[Nfbmo] Fwd: [nfbmi-talk] Federal Court and Airlines Stiff the Blind

Fred Olver fredolver at gmail.com
Tue Jan 26 23:07:58 UTC 2016



Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Terry D. Eagle via nfbmi-talk" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Date: January 25, 2016 at 1:37:41 PM CST
> To: "'NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List'" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: "Terry D. Eagle" <terrydeagle at yahoo.com>
> Subject: [nfbmi-talk] Federal Court and Airlines Stiff the Blind
> Reply-To: terrydeagle at yahoo.com, NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
> 
> 
> 
> United Ducks Appeal Over Kiosks for the Blind
> 
> By MARIA DINZEO
> 
> SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - United Airlines need not face a class action over its
> limited number of kiosks accessible to blind travelers at California
> airports,
> 
> the Ninth Circuit ruled Tuesday.
> 
>     Issuing its decision 38 months after hearing
> 
> oral arguments,
> 
> the three-judge panel said federal statutes pre-empt the National Federation
> for the Blind's claims for violation of California's Unruh Civil Rights Act.
> 
>     Such claims furthermore do not relate to a "service" provided by
> United, as outlined by the Airline Deregulation Act, according to the
> ruling.
> 
>     The National Federation of the Blind sued United Airlines back in
> October 2010, joined by three individuals - Michael May, Michael Hingson and
> Christina
> 
> Thomas.
> 
>     Rather than offering audio output or other blind-friendly alternatives,
> United's machines operated exclusively by video and touch-screen navigation,
> 
> according to the complaint
> 
>     U.S. District Judge William Alsup dismissed the action, finding the
> claims pre-empted by both the Airline Deregulation Act and the Air Carrier
> Access
> 
> Act.
> 
>     Affirming on Tuesday, the Ninth Circuit pointed to its en banc opinion
> in the 1998 case Charas v. Trans World Airlines, which determined that the
> term
> 
> "service" in the Americans with Disabilities Act refers to the provision of
> air transportation - such as "the prices, schedules, origins and
> destinations
> 
> of the point-to-point transportation of passengers, cargo or mail," not
> airline-provided amenities like drinks and luggage handling.
> 
>     Though the Federal Aviation Act contains a broad savings clause, it did
> not result in a reversal today.
> 
>     "According to the federation, any state-law claims that fall outside
> the scope of the ADA express preemption provision are necessarily preserved
> by
> 
> the FAA's savings clause. Not so," Judge Marsha Berzon wrote for a
> three-judge panel.
> 
>     Under the federation's interpretation, "a passenger could sue an
> airline for violating any state standard of care not expressly preempted by
> the ADA,
> 
> notwithstanding federal regulations covering in depth the particular field
> at issue," Berzon noted.
> 
>     "The result would be chaotic."
> 
>     New Department of Transportations regulations on accessibility of
> airport kiosks furthermore speak "directly to the concerns raised by the
> federation's
> 
> suit," the ruling states.
> 
>     "Given its great detail and pervasive extent, the new regulation
> preempts any state regulation of that same field," Berzon wrote.
> 
> Document
> 
> Source:
> 
> http://www.courthousenews.com/2016/01/19/united-ducks-appeal-over-kiosks-for
> -the-blind.htm
> 
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