REDDING, Calif., September 27, 2019 — TRE Legal Practice and LaBarre Law Offices, on behalf of Alina Sorling, are pleased to join with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in announcing that Dignity Health, which operates Mercy Medical Center in Redding, California, has agreed to pay […]
Author: Kristopher Nelson
SAN FRANCISCO, September 24, 2019 — TRE Legal Practice is pleased to announce a Settlement Agreement with the Bay Area’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) that will make regional transit more accessible to disabled riders. The Agreement is the result of collaborative structured negotiations between TRE Legal Practice and MTC, the transportation planning, financing, and coordinating […]
OAKLAND, May 20, 2019 (updated July 26, 2019) — TRE Legal Practice alleges that Conduent, Inc. defrauded taxpayers when the company built a $66 million state park reservation website that hundreds of thousands of Californians with disabilities cannot use. The suit seeks damages on behalf of the People of the State of California and injunctive […]
Nancy Langenberger is blind. She relies on a guide dog to help her independently navigate the world. Nancy’s Medicare Advantage health plan, Blue Shield Promise Health Plan (“Promise Health”), includes a transportation benefit through which plan members can arrange in advance to be dropped off and picked up from medical appointments. This benefit is important […]
Modern touchscreen systems, like other modern computers, phones, and tablets, are readily adaptable for use by blind people through mechanisms such as tactile keyboards that a user can feel nonvisually and audio ports for plugging in headphones so the system can “speak” privately to users. (Both of these are in widespread use at bank ATMs, […]
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.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 – […]