DEAF WORKERS OF ORANGE COUNTY PROJECT -- DEAF WORKERS WEEKLY BULLETIN -- July 3, 1999 Greetings, Last Tuesday's demonstrations really influenced the son of the man that signed ADA into law. He has omitted some substances from his speech at the fundraiser which was the substance brought up by the demonstrators. It was fascinating to see nothing but middle finger salutations from filthy rich people in fancy cars drive by us. The Irvine police oficer was very considerate enough to write the 'rules' of the area on the back of my sign. This is the product of the Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center's extensive education of effective communication between people with hearing disabilities and law enforcement officers. Richard Roehm ---- EEOC CHAIRWOMAN COMMENTS ON ADA RULINGS BY SUPREME COURT WASHINGTON Ida L. Castro, Chairwoman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), said today that Supreme Court decisions this term on employment-related issues under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provide the Commission with favorable law, as well as significant challenges. Her remarks to the 10th Annual Convention of the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) in New Orleans followed this term's landmark ADA decisions by the Supreme Court in Cleveland v. Policy Management Systems, Sutton v. United Airlines, Murphy v. United Parcel Service, and Albertsons v. Kirkingburg. In Sutton and Murphy, the Court ruled that impairments should be evaluated in their corrected or "mitigated" state to determine whether they are disabilities under Title I of the ADA, the section prohibiting employment discrimination. Ms. Castro said that while the rulings "appear to significantly narrow the scope of those covered under the ADA, the Court affirmed EEOC's standard of an individualized approach to the assessment of coverage under the ADA. In other words, the determination of whether an individual can bring a claim under the ADA should be assessed on a case-by-case basis." Moreover, Ms. Castro pointed out that the Court agreed with the Commission's position on several key points. "First the Court clearly stated that people who use mitigating measures may still be substantially limited in major life activities and thus may enjoy the protection of the ADA. This is so because the Court indicated that people who use mitigating measures may, in spite of or because of those mitigating measures, be substantially limited in a major life activity." "Second," she continued, "the Court did not suggest that any conditions are per se excluded from coverage under the ADA. And third, the Court did not disturb the principle that employers are required, as before, to provide reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities and may not otherwise discriminate against them." In addition, Ms. Castro noted that the Supreme Court's ruling in Cleveland v. Policy Management Systems provided the Commission and the plaintiffs bar with a favorable ruling. "In Cleveland, the Court unanimously agreed with the long-held view of the EEOC that people who seek or obtain disability benefits are not necessarily precluded from bringing claims under the ADA," she said. "In plain language, people who have applied for or are receiving disability benefits are not prohibited from pursuing their ADA rights." Ms. Castro added: "In essence, all these points will be considered by the Commission as we move forward in assessing the impact of the Court's ADA decisions this term. Toward this end, I have directed EEOC staff to proceed with several important actions." Among other steps, she requested staff: -Begin drafting instructions for EEOC investigators to assist them in the investigation and resolution of ADA-related charges; -Plan for a public Commission meeting in which a forum will be convened to conduct a focused discussion on the ADA in the wake of the Supreme Court rulings; -Reach out and consult with all stakeholders who are involved in both interpreting and enforcing the ADA to bring greater clarity to ADA enforcement; -Coordinate with other federal agencies responsible for enforcing the nation's civil rights laws; -Identify those portions of Commission documents that may need to be revised and updated in light the Court's decisions; and -Develop and implement a strategy to provide outreach, education, and training to EEOC staff, the business community, private bar, civil rights groups, unions, and other employee groups to promote effective enforcement of the ADA. "Clearly, a thoughtful and strategic approach to ADA enforcement will enable the Commission and plaintiffs bar to honor the principles upon which the ADA was built, while adhering to the construction of the statute provided by the Supreme Court," said Ms. Castro. EEOC enforces Title I of the ADA, which prohibits employment discrimination against people with disabilities in the private sector and state and local governments. Since the Act was implemented on July 26, 1992, EEOC has received and resolved over 100,000 ADA charges and obtained monetary benefits of more than $211 million for charging parties. Further information about the Commission is available on the agency's web site (www.eeoc.gov). ---- DEAF WORKERS AT UPS AND TARGET URGED TO CONTACT DRA ADVOCATES Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) is currently investigating UPS and Target for discrimination against people with hearing disabilities in both the workplace and during the job application process. UPS in particular has violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by failing to provide effective means of communication for those who are deaf and hard of hearing during interviews, safety trainings, and staff meetings. UPS also fails to promote deaf employees beyond entry-level and part-time positions. DRA recently filed a nation-wide