[blindlaw] national law journal article on suit against LSAC

[Michael Fry]

That'll teach her to rudly cancel a meeting at the last minute and not
reschedule.  I bet she's just getting an idea what she's in for.




On Fri, Feb 20, 2009 at 7:57 AM, Scott C. LaBarre
<slabarre at labarrelaw.com>wrote:

> Greetings:
>
> Below I am pasting a National Law Journal article on the lawsuit we filed
> yesterday.  Because I have been on the team dealing with this, I want folks
> to know that we first wrote LSAC a letter in December.  Joan Vantol got in
> touch with Dr. Maurer to set up a meeting in Baltimore for January 26th.  A
> few days before, she abruptly canceled the meeting and only stated that she
> would be in touch at some point to reschedule.  We remain open to conducting
> negotiations with LSAC, but our first obligation is to protect the rights of
> blind/visually impaired individuals affected by these and similar practices.
> ***********
>
>
> Blind law student sues Law School Admissions Council over accessibility
>
> Sheri Qualters / Staff reporter
> February 20, 2009
>
>
> The National Federation of the Blind and a blind law school applicant filed
> a discrimination lawsuit against the national law school admissions test
> administrator, The Law School Admissions Council, in a California Superior
> Court.
>
> The lawsuit, which was filed on Feb. 19 in Alameda County, claims that the
> Newtown, Pa.-based admissions council violates two California laws requiring
> equal access to disabled persons because its Web site and Law School
> Admission Test (LSAT) preparation materials are inaccessible to the blind.
> National Federation of the Blind v. Law School Admissions Council Inc., No.
> RG-09436691 (Alameda Co., Calif., Super. Ct.).
>
> The lawsuit's claims include alleged violations of California's Disabled
> Persons Act and California's Unruh Act, which requires businesses to offer
> equal accommodations and facilities to disabled persons. The plaintiffs are
> also asking the court for a declaratory judgment stating that California
> laws require the admissions council to provide blind persons equal access to
> its Web site.
>
> The federation has successfully targeted corporations with inadequate Web
> site accessibility for the blind. Last August, retailer Target Corp. agreed
> to change its Web site and establish a $6 million claims fund to settle a
> discrimination class action brought by the federation. National Federation
> of the Blind v. Target, No. 06-01802 (N.D. Calif.). [NLJ, 8-28-08.]
>
> In September, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley and the
> federation negotiated a deal with Apple Inc. to make Apple's iTunes and
> iTunes U fully accessible to the blind. [NLJ 9-30-08.]
>
> The Law School Admissions Council is "engaging in blatant discrimination
> against the blind" said the blind federation's president, Marc Maurer, in a
> statement.
>
> "For too long, blind people have experienced barriers to entering the legal
> profession, despite our long history of demonstrated success in that field,"
> stated Maurer. "The National Federation of the Blind will not sit quietly
> while the LSAC willfully refuses to provide the same services to blind
> people seeking admission to law school that it does to the sighted."
>
> The admissions council generally does not comment on pending lawsuits, but
> decided to make an exception in this case to express its disappointment,
> said general counsel Joan Van Tol.
>
> The council is disappointed that the federation chose to litigate "when we
> fully expected to address their concerns through productive meetings." Van
> Tol also said the council has been working on setting up a meeting at the
> federation's offices "so they could demonstrate new assistive technologies
> that we'd like to learn about."
>
> Here is a link to the article:
> http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202428419045
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Scott C. LaBarre, Esq.
>
> LaBarre Law Offices P.C.
> 1660 South Albion Street, Ste. 918
> Denver, Colorado 80222
> 303 504-5979 (voice)
> 303 757-3640 (fax)
> slabarre at labarrelaw.com (e-mail)
> www.labarrelaw.com (website)
>
> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This message may contain confidential and
> privileged information. If you are not the designated recipient, you may not
> read, copy, distribute or retain this message. If you received this message
> in error, please notify the sender at 303) 504-5979 or
> slabarre at labarrelaw.com, and destroy and delete it from your system. This
> message and any attachments are covered by the Electronic
> Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-2521.
> _______________________________________________
> blindlaw mailing list
> blindlaw at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> blindlaw:
>
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindlaw_nfbnet.org/mikefry79%40gmail.com
>