Two Men and a Truck face discrimination charges against customer with Hepatitis-C – big win for Americans with Disabilities Act

 

 

One of this country’s most successful moving companies, Two Men and a Truck, are facing serious penalties for violating Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act when movers refused to help a customer move out of her apartment upon finding out she had Hepatitis-C.

 

Although the woman explained that casual contact and the mere moving of furniture would not spread the virus to the movers, the two movers refused to move the woman fearing potential contraction.

 

The Justice Department announced on Jan. 28, 2016 that it had reached an agreement with Kemper Moving Systems, Inc., a Huntsville, Alabama franchise of Two Men and a Truck, to resolve the ADA non-compliance allegations.

 

Not only was the customer unable to move out on time, but she also had to locate last-minute replacement movers, incurred various other expenses and owed rent for two apartments at the same time. Read more

The Present and Future of Drone Regulations, Safety and Uses for Hobbyists, Businesses and Government Entities

It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s… a drone?

 

According to a report issued this week by Juniper Research, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (a.k.a. UAV’s or Drones) will continue to see exponential growth in sales, regardless of the arising safety and liability concerns.

 

Agriculture and entertainment sectors will help heighten drone sales for commercial use by 84 percent. These numbers do not include the countless drones being used recreationally by hobbyists and enthusiasts.

Read more

How consumers can help protect themselves from fiery hoverboard safety concerns

One of this holiday season’s hottest high-tech products is heating up the market – to the point of explosion.

Produced under unique names like, “Swagway,” “Legway,” “Airboard,” or “Power Balance Boards,” hoverboards, two-wheeled self-balancing personal vehicles, are dominating the futuristic toy market, but are starting to watch their sales go up in flames – literally.

 

Since news broke of hoverboard safety concerns, within the past few days, major retailers including Amazon, Overstock and Target have ripped the item, or certain bogus manufacturers of the hoverboards, off their (virtual) shelves.

 

Counterfeit hoverboards were being sold through Amazon and other sites. U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized more than 164 hoverboards with fake batteries and other deceptive marks – which have been linked to fire issues. Hoverboards use lithium-ion batteries, just like smartphones, laptops and other rechargeable devices. However, if poorly made, there is a risk of explosion.

 

This blaze is not cheap either… hoverboards can cost between $300 and $2,000.

 

The Federal Consumer Product Safety Commission is stepping in, having logged 29 emergency room visits and 11 reports of fires in 10 states, according to Elliot F. Kaye, chairman of the commission.

 

“We’re particularly sensitive to the fact that many have been purchased and wrapped,” he said.

 

Local officials nationwide are banning the self-balancing boards from city sidewalks and even airplanes in fear of fire or explosion. Read more

How to avoid credit card fraud, and what you, the government and banks are doing to protect consumers this holiday season

 

The holiday season is supposed to be a time of joy, love and giving. With the dawn of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and enticing holiday deals soon approaching, consumers are prepping – packing their purses and pockets with their finest credit cards, debit cards and cash in hopes of scoring some great sales.

 

However, the joy of shopping can be stripped from consumers in an instant at the sound of “Your credit card was declined” followed up with a call from the bank telling the consumer that he or she has been the victim of fraud.

 

Some consumers aren’t so lucky to get the phone call from their bank, and instead find out weeks later when they check their accounts and see unfamiliar transactions and chunks of money missing.

 

The suspicious activity puts a hold on everything and consumers are left picking up the pieces.

 

Credit card fraud is extremely common and the odds of encountering it are high enough that it will likely happen to everyone at least once their life.

 

An estimated $190 billion is lost each year to credit card fraud.

 

What can consumers do on their own reduce their risk? With the excessive amount of credit card fraud occurring every day, is the government and private sector doing enough to fight it? Read more

Can the government really regulate Fantasy Football?

 

The most recent Republican presidential debate left CNBC moderators under quite a bit of scrutiny. But nothing seemed to be more powerful than New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s statement regarding fantasy sports. Christie interjected into the dialogue between former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and CNBC host Carl Quintanilla’s about the government regulating fantasy football.

“Carl, are we really talking about getting government involved in fantasy football? We have — wait a second, we have $19 trillion in debt. We have people out of work. We have ISIS and al Qaeda attacking us, and we’re talking about fantasy football? Can we stop?” Christie said.

Touché.

What are the odds the NFL will step in?