class action lawsuit against UPS, and will likely file a similar lawsuit against Target in the future. We would like to gather as much information as possible about the discriminatory practices of UPS and Target with regard to people with disabilities. Please share this information with your community, and ask those who have experienced any discrimination by UPS or Target to contact Lara Gutierrez at (510) 451-8644 (phone), (510) 451-8511 (fax), (510) 451-8716 (TTY), or larag@dralegal.org (email). We also ask that you let us know if you are willing to post a flyer regarding this issue at your office. ---- LOBBY FCC TO CONSIDER ACCESS RULES BY JULY 7, 1999 Action Needed on Telecommunications Access by July 7! Federal Communications Commission to consider access rules, July 14, 1999 The final rule implementing the disability access requirements of Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 will be considered and voted on by the five FCC Commissioners on July 14. It is urgent that you ask the Commissioners to approve this rule so that people who are blind or severely visually impaired will be able to use new telecommunications technologies. You must contact the Commissioners by July 7 , because Commission rules preclude consideration of comments and communications after that date. You can use e-mail, phone calls, letters or faxes. A list of the FCC Commissioner's e-mail, phone and fax numbers, and addresses follow. The message is simple: The FCC must ensure equal opportunity by approving a rule which clearly directs companies to make their telecommunications products and services accessible and usable by people who are blind or severely visually impaired. The best case can be made by providing specific examples of your need to use equipment like cellular telephones, pagers, and multi-line business phones. Cite examples of how their inaccessible visual displays and menus prevent you from fully using them. Finally, urge the Commission to look to the future of telecommunications in this rule since devices such as cell phones and pagers are beginning to be used for far more than merely dialing a telephone number. We understand that some representatives of the telecommunications industry are telling the FCC Commissioners that this new rule may go too far and hurt their business. You might remind the Commissioners that we deserve to participate in all aspects of society, including telecommunications and that companies will not have to undertake changes to their products and services that are not readily achievable (easy to accomplish without much difficulty or expense). All Commissioners can be reached at the following address (room numbers are included for each Commissioner): Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, S.W. Washington, DC 20554 William E. Kennard, Chairman Room 814 202-418-1000 202-418-2801 (Fax) wkennard@fcc.gov Harold W. Furchtgott-Roth Room 802 202-418-2000 202-418-2802 (Fax) hfurchtg@fcc.gov Susan Ness Room 832 202-418-2100 202-418-2821 (Fax) sness@fcc.gov Michael K. Powell Room 844 202-418-2200 202-418-2821 (Fax) mpowell@fcc.gov Gloria Tristani Room 826 202-418-2300 202-418-2820 (Fax) gtristan@fcc.gov ---- LOBBY C-SPAN TO CONSIDER COVERAGE OF THE FCC MEETING ON JULY 14. C-Span is considering airing the Federal Communications Commission meeting on Wednesday, July 14, 1998 at 9:30 a.m. but needs to hear from consumers if they are interested in this type of programming. If you would like C-Span to cover this historic day for the disability community, please call or send an e-mail. To call: 202-626-7963. At prompt: hit 2, "Please cover FCC meeting on disability issues on July 14 at 9:30 a.m." To send E-mail to events@c-span.org. "Please cover FCC meeting on disability issues on July 14 at 9:30 a.m." ---- NATIONAL COUNCIL ON DISABILITY REACTS TO SUPREME COURT RULINGS Toward an Inclusive Definition of Disability By Andrew J. Imparato General Counsel and Director of Policy National Council on Disability June 28, 1999 As an attorney who has spent my career working to promote policies and laws that expand opportunities for the 54 million Americans with disabilities, I am deeply concerned that the U.S. Supreme Court totally missed the mark last week in three cases construing the definition of “disability” in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The Supreme Court has left me and millions of other Americans with significant mental or physical impairments unprotected against egregious discrimination. The three cases involved people with poor uncorrected vision, monocular vision, and hypertension who were challenging discriminatory employer policies that unfairly excluded them based on their impairments. In deciding that these people fall outside the civil rights protections of ADA because their conditions are correctable, our highest court has left many people with treatable conditions like epilepsy, diabetes, and, in my case, bipolar disorder, outside of the law’s protection as well. Anyone who is functioning well with their disability is now at risk of losing civil rights protections as a result of the Supreme Court’s “miserly” construction, to use Justice Stevens’ characterization in his eloquent dissent. People with hidden disabilities often are unable to predict how an employer, coworker, friend, or colleague will react when they learn of the disability. In my case, I have had a wide range of experiences when I self-identify as a person with bipolar disorder or manic- depressive illness. Some people assume that it is something I had in the past and that I am “better.” Some worry that I might “go postal” and treat me with kid gloves. One interviewer raised an unfounded concern about whether I would know how to conduct myself appropriately at staff meetings. My own experience confirms for me that fears, myths, and stereotypes about people