The following are from newmobility.com, July 2005. –ed
STADIUM SEATING SUIT SETTLED
Regal Entertainment Group signed a consent agreement with the Department of Justice requiring all future stadium –style movie theaters to place wheelchair seating near the center of the theater. In addition, other existing stadium-style theaters will be retrofitted by moving wheelchair seating as far away from the screen as possible without major reconstruction. Regal, the largest movie theater chain in the nation, operates over 3,500 screens. "Opening everyday activities like a night at a movie theater to persons with disabilities is a core goal of the Americans with Disabilities Act," said R. Alexander Acosta, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights division. "Today's agreement is another step toward making the ADA's promise a reality for thousands of Americans." The lawsuit was originally filed against Hoyts Cinemas by the U.S. Attorney's Office in December 2000 in Boston, for the District of Massachusetts, based on private complaints filed with the DOJ. Regal acquired the lawsuit along with most of the former Hoyts movie theaters in 2004. This consent decree is not related to the Supreme Court decision upholding lower court rulings against Regal and Cinemark last year.
LANDMARK HOUSING SETTLEMENT
A record $1.4 million settlement was settled upon by the developers of San Diego's Renaissance Complex and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The complex was not built to be accessible, which put the development out of compliance with the federal Fair Housing Act. Multi-family housing built to be occupied after March 13, 1992, must meet accessibility guidelines. The case involved Michael Felchin, who bought a condo in the luxury complex in December 2002. He paid $15,000 of his own money to make his home accessible. He filed a complaint with HUD three months after he moved in, saying the developer would not cooperate with him on making the necessary changes. "I felt that if there was a problem in my unit, it could be in the units of other people who use mobility aids and it would be a challenge for them as well," said Felchin in the San Diego Union-Tribune. "I hope this reminds contractors and builders that there are accessibility guidelines on the books and that they
need to be followed.” Felchin receives $95,000 under the the June 8 settlement, while $200,000 will be used to make improvement to common areas, and $1.2 million will go toward improving the units of others with physical disabilities who request access features. Two bedroom units in the condo typically sell for more than $800,000 and some larger units sell for more that $1 million.
SCI SEX SURVEY SEEKS PARTICIPANTS
The Reeve-Irvine Research Center is conducting a study to determine more details about sexual dysfunction experienced by men and women with spinal cord injuries. Information gained from this study will be used to help scientists and medical doctors develop experiments addressing different sexual issues, with the aim of developing therapeutic treatments for people living with SCI. For more information please go to www.scisexualhealth.com. All information will be kept confidential. If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Kim Anderson at kanderso@uci.edu or call 949/824-0056.
HORNSBY ROCKS FOR THE ADA
Singer Bruce Hornsby and the musical group Sweet Honey in the Rock joined forces for the June 21 “Disability Rights: Save the ADA” concert at the Music Center at the Strathmore in North Bethesda, Md. The concert benefited ADA Watch and the National Coalition for Disability Rights. Also featured were the photographs of Tom Olin, which were narrated by the ADA Watch’s executive director, Jim Ward. Olin’s photographic history spanned from the 1985 smashing of a curb in Los Angeles to create “People’s Curb Ramp Number one.” to ADAPT’s present-day fight for personal assistance services. “So many things stood out as a stellar first for me,” says ADA Watch spokesperson Janine Bertram-Kemp about the concert. “One was Sweet Honey’s oldest singer linking the 1964 Civil Rights Act with the ADA and noting how critical it is to hang on to civil rights at all.” Kemp also appreciated how many concert goers were moved by Olin’s photographs documenting disability rights history. “All of us heard comments like, ‘I never thought of disability like that,’ and so on,” she says.
