[blindlaw] Blind lawyer sues agency over referrral

Fri Jan 19 22:40:43 CST 2007

That's an interesting idea, Tim.  I guess I need to remember that some 
people have had the experience of having a trusted counselor, or trusting 
their rehab agency.  For me, I would probably be suspicious if the agency or 
a former counselor asked me to consider hiring a disabled or blind person. 
First of all, I am of the strong belief that an agency referal starts a 
prospective employee off on the wrong foot, putting their disability front 
and center.  I might very well suspect that the agency has had trouble 
placing this person and wants to get help and perhaps empathy for their 
client from another blind or disabled person.  I'd definitely ask for and 
check references.

I've had counselors from one of our rehabilitation training programs, 
(Vision Loss Resources) come up to me after a presentation and say:  "it 
seems as if your agency hires blind people.  How can my client apply?"  That 
irritates me greatly.  My workplace doesn't hire "blind people."  They hire 
people, blind or not, who are qualified for the job.  At least I like to 
think so.
Kathy Hagen
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ford, Tim (DHS-OLS)" <TFord at dhs.ca.gov>
To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, January 19, 2007 10:35 AM
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Blind lawyer sues agency over referrral

>I agree that suing the state rehab agency is probably not a good idea,
> but I can also see how this could have happened to one of us.  Here is
> why.
>
> Many of us were state rehab clients for at least part of our time in
> college, perhaps law school.  With that connection, imagine if that same
> agency called to ask if you would be interested in hiring a rehab
> client?  It would be something that at least I would feel compelled to
> strongly consider, out of a feeling of gratitude for the services that
> agency had provided me, and also to do more than just talk the talk.  If
> hiring folks with disabilities is something we want to promote, then
> let's start with ourselves!
>
> So that same rehab agency counselor, maybe even the one you had, is
> telling you about this great background that the client has, experience
> that will be useful to you.  I can easily imagine that we would let our
> guard down, and perhaps subconsciously decide to trust that the rehab
> agency knows the background of the clients, and would not stick us with
> a felon that has a rap sheet of theft offenses.
>
> Again, I can see myself having the same reaction as this gentleman.
>
> I would have been more thorough and careful with an off the street hire,
> but with a direct recommendation from a trusted source, well, you get
> the idea.
>
> So does that translate into liability for the rehab agency, or the
> individual employee who made the referral?  Perhaps not, but under
> California law, there could be liability if the recommendation was
> intentionally misleading, where the person knew about the bad, but gave
> only the good.  Absent that level of culpability, I would say that there
> is not liability.
>
> All this said, I think it is a good idea for rehab agencies to perhaps
> mention to employers that the agency does not have the ability to do
> complete background checks, so employers should do what they normally
> would find appropriate under the circumstances.
>
> As for Mr. Rose,  I think we should cut him some slack, but maybe I am
> just in a particularly generous mood today.
>
> Tim Ford
> .
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org]
> On Behalf Of Peter Donahue
> Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2007 6:47 PM
> To: NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Blind lawyer sues agency over referrral
>
>
> Good evening everyone,
>
>    I came to the same conclusion as well.
>
> Peter Donahue
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Kathleen Hagen" <khagen12 at earthlink.net>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2007 7:20 PM
> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Blind lawyer sues agency over referrral
>
>
> Oh well, here we go again.  Bad cases make bad law.  It doesn't say much
> for his skills as a lawyer that he didn't do a background check if he
> thought it was necessary, or that he let her take financial records home
> to her apartment to work on them, or that he assumed that because she
> was disabled she was trustworthy.  And, of course, he's suing the wrong
> entity. Kathy Hagen
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Ford, Tim (DHS-OLS)" <TFord at dhs.ca.gov>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2007 9:28 AM
> Subject: [blindlaw] Blind lawyer sues agency over referrral
>
>
>
>
>
> Lawyer sues state agency over referral of criminal
>
> Cleveland Plain Dealer
>
> Thursday, January 18, 2007
>
> Mark Puente
>
> Plain Dealer Reporter
>
>
>
> Elyria- Attorney Carl Rose trusted the Ohio Rehabilitation Services
