[Nfbnet-members-list] National Federation of the Blind Supports Blind Healthcare Worker's Discrimination Claim

[National Federation of the Blind]

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


National Federation of the Blind Supports Blind 
Healthcare Worker's Discrimination Claim

Blind Man Unable to Perform his Job Due to Inaccessible Software

Boston (March 13, 2017): With the assistance of 
the National Federation of the Blind, the 
nation's leading advocate for the civil rights of 
blind people, Manuel G. Morse has brought suit in 
Suffolk County Superior Court (Docket No. 
1784CV00773) against his employer, Brigham and 
Women's Hospital, Inc. (BWH); its corporate 
parent, Partners Healthcare Systems, Inc.; and 
Epic Systems Corporation, a maker of software 
used at BWH and throughout the healthcare 
industry. Mr. Morse's lawsuit alleges that he is 
unable to do his job as a hospital dispatcher 
because Epic's software is not compatible with 
the text-to-speech screen reading technology that 
he uses on his workplace computer, and that his 
employer and Epic are aware of the problem but 
have refused to take all appropriate steps to 
remedy it. Mr. Morse has been on indefinite paid 
leave since May of 2015 because of this issue. 
His lawsuit alleges violations of Mass. Gen. Laws 
ch. 151B, § 4, and the Massachusetts Equal Rights Act (MERA).

Mark A. Riccobono, President of the National 
Federation of the Blind, said: "While 
improvements to workplace technology can benefit 
all workers, including the blind, if they are 
properly designed and implemented, inaccessible 
technology can and does threaten the ability of 
blind people to obtain and maintain employment. 
The problem is universal but is particularly 
vexing in the healthcare sector, where one of the 
defendants in this lawsuit is a leading provider 
of software being used in healthcare facilities. 
The National Federation of the Blind is willing 
to work with any technology vendor or employer 
who wishes to ensure that its technology can be 
used by everyone. At the same time, we cannot and 
will not tolerate unnecessarily sidelining a 
skilled healthcare worker who is unable to do his 
job because of a problem he did not create and 
was completely avoidable. We will fight for Mr. 
Morse and for other blind people who find 
themselves in this untenable situation."

Mr. Morse said: "Until May 27, 2015, I was a 
loyal, dependable, and productive employee of 
Brigham and Women's Hospital who loved my job. I 
felt that I was helping the hospital staff and 
patients and contributing to society at large. 
Now I sit at home and wonder if I will be able to 
work again. I am being compensated, but money is 
not the issue. I feel abandoned by my employer 
and as if I have no purpose or value. Since my 
own efforts to persuade my employers and Epic to 
act have failed, I must rely on the laws and 
courts of Massachusetts to help me get back to work."

Mr. Morse is represented, with the support of the 
National Federation of the Blind, by Christine M. 
Netski of the Boston firm Sugarman, Rogers, 
Barshak & Cohen, P.C., and by Daniel F. 
Goldstein, Joseph B. Espo, and Albert Elia of the 
Baltimore firm Brown, Goldstein & Levy LLP.

###

About the National Federation of the Blind

The National Federation of the Blind knows that 
blindness is not the characteristic that defines 
you or your future. Every day we raise the 
expectations of blind people, because low 
expectations create obstacles between blind 
people and our dreams. You can live the life you 
want; blindness is not what holds you back.







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