with disabilities are alive and well in the United States. Congress enacted ADA in 1990 to address this country’s sad history of excluding, paternalistic, degrading treatment of our citizens with disabilities. In its role of advisor to the President and the Congress on public policy issues affecting people with disabilities, my employer, the National Council on Disability (NCD), drafted ADA to address the many forms of discrimination that occur for people with a wide variety of disabilities. One of the core findings in ADA is that “disability is a natural part of the human experience.” This is a powerful statement. “Disability” should not be interpreted by the Supreme Court to exclude the many people whose conditions in their natural state result in significant impairments in functioning but who can function well with medication, assistive devices, or other mitigating measures. The people who would be left out nonetheless will continue to encounter bigotry and attitudinal barriers when we are turned down for jobs or are passed over for promotions. ADA is about equal opportunity, full participation, equal access. It is not about hand-outs or special privileges for a select few. An inclusive definition of disability means extending a good thing—fairness—to more people. A narrow definition of disability for ADA means that civil rights will be “doled out” to the “deserving few.” Under the decisions last week, people bringing ADA claims will need to emphasize the negative about their impairment and how it affects them, as if they were applying for disability retirement benefits. The evidence they submit to demonstrate their disability can and will be used against them when they seek to demonstrate their qualifications for the position they are seeking. This puts people in a Catch-22 situation that Congress never intended. When Congress defined disability in ADA, they intentionally used the inclusive, flexible definition that has been in place for many years under the Rehabilitation Act. The ADA definition includes not just people with physical or mental impairments that substantially limit at least one major life activity, but also people with a history of such impairments, and people who are regarded by others as having such impairments. If Congress wanted to limit coverage to people in wheelchairs, blind people, and deaf people, they certainly could have. Instead, Congress followed the advice of NCD and others and incorporated an inclusive definition of the protected class that would reach the many and varied ways that fears, myths, and stereotypes come into play to unfairly limit people based on their physical or mental conditions as opposed to their work experience and proven abilities. ADA should be read to protect anyone who is treated unfairly because of their physical or mental impairment. Because the Supreme Court decided otherwise, equal justice for all now rings hollow for millions of Americans with disabilities. ---- COURT SETS ASIDE DISABILITY RULIING WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court set aside a ruling Thursday that said New York officials had discriminated against a law school graduate who failed the state's bar examination five times. The justices told a federal appeals court to restudy its ruling in light of their decisions this week limiting the reach of the federal Americans With Disabilities Act, which bans discrimination against the disabled. In three rulings (June) the justices narrowed significantly just whom the 1990 law protects. People with physical impairments that can be treated with medication or devices such as eyeglasses or hearing aids generally are not protected by the law, the court said. See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2560059265-456 ---- LABOR SECRETARY HERMAN REACTS TO SUPREME COURT DECISIONS AT NCIL, NAPAS, YLC, AND NCD CONFERENCE Thank you Michael for your introduction. But I want to thank you and Tracee even more for being a role model -- not just for young people, but for us all. Let me also thank and acknowledge Commissioner Apfel--Gina McDonald, Lois Simpson, Marca Bristo, and all of the members of NCIL, NAPAS, NCD, and YLC. I'm proud to be here at this historic gathering -- your first ever meeting together. It is certainly good to see all of the young people here. I want every young American to hear the message of equal opportunity, full participation, and high expectation. Thank you for doing just that by being here and raising your voice. And I want to thank all of you for being there everyday in our communities -- at the grassroots -- day in and day out -- for people with disabilities. Thank you for putting things in the right place and moving America in the right direction. Next month, our nation will celebrate the 9th Anniversary of the ADA. And as we reflect on that, I can think of no better place to be than with all of you -- pioneers who are truly expanding the horizons of civil rights and equal opportunity for all Americans. And I can think of no better time for you to be in Washington. This certainly has been an important week. Let me just say with regard to the Olmstead decision, President Clinton said he agrees with the Court's ruling that unjustified isolation of institutionalized persons violates the ADA. That's the position the Administration argued before the Court -- and that's the position we stand by. With respect to the other decisions, we are concerned that the Court narrowed the coverage of the ADA by excluding persons simply because they are able to mitigate their disability through medication or use of a medical device. The problem is that employers may still conclude that a person is too disabled to work, even though under the law they are not disabled enough to be covered by the ADA. The result is a catch-22 for people with disabilities. I want you to know the President