Last post Mon, May 05 2008 4:30 PM by TriDog. 3 replies.
Many atttorneys who specialize in "disability work" spend all of their time litigating to enforce the law. It does not just spread like a cloud, once legislated. That is one reason that changes are now being made, to make it more able to be enforced. If you have a problem contact your local CILO or advocacy organization, as they may have a lawyer on staff or willing to do pro bono work. There is also legal aid. It stinks, doesn't it?
He tried court and was told it would cost more than he could expect to receive. Could you please for the video adress to any and everyone? Thanks
I'm a Federal Employee and I manage people. Something tells me there is more to this story then is being told here.
The door for example. It opens outward. Due to fire codes, in most states and cities, it is suppose to open outward to aviod piles up at the door in the event of an emergency. Could it use a big blue botton to hit and open it? Sure. But he says he works for a Defense Contrator. I would imagine it's a secure building and not just anyone is allowed to enter. An automatic opening door does not make a very secure building. Does he have to show ID or punch in a code to enter the building? I know that I do. Also, he seems to have enough control to hold is chair steady long enough to make the video. Why can't he grab the door, swing it outward and push his chair in? I'm really not understanding why he has to "crawl" in. If the door is not wide enough, well, that's a reasonable beef and it should be addressed. But I didn't hear him say that.
As for the stair lift. Was that his own home or his work space? If it's his home, why doesn't he install one himself? That's not his employer' responsibility. If it's his works space, The easier fix would be to move his work to the first floor.
Another thought is that this might be an old building that is "grandfathered" and cannot be modified past a certain point. If that's the case, his work could and should be moved to a different building. Althoug, moving his work may not be possible due to un-acceptable security risks. Sorry, but security trumps accessablity.
On the surface, it seems to me that they are working with him. They moved the HP parking space. The installed the additional railing. Might it be that they are not moving fast enough for him? I don't know. I do know that everytime we need something done to our building, we have to put it out for bid first. Get assorted estimates. Get command approval and then award the contract. For example: we had a door damaged by high winds this past winter (January). Here it is May and it still hasn't been repaired or replaced. For the reason that I mentioned. Bids, contracts, approval, etc, etc.... It's mind boggling, but this is the system.
Everything he says may be perfectly valid and probably is. Someone there could be dragging their feet. We don't know for sure. We only have his presetation to go by and that was pretty vague. I'd like some more information. Perhaps some pictures of the whole door from the position of coming up the ramp would give is the whole picture give us more details.
If they really are refusing to do the work, has he gone this union for support? If it's a military base, perhaps he should go to the unit's commanding officer. Even if all that fails, a call from his Congressman usually get attention real fast. God knows my CO hates calle's from a congressman's office.
