[blindlaw] FW: NY blind woman's suit over menus

Tue Nov 21 17:09:49 CST 2006

Well, I'm way too busy to get into this argument, but here I am anyway.

This is the kind of case that I, as a blind person, find extremely 
embarrassing.  Bad cases make bad law, and for my money, this is one.

While I do consider that it is good business practice for restaurants to 
provide braille menus, and, yes, I suppose, large print menus, I think it's 
a little much to expect in a fast food restaurant where the average length 
of time anyone spends getting someone's meal together is probably five 
minutes.  Also, these places are routinely staffed with highschool or 
post-highschool kids.  In that kind of situation, I dislike people who 
deliberately draw attention to themselves by trying to get someone to "read 
a menu" to them while everyone else is standing in line behind them.  And, 
come on! How much variation is there in a fast food restaurant, particularly 
if you have some idea what each chain offers.

I will generally ask short questions, (in the event I go to a fast food 
restaurant, which I actually don't, unless Starbucks is fast food) I would 
ask short questions like:  "do you say quarter pounder here or is that 
Burger King?" or "what kind of milkshakes do you have?" or "do you have 
salads here"?  In other words, I would try to limit the amount of time 
someone would have to take to respond to me, knowing that the whole point 
there is very fast service and fast turn-around time.

Having said all that, it doesn't appear to me that the judge made the right 
decision, but again, bad cases tend to come out with bad decisions, 
correctly or incorrectly decided.  I don't think the judge should have 
dismissed the case for no factual basis.  I think that the only thing she 
may really have had a good shot at was injunctive relief, and I can't 
imagine why she didn't have standing unless she was filing against a whole 
chain of restaurants when she only went to one.  You have to have some kind 
of connection between you and the place you're suing after all.

This kind of case just makes me very cranky!  I know that's more information 
about me than you all needed!
Kathy hagen
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "McCarthy, Jim" <JMcCarthy at nfb.org>
To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2006 1:19 PM
Subject: [blindlaw] FW: NY blind woman's suit over menus

> Given the little we can learn about this case from the story, did the
> New York Judge error in dismissing this case?
> Jim McCarthy
> -----Original Message-----
> From: James Elekes [mailto:jelekes at sc.rr.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2006 2:08 PM
> Subject: NY blind woman's suit over menus
>
>
>>
>>Appeal filed after dismissal of blind woman's suit over menus
>>
>>
>>By Ariel Zangla , Freeman staff
>>Kingston Daily Freeman - Kingston,NY
>>Monday, November 20, 2006.
>>
>>
>>CATSKILL - An appeal was filed last month in the case of a legally
>>blind Catskill woman who wants several area fast food restaurants to
>>provide Braille or large-print menus.
>>
>>The appeal was filed Oct. 20, after U.S. District Court Judge Gary
>>Sharpe granted a motion on behalf of the defendants to dismiss the
>>case. New York City attorney Michael O'Neill said he filed the appeal
>>on behalf of his client, Alice Camarillo, who is seeking to have fast
>>food restaurants in the Hudson Valley provide large-print or Braille
>>menus. He has said his client is legally blind and would prefer access
>>to large-print menus as her ability to read Braille is not very good.
>>
>>In his decision, dated Sept. 25, Sharpe stated in part that the case
>>was dismissed because Camarillo lacked standing to pursue her claim for
>
>>injunctive relief under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and
>
>>because the defendants provided her with reasonable accommodations. The
>
>>decision also states that Camarillo did not allege facts sufficient to
>>show she had been denied service and that she is unable to state a
>>claim under the state Human Rights Law.
>>
>>On Friday, O'Neill said the appeal was filed because his client feels
>>very strongly about her case. He said he also felt the judge misapplied
>
>>the standards when deciding on dismissal.
>>
>>O'Neill said the lawsuit is at a very technical stage where Camarillo
>>merely needs to file her complaint and provide notice of what she
>>claims the defendants did wrong. He said she did not have to provide
>>all the facts.
>>
>>Additionally, O'Neill said the case deals with the federal Americans
>>with Disabilities Act and the state Executive Law, which prohibits
>>discrimination. He said the federal law requires a public place to make
>
>>some accommodations for people with disabilities. The state law simply
>>prohibits a public place from discriminating against a person with
>>disabilities, O'Neill said.
>>
>>"Now, I'm not sure the difference is all that great," O'Neill said.
>>He said in cases where public places do not give some accommodations to
>
>>people with disabilities, that could be considered a form of
>>discrimination. O'Neill said the judge failed to consider that
> argument.
>>
>>O'Neill also said a further example of discrimination is when Camarillo
>
>>asked to have the menu read to her, but was told to wait while other
>>customers were served ahead of her.
>>
>>
>>http://www.dailyfreeman.com/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=1769&dept_id=7
>>4958&newsid=17488831
>>
>>
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