has asked the Department of Justice and the EEOC to examine the decisions and make recommendations about how to address them. You can be assured that we will keep you fully informed and updated about this work. My friends, you are meeting here for this historic meeting at what really is an historic time. The sun is shining on America. As Labor Secretary, I have the privilege of announcing the latest employment statistics on the first Friday of every month. And this month, I was proud to report that unemployment is 4.2% -- a 29-year low. But I don't have to tell any of you there's more to the story. We know three out of four Americans with disabilities who want to work are not working. And we know the key to keeping the economy strong is tapping into the potential of every American. Because it really is very simple: when Americans with disabilities lose out on opportunity, all of us do. As President Clinton has said: The last big group of people in this country who could keep the economy going strong with low inflation are Americans with disabilities -- who can work -- who want to work -- and who are not in the workforce. The President was crystal clear when he said every American should have a selfish interest in the pursuit of this goal in the most aggressive way possible. And we are working aggressively. Because for too long when it comes to the employment of people with disabilities, we heard excuses instead of answers. You know those excuses better than me. You've heard them all before. "We'd love to hire someone with a disability but it's too expensive. It's a hassle. It's too much trouble." It reminds me of what I heard growing up as an African-American in the Deep South -- and what employers said to me as I worked to open the doors of opportunity to minorities and women. "We'd hire them," they'd say, "if only we could find them." Well, we are here to say: The time for excuses is over. It is time for action. That's what President Clinton and Vice President Gore said about the federal government when he signed the Executive Order on the employment of adults with disabilities. Because we know people with disabilities don't want excuses. They want jobs. They want careers. They want economic independence. And of course, that is the motivating force -- that is the driving spirit -- of the Presidential Task Force. It is to build on the progress we have made and pave the way to meaningful jobs and lasting independence for people with disabilities. As we look ahead to that challenge, I can't help but look back to our nation's work over the last quarter century in the area of employment policy for people with disabilities. I'd say there have been two vital steps forward leading up to the Task Force. The first came in the 1970s with enactment of the Rehabilitation Act & the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. That sent the strong message that people with disabilities want to be and should be integrated into American society. The second stage came with the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act. And since then, more than a million people with disabilities have entered the workforce. And now, thanks to President Clinton and Vice President Gore, we are in the third stage -- taking on the challenge of a coordinated national employment agenda for people with disabilities. I want to thank and recognize my own Vice-Chair Tony Coehlo for all of his work. And let me also recognize the hardest working employee at the Department of Labor -- someone with the drive and the energy to get the job done -- our Executive Director Becky Ogle. President Clinton has outlined the mission of the Task Force -- in plain and direct terms. "To design a strategy to make equality of opportunity, full participation, inclusion, and economic self-sufficiency realities for all 30 million working-age Americans with disabilities." We're talking about changing policies, procedures and practices. And there are things each agency can do that will make a real difference. In my role as Secretary of Labor, I am making sure that people with disabilities are included in every aspect of our programs and policies. Youth programs. Dislocated worker programs. Women's programs. Lifelong learning programs. Every program. As many of you know, we are in the midst of implementing the Workforce Investment Act?revolutionizing our job training system for the 21st century?creating a system of one stop centers to make job training and information more accessible so people don't have to go to ten different places to get what they need. And I am sending this message from the top: One stops were created for all people. And that means... people? with... disabilities. That's why, for example, we have partnered with the National Federation of the Blind to provide job search and labor market information over the telephone. I also want to make sure that people with disabilities and their advocates are a part of our Workforce Investment Boards. This legislation was built on a foundation of partnership. We need you to partner with us. And where it is not working, we need you to raise your voice. We need your expertise to guide us. Whether it is an individual agency or the federal government as a whole, we need to make sure we keep the focus where it belongs -- on the individual. We can't look at a person's needs and then bureaucratically dissect them. We can't say "If you have an SSI issue, Social Security will take care of it." "It's a health issue, that's for HHS." "Transportation, that's DOT's problem." My friends, this is not an agency issue -- it's an American issue. That's why our Task Force is going out to the grassroots. We held our first town hall meeting in Los Angeles this month -- and we plan to hold 10 more around the country this year. The President has made it clear to me: This Task Force is a high