[gui-talk] Montgomery County Discriminates Against Blind Employee

Wed Apr 13 22:23:55 UTC 2011

Certainly.
Would work to set a president for sure.

On Apr 13, 2011, at 6:18 PM, Nadia Cioffi wrote:

> well lest hope they can get some good proof. All I'm saying is that this
> would be good landmark case if won
> hope they win to
> Joe:
> Have a computer quation for you, how do input videos files in office 2010
> that will also work with 2003?
> thanks
> Nadia
> 
> On Wed, Apr 13, 2011 at 6:14 PM, Jorge Paez <computertechjorgepaez at gmail.com
>> wrote:
> 
>> Not gonna take sides,
>> but from a legal standpoint this is gonna be a hard one.
>> 
>> Wish the NFB the best.
>> 
>> Jorge
>> 
>> 
>> On Apr 13, 2011, at 6:12 PM, Nadia Cioffi wrote:
>> 
>>> what a sham we can't be "treated like normal" Sometimes people and their
>>> bottem dollor is they care about. Wish the NFB luck, this will be a
>>> landmarke case if won and teach people not to do this.
>>> 
>>> On Wed, Apr 13, 2011 at 5:17 PM, Freeh, Jessica <JFreeh at nfb.org> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> CONTACT:
>>>> 
>>>> Chris Danielsen
>>>> 
>>>> Director of Public Relations
>>>> 
>>>> National Federation of the Blind
>>>> 
>>>> (410) 659-9314, extension 2330
>>>> 
>>>> (410) 262-1281 (Cell)
>>>> 
>>>> <mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Montgomery County Discriminates Against Blind Employee
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Rockville, Maryland (April 13, 2011): With the assistance of the
>> National
>>>> Federation of the Blind, a blind woman who was until recently employed
>> as an
>>>> information specialist with Montgomery County's Department of Health and
>>>> Human Services has filed suit against the County for unlawful
>> discrimination
>>>> under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.  The suit arises from the County's
>>>> purchase of an inaccessible database program that employees of its new
>> 311
>>>> call center must use to complete their tasks.  Yasmin Reyazuddin worked
>> in
>>>> the call center of the County's Department of Health and Human Services:
>>>> Division of Aging and Disability Services until the County consolidated
>> that
>>>> call center and others into its new Montgomery County 311 Call Center.
>> Ms.
>>>> Reyazuddin had been using screen access software, which converts
>> information
>>>> on a computer screen into synthesized speech or into Braille that can be
>>>> displayed on a device known as a refreshable Braille display, to access
>> the
>>>> computer programs with which she needed to interact in order to provide
>>>> accurate information to callers, keep records of calls, and perform
>> other
>>>> tasks necessary for resolving the concerns of callers.  When she learned
>>>> that her agency's call center would be consolidated into the County's
>> new
>>>> 311 call center, she repeatedly inquired of County officials whether the
>>>> software for the new call center would be accessible with screen access
>>>> technology and provided information to the County about accessible
>>>> solutions.  For the new call center, the County ultimately procured a
>>>> database system from Oracle known as Seibel Customer Relationship
>> Management
>>>> (CRM).  According to its manufacturer, this software can be configured
>> to
>>>> work with screen access software, but the County installed a custom
>>>> configuration of the software that is not accessible to blind employees.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Ms. Reyazuddin was originally scheduled to be transferred to the new
>> call
>>>> center with other information specialists, but was not allowed to be
>>>> transferred when she raised concerns about the accessibility of the CRM
>>>> program.  Ms. Reyazuddin has not been allowed to test the software for
>>>> accessibility, and although Oracle provided the County with
>> documentation
>>>> describing how the software could be made accessible, the County has not
>>>> implemented an accessible configuration of the software.  Ms. Reyazuddin
>> has
>>>> been downgraded from an information specialist to a support staff
>> position
>>>> at the County Department of Health and Human Services, and she is only
>> given
>>>> duties that fill approximately half of an eight-hour work day.  She has
>> been
>>>> informed that her pay will also be cut because the County claims that
>> her
>>>> multilingual skills are no longer being used in her new assignment.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind,
>> said:
>>>> "Yasmin Reyazuddin has been treated shamefully and with deliberate
>> disregard
>>>> for her legal and civil rights by Montgomery County.  Instead of taking
>> the
>>>> steps necessary to make the database program used by employees of the
>>>> Montgomery County 311 Call Center accessible, the County has reassigned
>> her
>>>> to a lower-paying job in which her skills are not being used.  We cannot
>> and
>>>> will not tolerate this discrimination against her and other blind County
>>>> employees."
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Ms. Reyazuddin said: "Despite my ten years of service to Montgomery
>> County,
>>>> I am now being shifted to a lower-paying position with little to do.  I
>>>> could do all of my former job duties if the County would follow Oracle's
>>>> guidelines for making CRM accessible, but instead I am largely relegated
>> to
>>>> idleness.  The situation has caused me considerable emotional distress.
>> I
>>>> did not want to resort to litigation but I feel that I have no choice if
>> I
>>>> am to once again be a productive employee of Montgomery County."
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> The plaintiff is represented with the assistance of the National
>> Federation
>>>> of the Blind by Joseph B. Espo and Timothy R. Elder of the Baltimore
>> firm
>>>> Brown, Goldstein & Levy.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> ###
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> About the National Federation of the Blind
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind is
>> the
>>>> largest and most influential membership organization of blind people in
>> the
>>>> United States.  The NFB improves blind people's lives through advocacy,
>>>> education, research, technology, and programs encouraging independence
>> and
>>>> self-confidence.  It is the leading force in the blindness field today
>> and
>>>> the voice of the nation's blind.  In January 2004 the NFB opened the
>>>> National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, the first research
>> and
>>>> training center in the United States for the blind led by the blind.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
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