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Illinois Nursing Home Residents with Disabilities File Suit
Five individuals with physical disabilities living in nursing homes have sued Illinois state officials for unnecessary institutionalization as discrimination under the ADA. The lawsuit seeks an order permitting people with disabilities in Cook County, IL, to access services in their own homes or in community-based settings rather than nursing homes. The class-action lawsuit charges that warehousing persons with disabilities in nursing homes segregates them from their own communities. According to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, more than 31,000 people live in nursing homes in Cook County. In six of the ten largest facilities, housing hundreds of people each, the majority of the residents are not elderly. http://www.aapd.com/News/adainthe/070822al.htm

Subway Manager Mocks Hearing Impaired Worker; Loses Lawsuit
A jury has awarded $166,500 in a disability harassment lawsuit brought against a Subway restaurant franchise on behalf of a female manager who was discriminated against and forced to resign because of her hearing impairment. The Dallas jury awarded former area supervisor Tammy Gitsham $66,500 for lost wages and emotional harm and an additional $100,000 in punitive damages in a suit under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged that Subway owner Robert Suarez and one of his managers subjected Gitsham to a disability-based hostile work environment, including teasing and name-calling, because she is hearing impaired and wears hearing aids. Gitsham was forced to resign her position after both the owner and human resources/training manager allegedly repeatedly mocked her privately and in front of other employees, creating a hostile workplace, with taunts such as: "Read My Lips" and "Can you hear me now?" and "You got your ears on?"
http://www.eeoc.gov/press/7-27-07.html

Raymond's Room: Ending the Segregation of People with Disabilities
	STEREOTYPES - SHELTERED WORK - BEHAVIOR CONTROL - DISCRIMINATION - CONGREGATE LIVING Buy at: "A poignant, thought-provoking book... discusses the exclusion, isolation, and powerlessness of people with disabilities and the self-serving, change-resistant "disability industrial complex" that keeps people down." - Review, Tennessee Disability Coalition

US Chamber Opposes ADA Restoration Act Proposal
The US Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest business federation, has stated its opposition to the ADA  Restoration Act of 2007 (H.R. 3195). According to the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the Chamber's opposition: "mischaracterizes the ADA Restoration Act as an expansion of the ADA, when in fact, it is, as its name suggests, a restoration of  the original intent of Congress when passing the ADA in 1990, which was to create a level playing field for everyone who wants a job to have an equal opportunity to work. Just like other civil rights laws that prohibit employers from basing decisions on  characteristics like race or sex, Congress wanted the ADA to stop employers from making decisions based on disability. However, that intent has since been distorted by the Courts through extremely narrow  interpretations of the ADA. The employment rate of people with disabilities has not improved and two-thirds of people with disabilities who do not have a job indicate they would work if they could only find employment. What's more, for those fortunate enough to find jobs, Courts are deciding against people with disabilities who challenge disability discrimination 97% of the time, often before the person with a disability even has a chance  to show that the employer treated them unfairly!"
US Chamber Opposition: http://www.aapd.com/News/adainthe/070827uscc.htm
ADA Restoration Act Summary: http://www.aapd.com/News/adainthe/downloads/RestBill2007_Summary.doc

GAO Report: Federal Disability Programs "Poorly Positioned" to Help People Go to Work
A recent report by the watchdog US Government Accountability Office (GAO) stated "…social and legal changes have promoted the goal of greater inclusion of persons with disabilities in the mainstream of society, including adults at work. For example, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) supports the full participation of persons with disabilities in society and fosters the expectation that persons with disabilities can work and have the right to work… However, GAO's reviews of the largest federal disability programs indicate that such programs have not evolved in line with these larger societal changes and, therefore, are poorly positioned to provide meaningful and timely support for persons with disabilities." The report further cites the looming crises in the slowdown in the nation's labor force and the low rate of return of return to work for individuals with disabilities receiving cash and medical benefits.
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d07934sp.pdf

Conferences

Sept 13 CO APSE 2007 Supported Employment Conference http://www.ctat-training.com
Sept 23-26 Annual USBLN Conference http://www.usbln.org
Sept 27-29 WYAPSE 18th Annual Conference http://www.wind.uwyo.edu/wyapse/conference.asp
Sept 30-Oct 2 VA APSE Collaborations Conference jpackert@...

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