Disability Rights

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and similar state laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, public accommodations, commercial facilities, transportation, and telecommunications. Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen & Dardarian has been at the forefront of ensuring compliance with the ADA and ensuring access for persons with disabilities by seeking to enforce these guaranteed rights.

We have negotiated landmark agreements for persons with visual impairments that provide alternative formats (including Braille, large print and audio) for printed materials, accessible commercial websites, and the installation of "talking ATMs" at tens of thousands of banking locations across the country.  The firm is a leader in negotiating website accessibility for people with visual impairments who use screen reader or screen enlargement software, reaching settlements with entities as diverse as Major League Baseball, Advanced Media, American Cancer Society, Bank of America, CVS, and RadioShack, among others.  The firm has also negotiated settlements with major national retail chains requiring the installation of tactile point of sale machines that allow persons with visual impairments to privately enter their personal identification numbers at checkstands. We have also negotiated the installation of accessible pedestrian signals in San Francisco. In other significant disability access cases, the firm brought successfully resolved claims which resulted in increased access to merchandise at Macy's stores in California for persons with mobility disabilities. We have also negotiated settlements that resulted in, and increased access to healthcare services for persons with mobility, visual, hearing and speech impairments who visit UCSF and the Sutter Health chain of hospitals and clinics.

Current Cases

American Cancer Society

• Structured negotiations for accessible website and alternative formats for printed cancer information materials (disability accessibility)

Bank of America

• Structured negotiations for talking ATMs, web access & print materials in alternative formats (disability accessibility)

Best Buy

• Structured negotiations for tactile point of sale machines (disability accessibility)

Cinemark Theaters

• Structured negotiations for audio description for movie theaters (disability accessibility)

Equifax, Experian & TransUnion

• Structured negotiations for alternative formats & web access (disability accessibility)

Jet Blue

• Foley, et al. v. JetBlue Airways Corp. (disability accessibility)

Major League Baseball

• Access to information and services (disability accessibility)

Radioshack

• Tactile point of sale machines and web accessibility (disability accessibility)

Staples

• Structured negotiations for tactile point of sale machines and web access (disability accessibility)

Sutter Health

• Olson v. Sutter Health accessible facilities, equipment and information (disability accessibility)

Target

• Structured negotiations for tactile point of sale machines (disability accessibility)

Time Warner

• GLAD, et al. v. Time Warner (web access for people with hearing loss)

UCSF Medical Center

• Longo v. UCSF Medical Center (disability accessibility)

Past Cases

7-Eleven

• Structured negotiations for tactile point of sale machines (disability accessibility)
• Structured negotiations for Talking V-Com (ATM) Kiosks (disability accessibility)

American Express

• Structured negotiations for provision of print materials in alternative formats (disability accessibility)

Chase/Bank One

• Structured negotiations for talking ATMs, web access & alternative formats (disability accessibility)

Citibank

• Structured negotiations for talking ATMs (disability accessibility)

CVS

• Structured negotiations for tactile point of sale machines and web access (disability accessibility)

Dollar General

• Structured negotiations for tactile point of sale machines (disability accessibility)

First Union/Wachovia

• Structured negotiations for talking ATMs, alternative formats (disability accessibility)

Macy's

• Lieber v. Macy's West (disability access settlement)

Rite Aid

• Structured negotiations for tactile point of sale and web accessibility (disability accessibility)

Safeway

• Structured negotiations for tactile point of sale machines (disability accessibility)

City of San Francisco

• CCB v. City of San Francisco (accessible pedestrian traffic signals)

Tennessee (State of)

• Lane v. State of Tennessee (access to Courts for persons with mobility impairments)

Trader Joe's

• Structured negotiations for tactile point of sale machines (disability accessibility)

Wal-Mart

• Structured negotiations for tactile point of sale machines (disability accessibility)

Washington Mutual (now Chase)

• Structured negotiations for talking ATMs, web access & alternative formats (disability accessibility)

Wells Fargo

• Structured negotiations for talking ATMs & alternative formats (disability accessibility)