While Bush bragged about his 7 and 0 fantasy league standings, he believes it is day trading without regulation – and instances have alleged that insider information is being taken advantage of, thus needing some sort of parameters. Read more

ADA Compliance Issues in the Voting Polls

People with disabilities face unjust voting difficulties that need to be addressed before the upcoming presidential elections

With primary elections just a few months away and the presidential candidate campaigns in full swing, millions of people across our nation are getting psyched, while some are cringing at the thought of entering the polls.

Although the media may be engrossed in Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden’s every word, it’s time to shift the attention from the banter between the presidential hopefuls to bringing ADA compliance issues to the forefront before the 2016 elections begin and it’s too late.

Read more

Lack of education on Amendment 2 is culprit behind failed attempt to legalize medical marijuana in Florida

Although amendment ambiguities may have clouded Florida voters’ judgment, here’s what you need to know about medical marijuana, a natural drug legalized by 23 states and Washington, D.C.

A regime lead by John Morgan, multi-millionaire friend of Charlie Crist, supporting medical marijuana legalization in Florida flopped on November 4, 2014.

Despite nearly $6 million in negative ads against medical marijuana’s legalization, the ballot collected majority support, with nearly 58 percent voting “Yes,” and 42 percent voting “No.”

However, constitutional amendments require the support of 60 percent of those voting… and the medical marijuana amendment fell short. Read more

Americans With Disabilities Act needs to keep enforcing accommodations for the hearing impaired on the Internet & Websites

Marking 25 years in existence, the ADA has helped millions, but hasn’t fully caught up with the Internet age, leaving individuals who are deaf or hearing impaired still struggling with basic Internet functions because of non-compliant websites

The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) was a landmark civil rights law passed 25 years ago to help ensure that those with physical disabilities, including the deaf and hearing impaired, are able to enjoy equal social and economic interactions as those without disabilities and protect them from discrimination in the workplace.

 

Although the onset of the ADA has made strides for Americans facing disabilities, the ADA was drafted before the explosion of the Internet age. More than two decades later, the courts are still struggling to decipher what businesses need to be compliant and how we as a society can further the equality of persons with disabilities.

 

How are the hearing impaired affected by non-ADA-compliant websites?

Oftentimes, hearing-impaired website visitors struggle to grasp and interact with information presented on a website. Embedded videos do not offer subtitles and text scripts, and security measures only allow access to users following a voice command, which is inaudible to those who are deaf.

 

Melissa Earll, comic book and baseball card collector, said that eBay couldn’t confirm her identity as a seller because she is deaf.

 

“eBay keeps me from taking advantage of opportunities that other people have and it’s because I couldn’t hear,” Earll said.

When eBay customer service representatives recommended she ask her parents for assistance to listen for the voice-only password, she rejected said offensive suggestion, saying she is a 47-year-old woman who does not live at home with her mother and father.

 

U.S. District Judge Edward Davila didn’t agree with the argument, stating Earll’s position was factually inadequate and that Earll was unable to prove that she tried to register as a seller after speaking with eBay about other possible solutions.

 

What types of businesses fall under ADA regulation?

 

Title III of the ADA requires businesses and nonprofit service providers to accommodate for persons with disabilities by allowing them to access the same services as clients who do not have a disability.

 

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are more than thirty eight million (approximately 38,225,590) people who suffer from ‘hearing problems.’ Across all age groups in the U.S., there are approximately 1,000,000 people over 5 years of age who are ‘functionally deaf,’ with more than half over the age of 65.

While the ADA doesn’t expressly apply to “Internet retailers,” many online websites may fall within “place of exhibition or entertainment,” “sales or rental establishment,” “service establishment,” “library,” “gallery,” or “place of public display or collection.” Persons with hearing impairments should not be discriminated against when the ADA sets forth safeguards for everyone to be treated equally.

 

Landmark Scribd and Netflix decisions

 

Scribd attempted to win its lawsuit by stating it wasn’t a physical place and is therefore not regulated by the ADA, when Scribd was be accused of noncompliance. Scribd’s website and applications were not programmed to be accessible through [screen reader] software, making it difficult, if not impossible, for blind persons to access all elements of the site.

The court ruled against Scribd, saying “Now that the Internet plays such a critical role in the personal and professional lives of Americans, excluding disabled persons from access to covered entities that use it as their principal means of reaching the public would defeat the purpose of this important civil rights legislation.”

