School is coming up for many. Here in Atlanta, many started August 1 if not the Monday of that week. By the end of this week, just about everybody in metro Atlanta will have started school. My daughter started her second year of high school on August 1. So, this week is her first full
Deaf Rights Game Changer Blowback: Silva Severely Narrowed by a Court Within Seventh Circuit
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. As many of you know by now if you are following me on LinkedIn, my blog was selected for inclusion in the ABA web 100 for 2018. This makes five years in a row for me. Since podcasts and twitter are part of the calculus now, the blog…
Deaf Rights Game Changer: Silva v. Baptist Health South Florida Inc.
I imagine most of us are hung over from watching the election returns this week. Here in Georgia, it is still an open question as to whether there will be a runoff for governor. Here in Georgia; the Secretary of State race is going to a runoff; Democrats gained in the Georgia Senate and in…
Movie Theater Accessibility
Things have been crazy around here lately. The latest thing I am dealing with apparent incompatibility between Dragon NaturallySpeaking and Microsoft Office 365. It makes things incredibly crazy (I can’t dictate in Word for long without having to click the dragon mike on and off and other office 365 products, such as outlook and excel,…
Suing a state court system: Shooting down the Defenses
This posting is later than my usual Monday. However, Monday was Memorial Day and then I had family in.
In a previous blog entry of mine, I discussed how suing a state court system can be done but that it is very complicated. This case discusses the myriad of defenses that arise in such…
ADA, Sovereign Immunity, and the County Jail
I
Introduction
One of the most complicated topics around is the doctrine of sovereign immunity, which comes from England and says that the King cannot be sued without his consent. We have carried over this doctrine into our 11th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. As we have discussed previously numerous times, there are situations where…
McDonnell-Douglass and the ADA; An Imperfect fit
In employment discrimination cases, there are two kinds of cases (those involving direct evidence and those involving indirect evidence). Direct evidence cases are the proverbial smoking gun. That is, the plaintiff has explicit evidence that discrimination occurred. However, in most situations, it is difficult if not impossible to find direct evidence, rather things taken together…
What do you have to show to get damages under title II of the ADA?
With respect to title II of the ADA, and title I for that matter as well, the only way you can get damages is to show intentional discrimination. With respect to suing a governmental entity for violations of title II, what exactly is it that you have to show to get damages? A recent Rehabilitation…
Help wanted: ASL practitioners
A fascinating case, Belton v. Georgia, 2012 WL 1080304 (N.D. Ga. March 30, 2012), recently came down from the northern district of Georgia. In this case, two people who were both deaf and suffered from mental illness sued the state of Georgia because the state of Georgia simply was not set up to accommodate…