The United States Department of Justice (US DOJ) announced an extension of the deadline for hotels and other public accommodations to modify their existing pool access for American Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance. The recent revisions to the ADA required every hotel and public accommodation with a pool to make significant and costly access modifications to their pool areas.

One of the required access modifications is the installation of a wheelchair lift on all pre-existing pools. However, there are not enough companies that make these lifts for the demand to be met. As a result of these concerns, the DOJ is extending the deadline and has announced a free webinar that will provide information and technical assistance regarding these requirements. The webinar will be held on May 9, 2012 from 2:30 to 3:45 PM EDT. Registration is now open, and those wishing to attend this webinar should go to http://www.ada.gov/regs2010/webinar_pools.htm.

LaBovick Law Group has a division devoted to representing businesses and property owners that maintain public accommodations that fall within the requirements of the ADA. Division Director Attorney Joseph R. Fields Jr. is the only Florida attorney who has been called upon to testify before Congress regarding abuse of the ADA by litigation groups and their attorneys. Persons or businesses with questions regarding their obligations under the ADA may set up a free telephone conference to address their needs.

Since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act over 20 years ago, it is no longer uncommon to see persons with disabilities in all facets of society. But what about children with disabilities? Are children covered by the ADA law? Absolutely.

Child ADA Law Compliant Example

A recent complaint by the parent of a visually disabled child was recently settled with a requirement that the football league allow the child to a wear a tinted visor instead of forcing him to wear sunglasses that would fog up and fall off. Given the league’s only opposition to the request for an accommodation was that paramedics might have to remove the helmet to check the child's pupils in the event of an injury, the United States Department of Justice office in charge of enforcing private complaints had no trouble pointing to the dozens of professional football players who wear similar visors.

This case is a good example of parents being advocates for their children with disabilities. In situations where parents have done all they can do, and they are still not satisfied with the accommodation, an ADA law attorney with strong knowledge of the ADA laws and these types of settlements is absolutely necessary.

Contact an ADA Law Attorney

LaBovick Law Group has a division devoted to the rights of those with disabilities. Call the LaBovick Law Group at 888.777.3884 for a free consultation to discuss the ada guidelines and your options. The attorney team at the LaBovick Law Group help clients from our Palm Beach Gardens, West Palm Beach, Boynton Beach, and Boca Raton offices. We represent ada disability clients throughout Florida, including Palm Beach County, the Treasure Coast, Palm Beach Gardens, West Palm Beach, Jupiter, Boynton Beach, North Palm Beach, Stuart, Deerfield Beach, Port St. Lucie, Vero Beach, Lake Worth, Tequesta, Ft. Pierce, Lake Park, Riviera Beach, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, Miami, Pompano Beach, Hollywood, Coral Springs, Delray Beach, Greenacres and Wellington.

Hotels throughout the country are facing deadlines for providing access to their pools for persons with disabilities who use a wheelchair or other mobility device. As of this month, all hotel pools must have a lift or other method of entry for a person using a wheelchair. Unfortunately, there are not enough lift manufacturers or suppliers to cover every hotel in the nation.
Is the Department of Justice helping with this problem? Actually, no. When confronted with this developing problem several months ago, the Department of Justice issued a letter to the hotel industry which did absolutely nothing in regards to solving the problem. Given there are 51,000+ hotels in our nation, and substantially less lifts available, this is another example of the ADA gone bad.
Proper planning for the implementation of this change would have included provisions for where these lifts are going to be obtained from. The hotel industry is now faced with the prospect of substantial and costly ADA litigation over an issue that they now have no control over. Only time will tell whether this will be another federal government created debacle.
The easiest solution would be to shut down the pool and concrete it over. Was that what the ADA intended to do? Probably not.
The LaBovick Law Group ADA lawyers division provides legal and consulting services to businesses and properties that are open to the public. ADA litigation can be effectively prevented through compliance reviews available through this firm. For a free consultation.

In a landmark settlement for ADA defense, a South Florida entertainment complex recently settled an ADA lawsuit filed by a visually disabled plaintiff. Of interest in this case, Joseph Robert Fields, Esq. of LaBovick Law Group applied rarely-used Florida laws as the basis for claiming monetary damages. The complex agreed to significant changes regarding how visually-disabled customers are accommodated, how services rendered at the complex are provided to disabled customers, and agreed to modify their employee training and education system. In addition to paying damages to the visually disabled plaintiff, the defendant also paid significant attorneys fees and costs. LaBovick Law Group is one of the only law firms in the nation using state ADA law to recoup monetary damages for disabled plaintiffs. Persons with disabilities who would like a free consultation regarding discriminatory conditions or practices of businesses or property owners can contact attorney Joseph R. Fields.

