http://www.abajournal.com/news/ en Copyright 2013 2013-05-18T08:32:50-06:00 http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/eeoc_obtains_record_verdict_for_mentally_disabled_workers_who_claimed_mistr/ A federal jury in Iowa has awarded $240 million to compensate 32 mentally disabled men who claimed mistreatment while working at a turkey processing plant. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued on behalf of the men who worked at Henry’s Turkey Service in Atalissa and lived in a plant bunkhouse.… Civil Rights, Disability Law, Labor & Employment Thu, 02 May 2013 10:17:50 -0500 44010.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/disabled_woman_who_couldnt_afford_to_take_pet_to_vet_is_convicted_of_felony/ At 14 years old, a chow mix named Harley wasn't in the greatest shape. But the pet dog was still enjoying life in his old age, despite a skin condition and a large growth dangling from his neck, his owner, Tammy Brown, and her adult daughter tell the Animal Law, Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Disability Law, Trials & Litigation, States, Florida Thu, 25 Apr 2013 13:10:56 -0500 43923.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/schools_use_of_timeout_room_didnt_violate_constitution_10th_circuit_rules/ An Oklahoma school district that placed a special education student in a “timeout room” to stop his unruly behavior did not violate his constitutional rights, a federal appeals court has ruled. In an opinion (PDF) issued on Tuesday, the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the… Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Disability Law, Education Law, Trials & Litigation, 10th Circuit Court Wed, 24 Apr 2013 11:09:24 -0500 43894.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyer_loses_ada_appeal_in_suit_claiming_she_was_fired_because_of_insomnia/ An in-house lawyer who claimed she was fired because of an inability to sleep more than four hours a night has lost her federal appeal. The Richmond, Va.-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against lawyer Victoria Anderson, who had claimed she was fired in 2007 from cable TV… Disability Law, In-house Counsel, 4th Circuit Court Tue, 09 Apr 2013 10:10:51 -0500 43648.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/oops._bingham_cant_arbitrate_ex-associates_suit_because_its_own_contract_is/ A former associate has won a round in a disability discrimination case she filed two years ago against Bingham McCutchen. The law firm had sought to arbitrate a California complaint by Hartwell Harris that the firm didn't do enough to accommodate her unusual sleep disorder, But a trial-level judge ruled… Alternative Dispute Resolution, Contracts, Disability Law, Labor & Employment, Law Firms, Associates, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, States, California, Massachusetts Mon, 01 Apr 2013 16:24:45 -0500 43508.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/us_judge_threatens_ethics_complaint_if_two_lawyers_unadvisedly_continue_to_/ A federal judge in Brooklyn has refused to award fees to two lawyers who have filed dozens of lawsuits against businesses for alleged violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act, warning the duo that their “tactics will no longer be tolerated.” U.S. District Judge Sterling Johnson Jr. ruled (PDF)… Disability Law, Legal Ethics, States, New York Mon, 01 Apr 2013 10:23:39 -0500 43500.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/man_stranded_on_disneys_its_a_small_world_ride_wins_pain_and_suffering/ A disabled man trapped on a ride at Disneyland as music blared overhead has won an $8,000 damages award in federal court. The nightmare for Jose Martinez began the day after Thanksgiving in 2009 when his and his wife's ride on "It's a Small World" was coming to an end.… Disability Law, Entertainment & Sports Law, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, States, California Wed, 27 Mar 2013 13:12:02 -0500 43456.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/are_shopping_websites_covered_by_disability_law_the_answer_could_be_yes_in_/ Only a few courts have held that websites are covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act; most take the view that the 1990 law doesn’t apply to the Internet. The Justice Department could embrace the minority view when it issues new ADA regulations later this year, the Attorney General, Disability Law, Trials & Litigation Fri, 22 Mar 2013 07:03:19 -0500 43395.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/eeoc_sues_toys_r_us_says_company_failed_to_provide_interpreter_for_deaf_job/ Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, employers are required to provide reasonable accommodation to workers, unless doing so would be an undue hardship. What exactly is required, in a given case, can be open to interpretation. But for a big company like Toys "R" Us there's virtually no question that… Corporate Law, Disability Law, Labor & Employment, Trials & Litigation, 4th Circuit Court, States, Maryland Wed, 20 Mar 2013 12:22:54 -0500 43371.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/disabled_man_is_cited_for_disturbing_the_peace_by_laughing_too_loudly/ A disabled man in Rockville Centre, N.Y., says he has learned to laugh off a neighbor's taunts about his neurological impairments. But that created a new problem for Robert Schiavelli, 42, who has been issued two summonses for laughing too loudly in the Long Island home he shares with his… Criminal Justice, Disability Law, Government Law, Trials & Litigation, States, New York Thu, 07 Mar 2013 10:55:10 -0600 43152.