[Nfbnet-members-list] FW: Disability Rights Ohio and Other Advocates File Complaint on Behalf of Sheltered Workshop Employees
Kuhnke, Kristian
KKuhnke at nfb.org
Thu Nov 19 15:49:10 UTC 2015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Stacy Brannan-Smith
Communications Specialist
Disability Rights Ohio
800-282-9181, ext. 101
<mailto:sbrannan-smith at disabilityrightsohio.org>sbrannan-smith at disabilityrightsohio.org
John G. Paré, Jr.
Executive Director for Advocacy and Policy
National Federation of the Blind
410-659-9314, ext. 2218
410-917-1965 (cell)
<mailto:jpare at nfb.org>jpare at nfb.org
Samantha Crane, J.D.
Legal Director, Director of Public Policy
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
202-509-0135
<mailto:scrane at autisticadvocacy.org>scrane at autisticadvocacy.org
Disability Rights Ohio and Other Advocates File
Complaint on Behalf of Sheltered Workshop Employees
November 19, 2015
COLUMBUS, OHIO After working for an average of
$2.50 an hour for more than three years, three
Disability Rights Ohio (DRO) clients are asking
for fair pay from Seneca Re-Ads, a sheltered
workshop run by the County Board of Developmental
Disabilities in Seneca County. The employees
work duties include cutting and assembling
samples for flooring company Roppe Industries, a
private corporation. Through a novel and
potentially precedent-setting procedure, the
three DRO clients have asked the U.S. Department
of Labor (USDOL) to review their claims.
<http://www.disabilityrightsohio.org/sites/default/files/sites/default/files/u62/Seneca_Re-Ad_ALJ_Petition_SIGNED.pdf>The
petition, which is supported by the National
Federation of the Blind, the Autistic Self
Advocacy Network, and the Baltimore law firm of
Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP, requests that USDOL
review the clients wages and the means by which the current wages were set.
Since the 1930s, federal law has permitted
employers to pay workers with disabilities less
than minimum wage, but only if the lower wage is
necessary to ensure employment opportunities, and
on the condition that each worker is paid a wage
commensurate with his or her productivity as
compared to workers without disabilities. The law
contains a little-known provision allowing
workers with disabilities to petition the USDOL
for an administrative review of their wages in an expedited process.
Joe Magers, Pam Steward, and Mark Felton are
among the first workers with disabilities ever to
utilize the petition process to seek a review of
their wages by the USDOL. They believe that their
disabilities, which include visual impairments
and autism, do not impair their workplace
productivity, and that Seneca Re-Ads method of
calculating wages fails to fairly measure their
productivity or take into account the prevailing
wage for similar highly skilled production work
in the community. Magers, Steward, and Felton are
also seeking compensation for unpaid hours of
work in which they were required to attend
mandatory staff meetings and safety trainings.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the workshop
is permitted to pay less than minimum wage but
only if the workshop follows the procedures laid
out in the law, which wasn't done here, said
Barbara Corner, attorney and Employment Team
Leader for DRO. Our clients disabilities do not
preclude them from working hard and even using
heavy machinery, and they deserve and want the
opportunity to earn as much as workers without disabilities.
"Sheltered workshops often make self-fulfilling
prophesies that people with developmental
disabilities simply can't be as productive as
people without disabilities, adds Samantha
Crane, Legal Director for the Autistic Self
Advocacy Network. Our clients haven't been given
the chance they need to earn even a minimally
decent wage. They deserve the same basic
protections that many people without disabilities take for granted."
With the filing of this petition, USDOL has 40
days to assign an administrative law judge and
hold a hearing. At the hearing, Seneca Re-Ad must
prove that it followed the rules and paid an
appropriate wage, and if the administrative law
judge finds that Seneca Re-Ad failed to comply
with its legal obligations, the workers must be
paid minimum wage for their labor.
Mark A. Riccobono, President of the National
Federation of the Blind, said, This case
demonstrates the fundamentally arbitrary manner
in which wages for workers with disabilities are
set by many entities that hold 14(c)
certificates, and how this antiquated,
discriminatory employment model, based on false
assumptions and low expectations, relegates these
workers to second-class status. We hope that the
Department of Labor acts swiftly to correct the
injustice that is being perpetrated upon these workers.
---
About Disability Rights Ohio: Disability Rights
Ohio is the federally and state designated
Protection and Advocacy System and Client
Assistance Program for the state of Ohio. The
mission of Disability Rights Ohio is to advocate
for the human, civil and legal rights of people
with disabilities in Ohio. Disability Rights Ohio
provides legal advocacy and rights protection to
a wide range of people with disabilities.
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.
About the Autistic Self Advocacy Network: The
Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) is a
national, private, nonprofit organization, run by
and for individuals on the autism spectrum. ASAN
provides public education and promotes public
policies that benefit autistic individuals and
others with developmental or other disabilities.
Its advocacy activities include combating stigma,
discrimination, and violence against autistic
people and others with disabilities; promoting
access to employment, health care and long-term
supports in integrated community settings; and
educating the public about the access needs of
autistic people. ASAN takes a strong interest in
cases that affect the rights of autistic
individuals to participate fully in community
life and enjoy the same rights as others without disabilities.
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