the person was traveling with a service animal.

In addition, if Uber receives complaints that a driver denied a person a 
ride because of a service animal on more than one occasion, the driver will 
permanently be removed from the Uber platform regardless of the driver’s 
intent.

Uber will also enhance its response system for complaints related to 
discrimination against guide-dog users, and will track detailed data on all 
allegations of such discrimination. Additionally, the NFB and its California 
affiliate will deploy testers over a multi-year period to evaluate Uber’s 
compliance with the settlement.

Mark A. Riccobono, President of the NFB, said: “Access to reliable and 
effective transportation is critical to the ability of blind people to live 
the lives we want. Uber and similar services can be a great asset to the 
blind when they are fully and equally available to us. The NFB is therefore 
pleased with Uber's commitment to effectively enforce a nondiscrimination 
policy with respect to blind people who use guide dogs. We look forward to 
working with Uber to ensure that all blind passengers can take advantage of 
the innovative transportation service it offers.”

Plaintiff Michael Hingson commented: “This settlement is a great step 
forward for all blind people. Uber can be such a convenient transportation 
option. I’m looking forward to being able to use the Uber services when 
Uber makes the changes needed to fix its discrimination problem and bring 
true access to guide dog users.”

Attorney Larry Paradis of Disability Rights Advocates said: “This 
settlement sets important precedent and shows that companies cannot ignore 
the rights of people with disabilities just because they use a new 
technology or a novel business model. We are pleased we could come to an 
agreement with Uber and look forward to working with the company to ensure a 
more accessible system.”

Attorney Michael Bien of Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP observed: 
“Technology-enabled services such as Uber have tremendous potential to 
empower people with disabilities to live more independent lives. By ensuring 
reliable equal access for blind riders with service animals to Uber’s 
services, this agreement harnesses that potential.”

Plaintiffs and defendant submitted the proposed settlement to the court on 
April 29, 2016, and seek approval from the court to settle as a nationwide 
class action. Copies of the settlement and other documents can be found at 
http://dralegal.org/case/national-federation-of-the-blind-of-california-et-al-v-uber-technologies-inc-et-al/ 
.

Plaintiffs are represented by Larry Paradis and Julia Marks of Disability 
Rights Advocates, Timothy Elder of TRE Legal, and Michael Bien and Michael 
Nunez of Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP.




###
About Disability Rights Advocates:

Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) is one of the leading non-profit 
disability rights legal centers in the nation. With offices in Berkeley and 
New York City, DRA’s mission is to advance equal rights and opportunities 
for people with all types of disabilities nationwide. To advance that 
mission, DRA regularly advocates for greater access to transportation 
services and modern technologies. DRA recently negotiated a landmark 
settlement that will dramatically improve access to taxis in New York for 
people with mobility disabilities. DRA has also negotiated access 
improvements to several types of popular modern technologies, including the 
website Target.com in National Federation of the Blind v. Target, Corp. and 
Redbox touchscreen video rental kiosks in Lighthouse for the Blind and 
Visually Impaired et al. v. Redbox Automated Retail, LLC et al. For more 
information, visit www.dralegal.org.



About TRE Legal:
Founded by Timothy Elder, TRE Legal is a civil rights law firm fighting 
discrimination and specializing in the rights of the blind and other 
disabled people to access employment, education, government programs, public 
accommodations, digital information, and all other aspects of modern 
society. TRE Legal has helped negotiate collaboration agreements between the 
blindness community and several mobile app developers to make their 
respective technologies independently accessible to the blind. For more 
information, visit www.trelegal.com.

About Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP:
Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP (RBGG) is a private law firm that 
specializes in complex litigation, including with respect to business 
disputes, employment matters, institutional reform, and civil rights. RBGG 
has extensive experience representing individuals and classes of people with 
disabilities in litigation both against private entities and in the criminal 
justice context. For more information, visit http://rbgg.com/


CONTACTS:
Timothy Elder
TRE Legal Practice
(410) 415 – 3493
telder at trelegal.com

Larry Paradis
Disability Rights Advocates.
(510) 541 – 4459.
lparadis at dralegal.org

Michael Bien
Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld.
(415) 439 – 9821.
mbien at rbgg.com




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