LaBovick Law Group filed a Florida lawsuit on behalf of a paraplegic plaintiff, alleging the transportation giant Greyhound Lines was negligent in complying with American Disabilities Act standards when she fractured her leg on a Greyhound bus in March.

Full Press Release: Paralyzed Woman Sues Greyhound Lines for Two Counts of Negligence

A new trend is emerging. Persons who have disabilities are no longer accepting substandard service, access or rights. Several recent federal lawsuits and investigations have brought light to this new and important societal trend. The producers and creators of "The Price Is Right" have now agreed to be nondiscriminatory against potential contestants with disabilities. The entire set of the show is being redone, as well as the methods used to choose contestants. The Law School Admission Test (LSAT) recently agreed to be nondiscriminatory against test-takers with disabilities. Many movie theaters have now agreed to provide better seating and not just the 1st few rows of the theater. Amusement parks have agreed to have accessible rides and shows. The selling of tickets for entertainment or events must now be on a par with nondisabled purchasing abilities. Hospitals, doctors, and other medical services providers have agreed to stop requiring the deaf community to provide their own interpreters.

How did all of this come about? Candidly, if it wasn't for the ADA and other federal legislation prohibiting discrimination against persons with disabilities, it probably wouldn't be happening. Even with these laws on the books, it still takes lawsuits to make things happen. LaBovick Law Group has committed to representing persons with disabilities with the same intensity, fortitude, and aggression as all of our other clients. We are always interested in meeting with and representing persons and their families who believe they have been discriminated against based upon their disability. If you would like to speak to our attorneys, call Joseph R. Fields, Jr., Esq. one of the nation's premier disability rights litigators.

The recent media frenzy over the discovery of several persons in the Philadelphia area being kidnapped, tortured, and held against their will by criminals who were stealing their Social Security checks brings to mind the common mistake of not using correct terminology in describing persons, who happen to have disabilities. The articles I have read and the news clips I've watched all describe these victims as "disabled" persons. Since when did a person’s classification go first? Several of these victims were of different races, different sexes and statistically probably different sexual orientation. However, the media still forgets that classifications go last.

People are the victims of accidents and crimes on an hourly basis. Describing them as black, white, Hispanic, male, female, gay, straight, first is inappropriate. No more so than employees, friends or acquaintances should not be described by their race, sex or disability first. I have many friends who happen to be black, white, Hispanic, male, female, gay, straight, disabled, nondisabled. The same rules of description apply to persons who happen to have disabilities. They are not: a blind client, a white client, a disabled client, a black client, a deaf client, a male client, a mentally or emotionally impaired client, or a female client. They are persons, clients or friends who happen to be part of a particular group. The classification always goes last, as that is the least important part of a description.

An evolving body of law is allowing members of the disabled and/or deaf community (and their families) to secure compensation for violations of their rights. Doctors and other medical services providers, who accept Medicare and/or Medicaid, cannot refuse to treat a patient (or treat a patient differently) because of their disability. They cannot charge disabled, blind or deaf patients extra for providing medical services. They cannot charge for interpretation or signage services.

Doing so subjects those providers to monetary damages for violation of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Members of the disabled and deaf community are entitled to the same treatment, policies, procedures and costs for treatment as all others. Recent decisions under 504 have awarded: $10,000, $62,000, and $35,000 to disabled patients/customers.

The time for asserting your rights is now! Attorney Joseph Robert Fields, Jr., Esq. can assist those discriminated against with the pursuit of their claims. Many such claims also include attorneys’ fees and costs for enforcing your civil rights. All cases are handled on a contingent hourly basis, with a “no recovery, no costs/fees to you guarantee.” Call 561-625-8400 to speak to him for free.

Discrimination against persons with disabilities comes in more flavors than just wheelchair issues. Quite often the media focuses too much on litigation and issues based on access by persons using wheelchairs. However, there are many other ways to discriminate against people with disabilities.

A recent settlement by the United States Department of Justice against the producers of The Price is Right reflects this changing perception and focus on other important ADA issues.

The settlement requires CBS and the show producer to not only make the TV set accessible to persons using wheelchairs, but also requires correction of issues pertaining to the visually and hearing impaired. Water fountains need to be accessible not only to persons who use wheelchairs, but also persons who have difficulty bending over. Bathrooms not only need to be accessible to persons with wheelchairs, they also need to not contain hazards to the visually impaired.