> Commission when it asked him in May 2005 to hire Nancy Haylor to run his
> law office.
>
>
>
> Now, Rose says that trust has been broken - and the price tag was almost
> $23,000 after Haylor, police say, wrote checks from his business account
> to herself
>
> over 18 months.
>
>
>
> Rose filed a lawsuit this week in the Ohio Court of Claims against the
> rehabilitation commission, which operates the Bureau of Vocational
> Rehabilitation
>
> and Bureau of Services for the Visually Impaired. The agencies help
> disabled Ohioans find and retain employment.
>
>
>
>
>
> Rose said the rehabilitation commission is responsible for the theft
> because he is blind and the commission knows disabled people are
> particularly vulnerable
>
> to fraud, theft and other crimes.
>
>
>
> "They referred me to a known thief," he said. "I was a consumer of their
> services."
>
>
>
> Rose said he assumed the bureau had done an investigation because it's a
> referral service. A background check was never mentioned, he said.
>
>
>
> But the rehabilitation commission said employers bear the responsibility
> for background checks.
>
>
>
> No law or commission rule requires the commission to check the
> backgrounds of the people they place for employment, said spokeswoman
> Beth Gianforcaro.
>
>
>
> The commission receives more than 40,000 applications each year for
> placements from people looking for work, Gianforcaro said. Of those, the
> commission
>
> finds jobs for about 8,000 disabled people each year.
>
>
>
> Background checks are done only if an employer requests one or if
> something triggers a need, she said. Checking the backgrounds of all
> applicants would
>
> be costly, and many employers conduct their own, which Rose should have
> done, she said.
>
>
>
> "It's an unfortunate situation," she said.
>
>
>
> Applicants must work with counselors for about two years before they are
> placed in jobs. About 78 percent are still employed two years after
> placement,
>
> Gianforcaro said.
>
>
>
> Elyria police recently charged Haylor with theft, and the case was bound
> over to a grand jury. Her attorney, William Willis, declined to comment.
>
>
>
>
>
> The lawsuit says:
>
>
>
> Rose receives services from the Bureau of Services for the Visually
> Impaired. His counselor there, whom he had seen for a number of years,
> told him Haylor
>
> was well-qualified to be his assistant and had experience working with a
> blind person. She also had experience operating a hotel, which would
> benefit Rose's
>
> law practice.
>
>
>
> Rose became suspicious last November while preparing rec ords for his
> taxes. Haylor had the documents at her apartment and did not want to
> give them back,
>
> he said.
>
>
>
> He checked Haylor's background and discovered she pleaded guilty in a
> 2002 theft case relating to the disappearance of money from the Elyria
> Holiday Inn.
>
>
>
> Police said Haylor took the checks she stole from Rose to a
> check-cashing store, which never called Rose to verify if they were
> legitimate.
>
>
>
> "It was the perfect scam," Rose said.
>
>
>
> Rose fired Haylor on Dec. 1.
>
>
>
>
>
> Rose said he never suspected Haylor might steal from him. She walked
> with a cane and claimed to suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, he said.
>
>
>
> Rose paid Haylor a $12,000 salary. Rose says he went out of his way to
> take care of Haylor, including filling her gas tank and often buying her
> lunch.
>
>
>
> Rose, whose sight loss was gradual, overcame obstacles to become an
> attorney. Diagnosed with diabetes at age 12, he began having vision
> problems when he
>
> was 30. Rose was a successful chemical engineer, but failing eyesight
> and stomach ailments forced him to quit work and go on disability.
>
>
>
> CONTENT_WELL_ARROW/downarrow
>
> Advertisement
>
> CONTENT_WELL_ARROW/continuestory
>
> HomeGard01_CL_RoS_Multi/300_250
>
>
>
> He resigned himself to a bleak life, but a kidney and pancreas
> transplant in 1999 changed his outlook. His vision, though, did not
> improve.
>
>
>
> Rose aspired to be a lawyer but dreaded the thought of all the reading.
> With new technology, he was able to attend classes and learn by
> listening to a computer
>
> read scanned material.
>
>
>
> He graduated magna cum laude from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law
> at Cleveland State University.
>
>
>
> Rose shoulders part of the blame for his loss.
>
>
>
> A computer program would have allowed him to look at the bank
> statements, but it would have taken time, he said.
>
>
>
> Now he regrets the decision, saying: "You can't trust anybody."
>
>
>
> To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
>
>
>
> mpuente at plaind.com, 440-324-3773
>
> http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/lorain/1169113
> 399160940.xml&coll=2&thispage=3
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----
> ----
>
>
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