[Nfbmt] National Federation of the Blind Applauds Jury Verdict for Montgomery County Woman

[Bruce&Joy Breslauer]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


 
CONTACT: Chris Danielsen
Director of Public Relations 
National Federation of the Blind
(410) 659-9314, extension 2330
(410) 262-1281 (Cell)
cdanielsen at nfb.org


 




National Federation of the Blind Applauds Jury Verdict for Montgomery County
Woman




 
Jury Finds County Discriminated Against Blind Employee


 
Greenbelt, Maryland (February 29,2016): The National Federation of the Blind,
the nation's leading advocate for equal access to employment and technology
for the blind, today applauded a jury verdict reached in the matter of Yasmin
Reyazuddin vs. Montgomery County (Civil Action No. 8:11-cv-00951-DKC) in
federal district court Friday afternoon. The jury found that the county
failed to provide Ms. Reyazuddin, who is blind, with a reasonable
accommodation, as required by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, by refusing to
implement accessible software so that she could continue to work as an
information specialist in the county's 311 call center. Ms. Reyazuddin worked
in the call center of the County's Department of Health and Human Services
until the County consolidated that call center and others into its Montgomery
County 311 Call Center. Ms. Reyazuddin had been using screen access software,
which converts information on a computer screen into synthesized speech or
into Braille that can be displayed on a device known as a refreshable Braille
display, to access the computer programs with which she needed to interact in
order to provide accurate information to callers, keep records of calls, and
perform other tasks necessary for resolving the concerns of callers. When she
learned that her agency's call center would be consolidated into the County's
new 311 call center, she repeatedly inquired of County officials whether the
software for the new call center would be accessible and provided information
to the County about accessible solutions. The county ultimately procured call
center software that was not accessibly configured. Thereafter, the County
refused to implement the necessary changes. As a result, instead of being
transferred to the new 311 call center, Ms. Reyazuddin was transferred to
make-work positions which, at best, involved duties that only filled roughly
half of her eight-hour work day. Ms. Reyazuddin filed suit with the
assistance of the National Federation of the Blind in April of 2011. In
addition to its finding that Montgomery County failed to reasonably
accommodate Ms. Reyazuddin, the jury found that the failure to transfer her
to the customer service center was an adverse employment action. The jury
rejected the county's defense that it would have been an undue hardship to
make the customer service center accessible to Ms. Reyazuddin. Ms. Reyazuddin
will now proceed before the Court to seek injunctive relief ordering the
County to make the software accessible.
 
Mark A. Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said:
"Blindness does not define an individual or his or her capacity to contribute
in the workplace, and this was demonstrated by Yasmin Reyazuddin's ten years
of service to Montgomery County prior to this debacle. The only thing that
prevented her from continuing to be an effective employee was the county's
failure to provide the reasonable accommodation of accessible technology, as
the jury found after careful deliberation. This case underscores the critical
importance of accessible technology for the success of blind workers in the
modern workplace. Generally, as in this case, procuring and deploying such
technology does not place an undue burden on employers. I encourage all
employers to take steps to ensure that their workplace technologies are
accessible at the time they are first implemented so that the technology does
not erect an artificial barrier to people who are blind."
 
Ms. Reyazuddin said: "I am grateful to the men and women of the jury for
their time and their careful consideration of my case. My only desire
throughout this litigation has been to work at my full capacity and serve the
good people of Montgomery County by providing them with the information they
need. Thanks to this verdict, I believe that I will soon be able to achieve
this goal."
 
Ms. Reyazuddin is represented by Joseph B. Espo and Daniel F. Goldstein of
the Baltimore firm Brown, Goldstein, and Levy LLP, and by Timothy R. Elder of
the TRE Legal Practice of Fremont, California.

 
###

 
About the National Federation of the Blind 
 
The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back.

 

 

 

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