TRE LEGAL PRACTICE
We're a civil rights law firm focusing on the rights of the blind and other disabled people to access employment, education, government programs, public accommodations, accessible technology and all other aspects of society.
Ms. Martinez, a blind entrepreneur, sought to file a form in person at Alameda County’s Clerk-Recorder’s Office (“CRO”). While there, Ms. Martinez sought an auxiliary aid or service to assist her in making CRO-required corrections to her Fictitious Business Name Statement (“FBN”) so it could be contemporaneously filed during her visit, a common practice for […]
To address this, TRE Legal Practice worked on behalf of two blind college students to reach a settlement agreement with West Valley College, using an alternative to lawsuits called structured negotiations. […]
Read More… from Innovation & Accessibility at West Valley College
The case of National Federation of the Blind v. Uber Technologies, Inc., 14-cv-04086 NC (N.D. Cal.), challenges discrimination experienced by riders with service animals who want to use the Uber ridesharing service. We are preparing to return to court to address ongoing discrimination and need your statement by April 17, 2020, in support of the effort. […]
Read More… from Update for Uber Riders Accompanied by Service Animals
In a crucial decision upholding equal access to the Internet, on November 5, 2019, a state court in Alameda County validated the legal bases underlying a fraud whistleblower complaint against Conduent, Inc. and Conduent State & Local Solutions for developing a public website that is inaccessible to people with disabilities. […]
Read More… from Crucial Decision Validates Fraud Whistleblower Suit
REDDING, Calif., September 27, 2019 — TRE Legal Practice and LaBarre Law Offices, on behalf of Alina Sorling, are pleased to join with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in announcing that Dignity Health, which operates Mercy Medical Center in Redding, California, has agreed to pay […]
Read More… from Dignity Health Agrees to Pay $570,000 for Firing a Blind Food Service Worker
OAKLAND, May 20, 2019 (updated July 26, 2019) — TRE Legal Practice alleges that Conduent, Inc. defrauded taxpayers when the company built a $66 million state park reservation website that hundreds of thousands of Californians with disabilities cannot use. The suit seeks damages on behalf of the People of the State of California and injunctive […]
Nancy Langenberger is blind. She relies on a guide dog to help her independently navigate the world. Nancy’s Medicare Advantage health plan, Blue Shield Promise Health Plan (“Promise Health”), includes a transportation benefit through which plan members can arrange in advance to be dropped off and picked up from medical appointments. This benefit is important […]
Read More… from Blind health plan members must have equal access to transportation benefits
Modern touchscreen systems, like other modern computers, phones, and tablets, are readily adaptable for use by blind people through mechanisms such as tactile keyboards that a user can feel nonvisually and audio ports for plugging in headphones so the system can “speak” privately to users. (Both of these are in widespread use at bank ATMs, […]
Read More… from Appellate Victory in National Federation of the Blind v. The Container Store
Despite the longstanding history of the Americans with Disabilities Act, employers are still failing to follow the law. In 2014, Alina Sorling, a veteran food service technician with over a decade of experience at Dignity Health’s hospital cafeteria, suddenly became blind. Ms. Sorling went on medical leave and successfully worked with the California Department of Rehabilitation to re-master everyday tasks, including using nonvisual techniques for cooking and proficiency with knives and hot grills. Instead of allowing her to work, Dignity Health fired her because it believed a blind person could not safely work in a kitchen. […]
In the last 25 years, technology has fundamentally changed higher education. New technologies allow for new kinds of instructional materials and delivery mechanisms — but students with disabilities are often unnecessarily left behind. This must change. This settlement with Siskiyou Joint Community College District, facilitated by TRE Legal Practice and the Legal Aid Society – […]