priority. It is a big deal -- the President wants results. And we are delivering. Last December, our Task Force issued its first report to begin lowering barriers to employment. We proposed 8 recommendations -- the President accepted every single one of them. We called on the Justice Department, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Small Business Administration to do everything in their power to ensure that employers and workers across the country are fully aware of the ADA. That is happening. We recommended that the Department of Health and Human Services work with States and the disability community to take full advantage of the Medicaid disability buy-in provisions. That is happening. We called on the Office of Personnel Management to develop a plan to make the federal government a model employer when it comes to the employment of adults with disabilities. And that is now happening. We recommended a new $1,000 tax credit to cover work-related costs for people with disabilities. That is happening. It is in the President's budget. We proposed action to ensure that federal employees with psychiatric disabilities receive the same hiring opportunities as others and to obtain Civil Service Competitive status. President Clinton issued an executive order to do just that. I would add that I was proud to be a part of the landmark White House Conference on Mental Health. And let's acknowledge the leadership of Tipper Gore for her work, her leadership and her commitment to making the difference. And we recommended passage of the Work Incentives Improvement Act. Because Americans with disabilities should be able to gain a job without fear of losing their health care. Thanks to all of you in this room, the Senate has done its part. 99-0. Now we need to finish the job. The President said that he wants to sign this legislation on July 26, the 9th anniversary of the ADA. And with your help, we'll be there on that independence day as the President signs a new declaration of economic independence for people with disabilities. So I will just conclude by saying that we have made a lot of progress -- and I am optimistic. But we're not there yet. We have to make sure that Americans with disabilities don't face barriers in institutions -- that our policies are coordinated and that we keep working together to knock down obstacles to employment -- whether it's job training, transportation, health care, technology or any other challenge. You are critical to making it happen. Never forget that you have the power. You have the voice. You have the influence. Use it. And mark my words, my friends, our nation will meet the challenges it needs to meet -- we will do the job we need to do -- and Americans with disabilities will get the job they deserve to have. ---------------------- Letters from readers: If deaf people shall ever break the shackles of isolation, and free themselves forever of the pains, injustices, injuries and cruelties of isolation to pursue lives of abundance, fulfillment and fluent creativity, it'll be when deaf leadership fulfills its greatest responsibility and compels educators to start teaching deaf children how to read and write and become communicatively literate in the language of the land. This requires deaf leadership, itself, to become communicatively literate on a face-to-face basis with society in society's language, a human experience which deaf leadership never had. As it stands, deaf leadership does not understand or comprehend, and therefore cannot value the face-to-face communication experience with society in society's language because deaf leadership never had and never gave itself this most basic of human communication experiences. This human experience is one which hearing people take for granted every day of their lives, but which deaf people have never known. It is an experience deaf leadership can give itself immediately. The required "VOICE" communication technology can become immediately available to enable deaf leadership to learn what face-to-face communication in the language of the land is all about. Until deaf leadership fulfills its most important responsibility of making sure deaf children acquire literacy skills for life, deaf people will continue suffering the pains, cruelties, injuries and injustices of isolation. I hold deaf leadership responsible for perpetuating the suffering of deaf people. I hold deaf leadership responsible for the failure of deaf education to teach deaf children how to read and write. I hold deaf leadership accountable for refusing to act while deaf society remains in an environment of insistent pain and suffering which demands action. I hold deaf leadership responsible when every wherewithal is available to deaf leadership to change things for the better but deaf leadership does nothing. The culprit is not the educators, both deaf and hearing, who arrogantly walk all over deaf leadership. The culprit is deaf leadership which allows the educators to walk all over them. Morton Warnow ============================================================== DEAF WORKERS OF ORANGE COUNTY Orange County, California Richard Roehm President Internet : Deaf@activist.com Deaf_Workers_OC@usa.net Website Nesmuth@worldnet.att.net Http://www.i-sphere.com/eyedeaf/dwoc.htm =============================================================== Feel free to redistribute this newsletter in it's entirety and if you are planning to add a mailing list as a subscriber then let me know for my records. Thank you. =============================================================== Deaf Workers of Orange County will continue to aggressively pursue justice, fairness, and equality for the Deaf Community. =============================================================== Education is the best gift that lasts a lifetime! 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