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Announcements Litigation

Ensuring the Accessibility of California’s Online Examinations

TRE Legal Practice (TRE) and Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) filed a disability rights lawsuit in California State Court against the California Department of Insurance (CDI) for its failure to ensure the accessibility of its licensing exam for insurance agents to blind applicants. The lawsuit also includes claims against PSI Services, the private entity that CDI […]

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Agreements Announcements

Innovation & Accessibility at West Valley College

To address this, TRE Legal Practice worked on behalf of two blind college students to reach a settlement agreement with West Valley College, using an alternative to lawsuits called structured negotiations.

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Announcements

Update for Uber Riders Accompanied by Service Animals

The case of National Federation of the Blind v. Uber Technologies, Inc., 14-cv-04086 NC (N.D. Cal.), challenges discrimination experienced by riders with service animals who want to use the Uber ridesharing service. We are preparing to return to court to address ongoing discrimination and need your statement by April 17, 2020, in support of the effort.

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Announcements Presentations

CSUN 2020 Update: Digital Accessibility Legal Update Canceled

In light of the evolving nature and uncertainty about the novel coronavirus COVID-19, Tim Elder, Principal Attorney at TRE Legal Practice, will not be attending the CSUN Assistive Technology Conference in Anaheim this year. Unfortunately, that means the “2020 Digital Accessibility Legal Update” he would have been presenting along with Lainey Feingold will also be […]

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Litigation

Crucial Decision Validates Fraud Whistleblower Suit

In a crucial decision upholding equal access to the Internet, on November 5, 2019, a state court in Alameda County validated the legal bases underlying a fraud whistleblower complaint against Conduent, Inc. and Conduent State & Local Solutions for developing a public website that is inaccessible to people with disabilities.

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Agreements Announcements Press Releases

Bay Area Transit Agencies Agree to Make the RTC Clipper Card and Disability Verification Process More Accessible to Disabled Riders

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 […]

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Announcements Litigation Press Releases

Fraud Whistleblower Seeks Redress for Inaccessible Public Website that Cost California $66 Million

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 […]

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Litigation

Blind health plan members must have equal access to transportation benefits

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 […]

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Litigation

Appellate Victory in National Federation of the Blind v. The Container Store

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, […]

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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.