<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div><br><br>Sent from my iPhone</div><div><br>Begin forwarded message:<br><br></div><div><b>From:</b> William Vandervest via Nagdu-leaders <<a href="mailto:nagdu-leaders@nfbnet.org">nagdu-leaders@nfbnet.org</a>><br><b>Date:</b> April 30, 2016 at 11:29:30 AM EDT<br><b>To:</b> <<a href="mailto:nagdu@nfbnet.org">nagdu@nfbnet.org</a>>, <<a href="mailto:nagdu-leaders@nfbnet.org">nagdu-leaders@nfbnet.org</a>><br><b>Cc:</b> William Vandervest <<a href="mailto:timelord09@comcast.net">timelord09@comcast.net</a>><br><b>Subject:</b> <b>[Nagdu-leaders] Fw: [Nfbnet-members-list] Fw: Groundbreaking Settlement to End Discrimination Against Blind Uber Riders Who Use Guide Dogs</b><br><b>Reply-To:</b> List for Leaders of NAGDU <<a href="mailto:nagdu-leaders@nfbnet.org">nagdu-leaders@nfbnet.org</a>><br><br></div><div><span></span></div><div>
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<div style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial'; COLOR: #000000"><a href="mailto:timelord09@comcast.net">timelord09@comcast.net</a><br><br>There
Are None So Blind As Those Who Will Not See<br><br>William and Leader Dog
Lynerd</div>
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<div style="font-color: black"><b>From:</b> <a title="nfbnet-members-list@nfbnet.org" href="mailto:nfbnet-members-list@nfbnet.org">David Andrews via
Nfbnet-members-list</a> </div>
<div><b>Sent:</b> Saturday, April 30, 2016 11:11 AM</div>
<div><b>To:</b> <a title="nfbnet-members-list@nfbnet.org" href="mailto:nfbnet-members-list@nfbnet.org">nfbnet-members-list@nfbnet.org</a>
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<div><b>Subject:</b> [Nfbnet-members-list] Fw: Groundbreaking Settlement to End
Discrimination Against Blind Uber Riders Who Use Guide Dogs</div></div></div>
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<blockquote class="cite" cite="" type="cite"><br><b><u>FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE<br></u></b><br>April 30, 2016<br><br> <br><br>CONTACTS: <br><br>
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<td width="215"><br><br><b>Timothy Elder</b><br><br>TRE Legal
Practice<br><br>(410) 415-3493<br><br><a href="mailto:telder@trelegal.com">telder@trelegal.com</a>
</td><td width="215"><br><br><b>Larry Paradis</b><br><br>Disability Rights
Advocates<br><br>(510) 541-4459<br><br><a href="mailto:lparadis@dralegal.org">lparadis@dralegal.org</a></td>
<td width="215"><br><br><b>Michael Bien</b><br><br>Rosen Bien Galvan &
Grunfeld<br><br>(415) 439-9821<br><br><a href="mailto:mbien@rbgg.com">mbien@rbgg.com</a></td></tr>
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<td width="215"><br><br><b>Chris Danielsen</b><br><br>National Federation
of the Blind<br><br>(410) 262-1281<br><br><a href="mailto:cdanielsen@nfb.org">cdanielsen@nfb.org</a><br><br>
</td><td width="215"><br><br><b></b></td>
<td width="215"><br><br><b></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br> <br><br><b>Groundbreaking
Settlement to End Discrimination Against Blind Uber Riders Who Use Guide Dogs
<br></b><br><b> <br></b><br>April 30, 2016 –“ Berkeley, California – In
an unprecedented settlement announced tooday, 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.
<br><br> <br><br>The settlement resolves a lawsuit—<i>National Federation
of the Blind of California, et al.. v. Uber Technologies, Inc.</i>—brought by
the National Federation of the Blind, 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. <br><br><i> <br></i><br>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.<br><br> <br><br>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. <br><br> <br><br>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 National Federation of the Blind and
its California affiliate will deploy testers over a multi-year period to
evaluate Uber’s compliance with the settlement. <br><br> <br><br>Mark
A. Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind, 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
National Federation of the Blind 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.â€<br><br> <br><a name="Start"></a><br><a name="Complete"></a>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.â€<br><br> <br><br>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.â€<br><br> <br><br>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.â€<br><br> <br><br>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 <a href="http://dralegal.org/case/national-federation-of-the-blind-of-california-et-al-v-uber-technologies-inc-et-al/">http://dralegal.org/case/national-federation-of-the-blind-of-california-et-al-v-uber-technologies-inc-et-al/</a>
.<br><br> <br><br>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.<br><br> <br><br>
<div align="center">###<br></div><br><b><i> <img alt="[]" src="cid:F6FD334605F1410A87AAE84C8C54B92E@DESKTOPFF85UP6" width="644" height="213"> </i></b><br><br><i>About the National Federation of the
Blind:<br></i><br>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. For more information, visit <a href="http://nfb.org/">http://nfb.org</a>. <br><br><i><br>About the California
Affiliate of the National Federation of the Blind:<br></i><br>The NFB of
California (NFBC) is the state affiliate of the National Federation of the
Blind. The NFBC knows that blindness does not define you or your future. For
more information, visit <a href="http://nfbcal.org/">http://nfbcal.org/</a>.<br><br><i> <br></i><br><i>About
Disability Rights Advocates:<br></i><br>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 <a href="http://target.com">Target.com</a> in <i>National Federation of
the Blind v. Target, Corp.</i> and Redbox touchscreen video rental kiosks in
<i>Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired et al. v. Redbox Automated
Retail, LLC et al</i>. For more information, visit <a href="http://www.dralegal.org/">www.dralegal.org</a>.
<br><br> <br><br><i>About TRE Legal:<br></i><br>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 <a href="http://www.trelegal.com/">www.trelegal.com</a>.
<br><br> <br><br><i>About Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld
LLP:<br></i><br>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 <a href="http://rbgg.com/">http://rbgg.com/</a><br><br><br></blockquote><x-sigsep>
<p><x-tab> </x-tab>David
Andrews and long white cane Harry.<br>E-Mail: <a href="mailto:dandrews@visi.com">dandrews@visi.com</a> or
<a href="mailto:david.andrews@nfbnet.org">david.andrews@nfbnet.org</a><br>
</p><p>
</p><hr>
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