[nfb-talk] Fw: There is still a long way to go

[Michael Bullis]

It sounds from the story like she's a person with no cane so when she stares
at people and asks them to read the menus they make fun of her because she
dcan't read, not because she can't see.  
Mike 

-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Mike Freeman
Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 12:54 AM
To: NFB Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Fw: There is still a long way to go

Would a *sighted* person file a lawsuit because someone in a restaurant was
impolite? I think not. Then why should we, the blind, expect to be able
successfully to do so?

And to what extent are we ourselves responsible for our own alternative
techniques, i.e., getting menus read for ourselves? Can we truly expect to
be treated equally with the sighted except for those times when it is more
convenient for us not to be?

Again, I think not. Frankly, I hope the lady loses her suit in that it does
far more harm than good to the image of the blind.

Mike

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: kaye zimpher
  To: gscott at nfbga.org ; bhunter at nfbga.org ; Kevin Thompson ; ron strother ;
Claudia ; Molly Marsonick ; lurae buchalski ; william patrick ; janet wells
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  Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 5:13 PM
  Subject: [nfb-talk] Fw: There is still a long way to go


  Message
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Katey Glass
  To: kateyglass at mindspring.com ; kayezimpher at bellsouth.net ;
strother_r at bellsouth.net
  Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 2:45 PM
  Subject: FW: There is still a long way to go





  Katey Glass
  Public Education Coordinator
  Center for the Visually Impaired
  739 West Peachtree Street, N.W.
  Atlanta, GA 30308
  404-875-9011, ext. 4277

  CVI eNews, our bimonthly e-newsletter, will keep you up to date on current
happenings, upcoming events and advocacy efforts to support individuals who
are blind or visually impaired and their families. 
Subscribe today!


  To learn more about vision rehabilitation or to make a gift, visit our
website at www.cviga.org.
  -----Original Message-----
  From: Bill Woolf [mailto:bwoolf at cviga.org]
  Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 1:24 PM
  To: All CVI
  Subject: There is still a long way to go


  From the New York Daily News:

  Fast food employees mocked a blind woman who needed help reading menu 
Page 1 of 1

  DAILY~NEWS



  Fast food employees mocked a blind woman who

  "

  needed help reading menu

  BY THOMAS ZAMBITO DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

  Saturday. February 9th 2008. 4:00 AM

  Alice Camarillo. who is legally blind, says she was ridiculed when she 
asked for help reading the menu at fast-food

  restaurants like Burger King, McDonald's, Taco Bell and Wendy's.

  She sued. A federal judge in Albany threw it out, saying the law 
doesn't require restaurant workers to be polite.

  Yesterday. a Manhattan federal appeals court overruled the lower 
court, and Camarillo can sue the restaurants

  under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

  "I feel good about it," Camarillo. who lives in upstate Hudson, told 
the Daily News. "I'm just sorry it took so long.

  Quite a few things that they did were humiliating."

  The appeals court ruling means the 2005 suit -believed to be the first 
of its kind -could go before a jury this year.

  The issue is whether the restaurants properly train their employees to 
serve the blind and disabled.

  Camarillo said annoyed workers served other customers before reading 
her just a partial list of their offerings.

  Camarillo can read large print when she holds it close, but can't make 
out most menus.

  During a visit to Burger King, employees "laughed and stared" and 
pointed her in the direction of the men's room

  when she asked for a bathroom, she claims.

  At Taco Bell, a cashier told her to wait until the rest of the 
customers had ordered.

  "Put simply, Camarillo cannot experience full and equal enjoyment of 
defendants' services if she is unable to access the list of the services 
available to her," the appeals court said.

  Last year, Albany Federal Court Judge Gary Sharpe dismissed the suit, 
saying Camarillo was never denied service at the restaurants. Sharpe 
said ADA laws don't regulate "rudeness or insensitivity" of workers.

  The appeals judges' disagreed.

  "While restaurants are not necessarily required to have on hand large 
print menus that Camarillo would be able to read, they are required to 
ensure that their menu options are effectively communicated to 
individuals who. like Camarillo, are legally blind," the judges wrote.

  Camarillo's lawyer, Michael O'Neill, believes this is the first time a 
blind or disabled person has made such a

  challenge under the ADA.

  "The way Alice was treated in some of these restaurants was just 
horrible," O'Neill said.

  Lawyers for the restaurants declined to comment. 
tzambito at nydailyneW~LC()m



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