Continue reading "Disability Discrimination: It's more than just a wheelchair thing!" »

The Isle of Capri Casinos has been served with a lawsuit regarding the casino allegedly failing to adhere to the Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines and discrimination against a visually impaired and legally blind, Palm Beach County resident, Philip Juarez, reports, Joseph R. Fields, Jr., West Palm Beach ADA Litigation and ADA Defense Attorney.

According to the filed complaint, Mr. Juarez, plays Texas Hold 'Em and other card games for years at other South Florida casinos. The Isle of Capri Casinos Pompano Park is the only casino in South Florida that refused to provide Mr. Juarez with accommodations to play poker.

Mr. Juarez is represented by LaBovick Law Group in the lawsuit filed by Joseph R. Fields, Jr., Esq., West Palm Beach ADA Litigation and ADA Defense Lawyer on August 31, 2011, in Federal Court, Southern District of Florida.

Continue reading "Isle of Capri Casinos sued by Visually Impaired Poker Player for ADA Discrimination" »

Business Owners: Beware, Congress recently made changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act. They tinkered with the requirements for places of public accommodation. To assist businesses in full compliance, a safe harbor was created for businesses/properties that previously complied with the old rules. So, if you were in compliance before the changes, you are ok today.

The challenge for the ADA Defense of business owners or property owners is that just because there was compliance on one issue doesn't mean they are in compliance on all issues. This is especially true when there is a lawsuit involved. Simply because you have been sued once, doesn't mean that your business or property can't be sued again.

There are many new issues which should be inspected before you can feel safe from an ADA threat. Some of the new cases we see in the court house have to do with ticket sales, condominium hotels, hotel reservations, parking requirements, accessible bathrooms, and requiring VRI (video remote interpreting) for all businesses.

Continue reading "New ADA Laws Change Their Definitions Making It Easy To Get Sued" »

Emotional or therapy animals are not protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act. According to the US DOJ, emotional or therapy animals are not service animals and are not protected. Businesses have the right to question owners of such animals and to request that they leave if they fail to establish entitlement to having a service animal with them.

Businesses should not inquire about the actual disability, but rather the nature of the work the animal is trained to do that the persons disability prevents them from doing. This is often times a "thin ice" proposition, but one that can be traversed. For more information about such animals, please feel free to call us for a free consultation.

Continue reading "EMOTIONAL OR THERAPY ANIMALS NOT PROTECTED BY ADA" »

Congress has changed the ADA again. Have you previously been sued for Title III violations because your property or business was allegedly inaccessible? Have you been the victim of drive-by litigation filed by professional plaintiffs? Get ready for round two!

Despite having multiple opportunities to fix the inherent problems of attorney fee driven litigation, Congress has yet to solve the problem. The latest fiasco/attempt has resulted in new and additional obligations on the part of property or business owners and still does nothing to stem the tide of these frivolous lawsuits.

Changes to the standards used by governments and Judges, to evaluate ADA accessibility, have been made. Several of these standards now oblige property owners or business owners to make additional changes or face litigation. For small businesses, this is a disaster. Changes made as a result of a prior fee driven lawsuit cannot be used as a defense to a lawsuit claiming violation of new standards. This changed law gives these groups new reasons to file lawsuits against previously sued business owners or property owners.

Continue reading "The ADA is Changing Again, Are You Ready For Another Round of Lawsuits?" »

Disabled workers have a new sense of hope for improved workplace conditions. As of May 24, 2011, legislation was passed, establishing a new set of ADA laws on the books. The new ADA regulations have the power to protect your employment in uncertain times. Brought by the

EEOC, these updated laws revise the Americans with Disabilities Act and prevent loopholes and discrimination against disabled individuals.

Have you noticed anything different at work? If not, the failure of your employer to make acceptable workplace accommodations may be in violation of the new law. A significant aspect of this new and improved Americans with Disabilities Act is the mandate to construe the ADA broadly and to do away with any questioning of claimed disabilities.

Under the prior law. the EEOC did not protect workers whose employers questioned them outright about the validity of their disabilities. It was up to the worker to submit proof of their conditions. Mental illnesses including temporary and long-term conditions are addressed; in addition, impairments that are considered to be in remission still qualify as protected disabilities.

Continue reading "New ADA Laws and EEOC" »