[acbny-l] Re: Fw: Second Circuit Court of Appeal upholds local District Court Decisions in paratransit case
- From: "John R. Jeavons" <jeavons@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <acbny-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 12:11:18 -0400
A small victory, perhaps, but it is all too often the case that one wins =
a battle and loses the war.
Strict compliance with all of the paratransit regulations, such as the =
corridor width, could reduce service, which would be very undesirable. =
Many Supreme court decisions against disability rights have essentially =
revolved around whether or not the plaintiff was actually disabled, =
testing eligibility of plaintiffs rather than response of defendants.
John Jeavons
=20
-----Original Message-----
From: acbny-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:acbny-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Mike Godino
Sent: Monday, July 28, 2003 9:50 PM
To: acb-l@xxxxxxx; ACBNY
Subject: [acbny-l] Fw: Second Circuit Court of Appeal upholds local
District Court Decisions in paratransit case
I thought some of you might find this interesting. It's a press release =
on
the Rochester Para transit suit for next day service. WE finally win a
small one.
Mike Godino
Center for Disability Rights, Inc.
412 State Street
Rochester, New York 14608
Media Release
For Immediate Release: July 23, 2003
Contact: Bruce Darling, (585) 546-7510 V/TDD
Second Circuit Court of Appeal upholds local District Court Decisions;
R-GRTA found to have discriminated against disabled plaintiffs in
paratransit case
Today, disability advocates celebrated a resounding victory in the =
United
States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. "We are thrilled," =
said
Bruce Darling, Executive Director of the Center for Disability Rights, =
the
organizational plaintiff in the case. "After years of trying to settle
this
case, attending local court hearings, going to New York City for the
transit
authority's appeal, and meeting with County Executive Jack Doyle to ask =
him
to intercede, this is finally settled. The Rochester Genesee Regional
Transportation Authority (R-GRTA) must face facts; they did =
discriminate
against people with disabilities. Frankly, the only place they can go =
now
is to appeal this issue to the Supreme Court of the United States."
In the decision, the Second Circuit Court concluded that R-GRTA =
violated
the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) "by failing to design and =
implement a
system to schedule all next-day ride requests from eligible riders" and
affirmed the district court's decision to grant summary judgment to the
plaintiffs. The Court also found that R-GRTA violated the ADA "by
maintaining a pattern or practice that significantly limits the
availability
of paratransit service for eligible riders." The Court recognized that
R-GRTA "foresaw increasing ride demand and failed to modify their
paratransit service plan to meet it."
"I am so happy," said Debbie Bonomo, an individual plaintiff in the
lawsuit.
"This decision supports what we have been saying all along. R-GRTA has
discriminated against us. Plain and simple."
The timing of the decision coincides with the anniversary of the =
signing of
the Americans with Disabilities Act (July 26th) and CDR's annual
celebratory
dinner held in its commemoration. The dinner will be held tomorrow =
evening
(July 24th) at 6:00 PM at the Crowne Plaza on State Street. During the
dinner, CDR will release its annual list of Top Ten Disability Rights
Victories and Disappointments. "We don't release our lists in =
advance,"
said Darling, "but the Court's decision can give you an idea of whose =
been
naughty and nice regarding disability rights."
Legal Contacts: Peter Dellinger, Sarah Gilmour, or Bryan Hetherington,
Public Interest Law Office of Rochester, (585) 454-4060
-30-
<<01-9105.pdf>>
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