Categories
Litigation

TRE Legal Litigates Case with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Behalf of Blind Food Service Worker

Despite the longstanding history of the Americans with Disabilities Act, employers are still failing to follow the law. In 2014, Alina Sorling, a veteran food service technician with over a decade of experience at Dignity Health’s hospital cafeteria, suddenly became blind. Ms. Sorling went on medical leave and successfully worked with the California Department of Rehabilitation to re-master everyday tasks, including using nonvisual techniques for cooking and proficiency with knives and hot grills. Instead of allowing her to work, Dignity Health fired her because it believed a blind person could not safely work in a kitchen.

Categories
Guidance

Guidelines for Effective Uber and Lyft Service Animal Complaints

Your complaints to Uber and Lyft, and to NFB’s testing program, are making a difference. Below are some tips for filing effective complaints that will help Uber, Lyft and our legal team better ensure that drivers are properly handled under the policy changes set forth in the settlement agreements.

Categories
Collaborations

E la Carte and Applebee’s to Make In-Restaurant Table-Top Tablets Accessible to Blind Guests

TRE Legal Practice is pleased to have played a role in facilitating the efforts of E la Carte, Inc., creators of the PrestoPrime™ EMV System™ for full-service restaurants,  Applebee’s® Neighborhood Grill + Bar, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), and the LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired of San Francisco to produce a […]

Categories
Agreements

eatsa Agrees to Make its Innovative Restaurants Accessible to Blind Customers

eatsa, an innovative fast-casual restaurant featuring innovative automat-style self-serve kiosks with locations in California, New York, and D.C., agreed to make its mobile apps, kiosks, and food-pickup cubbies accessible to blind customers. eatsa uses the latest technology to allow customers to order food either on in-store iPads or via a mobile phone, with no cashier […]

Categories
Litigation

Blind Californians and Advocates Sue Greyhound to Make Website and Mobile App Accessible

In 2015, Tina Thomas, who is blind, tried to book a trip with Greyhound’s website, but her text-to-speech software couldn’t interpret Greyhound’s site. When she called instead, she was charged a “convenience fee” for booking by phone — even though she explained she could not use the website. Earlier this year, she tried again, but […]

Categories
Agreements

Accessible Instructional Materials and the Siskiyou Joint Community College District Settlement

In the last 25 years, technology has fundamentally changed higher education. New technologies allow for new kinds of instructional materials and delivery mechanisms — but students with disabilities are often unnecessarily left behind. This must change. This settlement with Siskiyou Joint Community College District, facilitated by TRE Legal Practice and the Legal Aid Society – […]

Categories
Litigation

TRE Legal and Disability Rights Texas File Lawsuits Against Austin Ridesharing Services for Inaccessible Mobile App Design

We previously posted about how accessible mobile apps can greatly benefit blind people and how the ridesharing revolution is no exception. Earlier this year, in May 2016, the popular ridesharing services, Uber and Lyft, stopped serving Austin after the city passed an ordinance requiring fingerprint background checks by way of a contentious ballot initiative.  Many […]

Categories
Negotiations

TRE Legal Team and National Federation of the Blind Propose Nation-Wide Class Action Settlement with Uber to End Discrimination against Passengers with Service Animals

Our suit against Uber was filed in federal court after the parties were unable to satisfactorily resolve concerns about how Uber handled drivers who refused to transport passengers with service animals. Now, after a mediation, discovery practice and extensive negotiations, the parties were able to reach an agreement with Uber.

Categories
Negotiations

TRE Legal and Others Enter Into Structured Negotiations with Lyft for Disabled Riders with Service Animals

Advocates for people with disabilities have entered into structured negotiations with Lyft, Inc. to ensure that disabled riders with service animals are ensured access to transportation services offered by Lyft drivers.   These collaborative efforts are under way between Lyft, Inc. (Lyft), Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), Rosen, Bien, Galvan & Grunfeld (RBGG), and TRE Legal – […]

Categories
Litigation

TRE Legal and DRA File Complaint Against Uber for Discrimination Against Blind Passengers with Service Animals

  Ridesharing platforms such as Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar have the capacity to greatly improve transportation services for blind passengers.  Now, blind people can use a smart phone equipped with text-to-speech to independently summon a driver, learn details such as the name of their dispatched driver, the estimated time of arrival, the amount of their […]