 

This was a momentous decision that has paved the path for more Internet sites needing to abide by the ADA to ensure that persons with disabilities have equal access to this integral part of a modern Americans life.

 

In another huge advance for persons with disabilities, Netflix agreed to caption all of its shows by 2014, after the National Association for the Deaf (NAD) filed a class-action lawsuit in 2010.

Since these websites were clearly marked as a businesses that needed to comply with the ADA, there are now hundreds of thousands of websites falling within this category that should follow suit before they get slapped with a lawsuit.

 

This is only the beginning, and we will have a ways to go!

 

Is your website ADA-compliant?

 

Here’s a great website that lists things that can be done to all websites to help accessibility issues for those with disabilities:

 

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/web-designer/creating-an-ada-compliant-website/

 

If you have any questions, concerns or just want to find out more, we would love to help.Give us a call at 954 573 2800 or e-mail us at jason@jswlawyer.com. We are here to help.

Social media provides new streams of evidence in the courts for opposing counsel

Why privacy settings don’t protect your posts and what you need to know about your actions on social networking sites

Without question, the new Millennium marked the dawn of the social media age. The explosion began with just a few power players – MySpace, Facebook and YouTube – and now has grown to draw in nearly 2 billion active users. Nearly 71 percent of Internet users are on Facebook alone.

The social media façade

All the smiling faces, status updates and ‘connecting’ can paint a pleasant picture, but what we often forget is that “private” doesn’t mean it’s ‘not public.’

Once a bit of information is posted, it’s floating through cyberspace, forever. Despite what we think, merely pressing delete doesn’t always do the job.

With the growth of social media spawned a new stream of evidence in court. That’s right, social media posts are being harvested in the courts as evidence and throwing curveballs in the outcome of cases.

Bet the Founding Fathers didn’t see that coming!

“Private” is not the same as “Not Public”

Read more

Florida Law makes it virtually impossible for families of victims who die due to medical malpractice to recover damages if the family was not a dependant of the victim

Recent Florida case finds if a person is the victim of medical malpractice in the state of Florida and the victim did not have any dependants, the estate has a right to sue, but the recovery will be minimal or nothing.

Imagine your mother is a 65-year-old, retired widow. Still with plenty of healthy years left, and with no dependants (you’re financially independent), she experiences medical malpractice in the hospital. During transport to a different unit, she is dropped on the floor. Due to complications of the fall, her life is taken away in an instant.

With a healthy life cut short due to negligence in the medical arena, the value of her life is given a $0 designation in the Sunshine State. You and your grieving family will face difficulty suing for negligence under current Florida law.

That’s right, your independent, once healthy and thriving mother, whom you no longer depend upon for financial support, is worth nothing. This is unjust, and was recently reaffirmed in Buck v. Columbia Hospital Corporation of South Broward, 39 Fla. L. Weekly D1921 (Fla. 4th DCA Sept. 10, 2014).

 

CURRENT FLORIDA LAW: Wrongful Death Act Discrimination

If a person is the victim of medical malpractice in the state of Florida and they do not have any dependants, the estate has a right to sue, but the recovery will be minimal to nothing.

Essentially, elderly are worth nothing if medical professionals’ actions result in death.

Here’s the issue: Florida has the highest percentage of individuals who are elderly, surmounting to almost 20 percent of the state population, according to the U.S. Census. Many of these citizens who are elderly have lost their spouse, and are at an age where their children no longer need their financial support.

Florida’s Wrongful Death Act is discriminatory to the majority of the elderly population because many don’t have a living spouse, few have children under the age of 25, and there are no dependant relatives, as they are at an age where they can support themselves.

You may be lucky if you get enough money to foot the funeral bill… A funeral of an untimely death that wouldn’t have happened if the medical professionals weren’t negligent!

This same law discriminates against the wrongful death of anyone over age 24 who is disabled, unmarried and faced death in a Florida hospital due to negligence.

 

WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE US?

Studies show millennials are getting married later in life, and the elderly population is expanding each year. These two key demographics and their loved ones are not protected in the event of medical negligence.

DON’T LET IT STOP YOU.

Although the laws are currently unjust and cases are starting to arise that combat the discriminatory laws, don’t allow these case restrictions to refrain you from pursuing a medical malpractice and negligence case. There may be ways around the law, and ways to prove that it is unjust.

Don’t let your loved one die in vain.