[Missouri-l] [leadership] American Council of the Blind and 3, 000, 000 Blind and Visually Impaired SSA Recipients Win

[peter altschul]

 Original Message ------
From: "Eric Bridges" <ebridges at acb.org
Subject: [leadership] American Council of the Blind and 3, 
000,000 Blind and Visually Impaired SSA Recipients Win
Date sent: Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:48:37 -0400



For Immediate Release



October 20, 2009



Contact: Julia Epstein




510-644-2555, ext.  241



510-406-4048 (cell)



jepstein at dredf.org



American Council of the Blind and 3,000,000 Blind and Visually 
Impaired SSA
Recipients Win Major Legal Victory



Class Action Ruling Announced in American Council of the Blind v.  
Social
Security



Case #: C 05-04696 WHA



San Francisco, CA - Judge William Alsup of the US District Court, 
Northern
District of California in San Francisco, today issued a judgment 
in favor of

the American Council of the Blind (ACB) and two classes of 
3,000,000
individuals with blindness and visual impairments.  The suit 
challenged the
Social

Security Administration's (SSA) failure to provide its critical 
benefits
communications to recipients in alternative formats that would 
enable people
with

visual impairments to have equal access to SSA programs as 
required by
federal disability civil rights laws.



This ruling signals a major victory for the disability rights 
movement, and
it sets a precedent for the obligations of other federal and 
state agencies

to accommodate people who are blind or have visual impairments.  
The Social
Security Administration (SSA) sends out 390 million notices and 
forms each
year.

Plaintiffs won the right to receive communications in a format 
that is
accessible to them, and Judge Alsup ruled that these formats, at 
a minimum,
must

include Braille and CD.



Not until the lawsuit was filed in 2005 did the Social Security
Administration acknowledge that it was covered by 
anti-discrimination laws
that protect

people with disabilities.  Judge Alsup observed in his ruling 
that the agency
"has not given primary consideration to the requests of the blind 
and
visually

impaired for alternative formats."

Judge Alsup cited the hardships that the plaintiffs endured 
because SSA sent
them critical notices in print that they could not read or 
respond to.
Examples

cited by the court:



Mary Ann Alexander, of East Stroudsburg, PA, received SSA notices 
she
couldn't read about reductions in her daughter's SSA benefits.  
She ended up
losing

all benefits and suffering financial hardship for the 14 months 
it took to
resolve the agency error and restore the benefits.



Arlene Doherty, of San Francisco, who is age 74, received an 
application
from SSA to complete within 10 days or risk losing her benefits.  
The
application

contained circled questions to answer, check marks where she was 
to sign,
and instructions to initial any corrections.  SSA didn't call to 
help her
with

this application, which she could not read or fill out.  When the 
agency
suspended her benefits, she became destitute.  She was unaware 
that she
could

have applied for a hardship waiver.



SSA reduced Marvelena Quesada's SSI benefits due to an 
overpayment that came
about because, being unable to access the program rules, she did 
not realize

she had to report blind work expenses.  During the several months 
it took to
sort this out, Ms.  Quesada could not buy necessities, including 
groceries,

and had to borrow money and use credit, accumulating a 
significant amount of
debt that was difficult to repay.



Arlene Mayerson, Directing Attorney for the Disability Rights 
Education and
Defense Fund (DREDF), emphasized that providing alternative 
formats to blind

and visually impaired individuals is a civil right to equal 
access analogous
to providing ramps for



wheelchair users.  She urged other agencies to take stock in 
light of the
legal precedent established in the order.



Henry Su, a partner at Howrey LLP, DREDF's co-counsel, stated, 
"we became
involved with the case because the plaintiffs' lack of access to 
critical
information

was egregious and unfair, especially given the range of assistive
technologies and aids available and in wide use today.  We got to 
know the
plaintiffs

and as their personal stories illustrate, what should be routine 
management
of their day-to-day affairs quickly turns into a complex and 
aggravating
mess

when they cannot access a simple but important printed letter."



"Blind people across the country have been trying for years to 
get SSA to
send notices in a format we can read, and up until this ruling, 
we have been
resoundingly

ignored." commented American Council of the Blind President, 
Mitch
Pomerantz.  "This is a great civil rights victory."



Judge Alsup's ruling can be found at

http://www.dredf.org/SSA/2009-10-20-Judgment.pdf

 and

http://www.dredf.org/SSA/2009-10-20-Findings.pdf.



Attorneys for the plaintiffs included the Disability Rights 
Education and
Defense Fund; Howrey LLP; the National Senior Citizens Law 
Center; and
Disability

Rights Oregon (formerly the Oregon Advocacy Center).



# # #



The American Council of the Blind is the nation's leading 
consumer based
advocacy organization working on behalf of blind and visually 
impaired
Americans

and has more than 70 state and special-interest affiliates 
throughout the
United States.  The national office of the organization is 
located in
Washington,

D.C.  For more information about the ACB, visit the website at

www.acb.org.



Founded in 1979, by people with disabilities and parents of 
children with
disabilities, the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund 
(DREDF) is a
national

law and policy center dedicated to protecting and advancing the 
civil rights
of people with disabilities through legislation, litigation, 
advocacy,
technical

assistance, and education and training of attorneys, advocates, 
persons with
disabilities, and parents of children with disabilities.  For 
more
information,

go to

www.dredf.org.



Howrey LLP is an international law firm with advocacy 
capabilities within
three principal areas of law - Antitrust, Intellectual Property 
and complex
Commercial

Litigation and Arbitration.  Each practice area has more than 200 
experienced
attorneys.  The firm is committed to the tenets of pro bono and 
public
service.

In 2008, Howrey devoted over 75,000 hours to pro bono matters on 
behalf of
more than 450 clients- services valued at $27.8 million.  For 
more
information,

visit

www.howrey.com.



The National Senior Citizens Law Center advocates nationwide to 
promote the
independence and well-being of low-income elderly individuals and 
persons
with

disabilities.  NSCLC provides technical assistance and training 
to attorneys
and other advocates and is active in litigation and policy 
advocacy with a

strong focus on income security and health care.  For more 
information, go to
the organization's website at

www.nsclc.org.



Disability Rights Oregon (DRO) (formerly the Oregon Advocacy 
Center) is an
independent non-profit organization that provides legal advocacy 
services
for

people with disabilities anywhere in Oregon.  DRO is designated 
under
federal law as the protection and advocacy system for Oregon, but 
it is not
a part

of the state or federal government.  DRO has attorneys and 
advocates who
assist people with disabilities.  For more information, go to

www.disabilityrightsoregon.org.



Eric Bridges

Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs

American Council of the Blind

2200 Wilson Blvd.  Suite 650

Arlington, VA 22201

Phone: (202) 467-5081

Fax: (703) 465-5085