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<b>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<br><br>
CONTACT:<br><br>
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<br>
<b>Stacy Brannan-Smith<br>
</b>Communications Specialist<br>
Disability Rights Ohio<br>
800-282-9181, ext. 101<br>
<a href="mailto:sbrannan-smith@disabilityrightsohio.org">
sbrannan-smith@disabilityrightsohio.org</a><td width=237><br>
<br>
<b>John G. Paré, Jr.</b><br>
<br>
Executive Director for Advocacy and Policy<br>
<br>
National Federation of the Blind<br>
<br>
410-659-9314, ext. 2218<br>
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410-917-1965 (cell)<br>
<br>
<a href="mailto:jpare@nfb.org">jpare@nfb.org</a></td><td width=237><br>
<br>
<b>Samantha Crane, J.D.</b><br>
<br>
Legal Director, Director of Public Policy<br>
<br>
Autistic Self Advocacy Network<br>
<br>
202-509-0135<br>
<br>
<a href="mailto:scrane@autisticadvocacy.org">
scrane@autisticadvocacy.org</a><br>
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<div align="center"><b>Disability Rights Ohio and Other Advocates File
Complaint on Behalf of Sheltered Workshop Employees <br><br>
</b></div>
November 19, 2015<br><br>
COLUMBUS, OHIO – After working for an average of $2.50 an hour for more
than three years, three Disability Rights Ohio (DRO) clients are asking
for fair pay from Seneca Re-Ads, a sheltered workshop run by the County
Board of Developmental Disabilities in Seneca County. The employees’ work
duties include cutting and assembling samples for flooring company Roppe
Industries, a private corporation. Through a novel and potentially
precedent-setting procedure, the three DRO clients have asked the U.S.
Department of Labor (USDOL) to review their claims.
<a href="http://www.disabilityrightsohio.org/sites/default/files/sites/default/files/u62/Seneca_Re-Ad_ALJ_Petition_SIGNED.pdf">
The petition</a>, which is supported by the National Federation of the
Blind, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, and the Baltimore law firm of
Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP, requests that USDOL review the clients’
wages and the means by which the current wages were set. <br><br>
Since the 1930s, federal law has permitted employers to pay workers with
disabilities less than minimum wage, but only if the lower wage is
necessary to ensure employment opportunities, and on the condition that
each worker is paid a wage commensurate with his or her productivity as
compared to workers without disabilities. The law contains a little-known
provision allowing workers with disabilities to petition the USDOL for an
administrative review of their wages in an expedited process.
<br><br>
Joe Magers, Pam Steward, and Mark Felton are among the first workers with
disabilities ever to utilize the petition process to seek a review of
their wages by the USDOL. They believe that their disabilities, which
include visual impairments and autism, do not impair their workplace
productivity, and that Seneca Re-Ads’ method of calculating wages fails
to fairly measure their productivity or take into account the prevailing
wage for similar highly skilled production work in the community. Magers,
Steward, and Felton are also seeking compensation for unpaid hours of
work in which they were required to attend mandatory staff meetings and
safety trainings.<br><br>
“Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the workshop is permitted to pay
less than minimum wage but only if the workshop follows the procedures
laid out in the law, which wasn't done here,” said Barbara Corner,
attorney and Employment Team Leader for DRO. “Our clients’ disabilities
do not preclude them from working hard and even using heavy machinery,
and they deserve and want the opportunity to earn as much as workers
without disabilities.”<br><br>
"Sheltered workshops often make self-fulfilling prophesies that
people with developmental disabilities simply can't be as productive as
people without disabilities,” adds Samantha Crane, Legal Director for the
Autistic Self Advocacy Network. “Our clients haven't been given the
chance they need to earn even a minimally decent wage. They deserve the
same basic protections that many people without disabilities take for
granted." <br><br>
With the filing of this petition, USDOL has 40 days to assign an
administrative law judge and hold a hearing. At the hearing, Seneca Re-Ad
must prove that it followed the rules and paid an appropriate wage, and
if the administrative law judge finds that Seneca Re-Ad failed to comply
with its legal obligations, the workers must be paid minimum wage for
their labor.<br><br>
Mark A. Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind,
said, “This case demonstrates the fundamentally arbitrary manner in which
wages for workers with disabilities are set by many entities that hold
14(c) certificates, and how this antiquated, discriminatory employment
model, based on false assumptions and low expectations, relegates these
workers to second-class status. We hope that the Department of Labor acts
swiftly to correct the injustice that is being perpetrated upon these
workers.”<br><br>
---<br><br>
<b>About Disability Rights Ohio: </b><i>Disability Rights Ohio is the
federally and state designated Protection and Advocacy System and Client
Assistance Program for the state of Ohio. The mission of Disability
Rights Ohio is to advocate for the human, civil and legal rights of
people with disabilities in Ohio. Disability Rights Ohio provides legal
advocacy and rights protection to a wide range of people with
disabilities.<br><br>
</i><b>About the National Federation of the Blind: </b><i>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.<br><br>
</i><b>About the Autistic Self Advocacy Network: </b><i>The Autistic Self
Advocacy Network (ASAN) is a national, private, nonprofit organization,
run by and for individuals on the autism spectrum. ASAN provides public
education and promotes public policies that benefit autistic individuals
and others with developmental or other disabilities. Its advocacy
activities include combating stigma, discrimination, and violence against
autistic people and others with disabilities; promoting access to
employment, health care and long-term supports in integrated community
settings; and educating the public about the access needs of autistic
people. ASAN takes a strong interest in cases that affect the rights of
autistic individuals to participate fully in community life and enjoy the
same rights as others without disabilities.<br><br>
</i> <br><br>
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