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/former_hostess_sues_nightclub_for_hearing_loss/ A former hostess at the Lavo nightclub in Manhattan claims in a lawsuit that she suffered hearing loss as a result of its loud dance music. Margaret Clemente, who goes by the name Alexis, says she learned of hearing loss in her right ear after the Disability Law, Trials & Litigation, States, New York Thu, 28 Feb 2013 07:46:25 -0600 43039.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/did_da_and_defense_lawyer_use_undeniably_invalid_order_to_commit_schizophre/ Apparently agreeing with a retired Oregon judge's complaint that a sitting district attorney and a defense lawyer used an "undeniably invalid order" when committing a mentally ill man to the state hospital for treatment, bar authorities have filed a legal ethics complaint. Describing the issue a little differently than retired… Civil Rights, Criminal Justice, Prosecutors, Disability Law, Legal Ethics, Trials & Litigation, States, Oregon Wed, 06 Feb 2013 11:20:00 -0600 42711.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/womble_carlyle_is_sued_by_eeoc_over_alleged_75-pound_lifting_requirement/ The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sued Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice on behalf of a former office assistant who claims disability discrimination over a lifting requirement. The suit (PDF) filed on behalf of Charlesetta Jennings says she suffered from a chronic swelling condition known as lymphedema as… Careers, Disability Law, Labor & Employment, Law Firms, Large Firm Fri, 18 Jan 2013 10:47:11 -0600 42451.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/teacher_with_child_phobia_sues_school_for_disability_discrimination_says_sh/ A high school French teacher in Ohio has sued her district, contending that her reassignment to a school that has elementary students constituted disability discrimination because she has a phobic fear of young children. Maria C. Waltherr-Willard, 61, had taught for decades in the Mariemont School District, which allegedly accommodated… Disability Law, Education Law, Labor & Employment, Trials & Litigation, 6th Circuit Court, States, Ohio Tue, 15 Jan 2013 15:06:18 -0600 42378.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/providing_interpreter_for_deaf_lifeguard_may_not_be_unreasonable_accomodat/ Updated: An Americans with Disabilities Act case involving a deaf Michigan man denied a lifeguard position because he needed an sign language interpreter was reinstated Thursday in the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Nicholas Keith, who has been deaf since birth, passed the Oakland County lifeguard training course… Civil Rights, Disability Law, Labor & Employment, 6th Circuit Court Fri, 11 Jan 2013 13:45:37 -0600 42313.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/students_get_50k_after_claiming_lesley_u_meals_violated_ada_by_not_accommod/ There's no word on whether some Lesley University students with food allergies might be headed to law school. But they've clearly demonstrated an aptitude for for legal issues by spearheading an unusual civil rights case pursued as an administrative complaint by the U.S. Department of Justice. It resulted in a… Administrative Law, Civil Rights, Disability Law, Education Law, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, 1st Circuit Court, States, Massachusetts Thu, 10 Jan 2013 17:11:13 -0600 42298.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/debt_collection_law_firm_settles_with_doj_over_alleged_bias_against_deaf_pe/ A Maryland law firm has agreed to pay $30,000 to resolve allegations that it discriminated against deaf people in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Peroutka & Peroutka, a debt collection law firm in Pasadena, Md., reached the agreement with the U.S. Justice Department, according to a Attorney General, Disability Law, Law Firms, States, Maryland Fri, 04 Jan 2013 13:04:14 -0600 42228.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/for_some_parents_shock_treatments_are_only_hope_for_helping_their_kids/ Civil Rights, Disability Law, Education Law, Family Law, Health Law, Legislation & Lobbying, Trials & Litigation, 2nd Circuit Court, The National Pulse Tue, 01 Jan 2013 04:30:41 -0600 41958.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/texas_lawyer_gets_46_months_re_2.3m_scam_of_46_disabled_veterans/ Rejecting an argument by prosecutors that a Texas lawyer should get harsher punishment than his wife for scamming disabled veterans of $2.3 million, because he had fiduciary responsibilities as their guardian, a federal judge on Wednesday gave Joe B. Phillips, 73, exactly the same sentence: 46 months. His 72-year-old wife,… Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, White Collar Crime, Disability Law, 5th Circuit Court, States, Texas Fri, 21 Dec 2012 13:18:31 -0600 42146.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/colo._judge_tells_county_govt_to_fix_courthouse_elevator_threatens_contempt/ A Colorado judge has ordered the Huerfano County board of commissioners to fix a nonworking elevator that makes the courthouse more or less inaccessible to the handicapped. If the elevator is not fixed by Jan. 2, 2013, or other measures are not taken by then to put the courthouse in… Disability Law, Government Law, Judiciary, Real Estate & Property Law, States, Colorado Mon, 17 Dec 2012 17:21:11 -0600 42078.abajournal.com