formerroomate99
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Post by formerroomate99 on Aug 3, 2012 11:46:44 GMT -5
So if you have a handicapped elevator and someone wants a ramp, have you fulfilled the reasonable accomodation requirement or not? I think the pencil and paper does it. It just has to be an accomodation, not the accomodation you want. Blue I honestly agree with you. The problem is that once she sued them they then had to pay lawyers to defend themselves. That money has to come from somewhere. people and organizaions like this only have so much money to spend period. Once she made them spend that money on things like paying a lawyer, to explain why I can't afford to pay for the accomadations she insists I have to pay for, I now no longer can afford the things like scouts. Yeah, but since there is more than one deaf child in this country, if the girls scounts let this go, they could end with interpreter costs that make the money they spend on lawers look like peanuts.
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973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on Aug 3, 2012 11:55:57 GMT -5
Blue I honestly agree with you. The problem is that once she sued them they then had to pay lawyers to defend themselves. That money has to come from somewhere. people and organizaions like this only have so much money to spend period. Once she made them spend that money on things like paying a lawyer, to explain why I can't afford to pay for the accomadations she insists I have to pay for, I now no longer can afford the things like scouts. Yeah, but since there is more than one deaf child in this country, if the girls scounts let this go, they could end with interpreter costs that make the money they spend on lawers look like peanuts. I 100% agree that they have to fight this. If they didn't or lose I would bet that a large percent of the girls in it would have to drop ou,t because the price would be to much. That really does suck!
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Aug 3, 2012 12:04:45 GMT -5
The lawsuit asks for 7 things:
1) Determine that GSA has broken the law / discriminated against Meghan 2) Forbid future discrimination against any deaf child 3) Force GSA to write a new policy that covers aid for every event 4) Force GSA to advertise those services 5) Award plantiff compensatory damages 6) Pay Plantiff's attorney fees 7) Award Plantiff relief
So, if GSA is found 100% at fault, they would pay for the attornies, pay for any damages (not sure what expenses the family has incurred related to this) AND reward some amount of money, whatever that might be. And all they have to do is determine that GSA did indeed break the law by saying $50/month was not enough to be considered 'reasonable accomodations.'
They could very well go down for this.
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happyhoix
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Post by happyhoix on Aug 3, 2012 12:10:23 GMT -5
She may have leaned to fingerspell. She may have tried to learn ASL--We don't know. To say that the mother should interpret is like saying every parent should teac their own children and no child should be sent to school. No, it isn't like that at all. If my child's only way to communicate is thorugh ASL, you can be damn sure I would learn ASL along with my child, so I could communicate with her, I don't care how hard it was or how long it took me to learn it. If my deaf child wanted to participate in a non-mandatory social organization like the girl scouts, I would be there with her, helping her communicate with the group. I would want my daughter to learn how to blend in with the hearing world. Suing a social organization to make them provide an expensive accomodation for her is not showing her how to navigate the hearing world with grace and courage. It's showing her how to play the victim. And we have too many frickin' victims already.
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Bluerobin
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Post by Bluerobin on Aug 3, 2012 12:10:57 GMT -5
The good thing is when the Girl Scouts prevail, or even before, they can sue for costs, etc.
ETA: I'd also like to see a friend of the court sue the mother, because she won't learn ASL. As a parent she should make reasonable accomodations for her kid.
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justme
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Post by justme on Aug 3, 2012 12:12:53 GMT -5
Geeze. It'll probably be rough for the girl just bringing this suit, I don't even want to imagine what it will be if this suit shutters GSA if event means anything a troop does.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Aug 3, 2012 12:28:17 GMT -5
The suit is against the regional division. Does anyone know the actual relationship between the regions and the national office? If they are separate legal entities, the region might be able to take the hit, leaving national intact. It would suck for the Chicago area (and whatever area is in that region) but it may protect the organization.
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Aug 3, 2012 13:04:27 GMT -5
The lawsuit asks for 7 things: 1) Determine that GSA has broken the law / discriminated against Meghan 2) Forbid future discrimination against any deaf child 3) Force GSA to write a new policy that covers aid for every event 4) Force GSA to advertise those services 5) Award plantiff compensatory damages 6) Pay Plantiff's attorney fees 7) Award Plantiff relief Thyme - I'd like to thank you for finding the detail of the lawsuit (I've been meaning to find it). Now can someone PLEASE tell me how this girl was discriminated against?
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Abby Normal
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Post by Abby Normal on Aug 3, 2012 13:05:17 GMT -5
I'm not sure how they would prove discrimination. She was a scout for 6 years. It's not like she was forbidden to be a scout. Though it might be an issue if they denied a transfer as someone mentioned.
I'm not sure an interpreter for all events would be seen as "reasonable"- especially since she doesn't need one at home.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Aug 3, 2012 13:11:34 GMT -5
Well - that will be the crux of the case. What is "reasonable" for this girl? There is going to be a lot of questions about her actual condition, what she is and isn't able to do, how she communicates with family, at school, in other places, what type of activities the troop does, how other leaders are able to work with her, etc.
Granted, we got a summary of a deleted comment that someone said was posted by someone who said they were a troop mother - and she said that the other lady said that the mother did not know ASL, and she said that...etc.etc. So, we really don't know the other side of the story. I would love to read the briefings that submitted by the GSA. Honestly, $50 doesn't sound like the answer, but $20,000 doesn't sound like the answer either. I would be really interested to see what happens next. Unfortunately, we will likely never know the outcome.
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NastyWoman
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Post by NastyWoman on Aug 3, 2012 22:22:37 GMT -5
I read the lawsuit three times and I still don't know what the mother is suing for, since I read it to mean that her daughter was discriminated against as a result of disbanding of the troupe because the volunteers stated that they couldn't afford to keep going with these expensive requirements. The problem with the lawsuit is that the moment the troupe disbanded her daughter had exactly the same as all the other girls: no girl scout troupe -> perfect equality.
As far as the paper and pencil solution goes I don't think mom would have gone for that. And in the last event that was covered with an interpreter it would have been somewhat difficult since rock climbing and writing/ reading instructions at the same time could have been somewhat challenging
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Bluerobin
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Post by Bluerobin on Aug 4, 2012 6:00:27 GMT -5
joss, it isn't whether the mom goes for it. It is whether a reasonable accomodation was made. eg. an elevator when you want a ramp.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2012 10:50:00 GMT -5
The problem with the lawsuit is that the moment the troupe disbanded her daughter had exactly the same as all the other girls: no girl scout troupe -> perfect equality. The problem would be if every other girl was allowed to join another troop and this one girl was not. Having to provide that level of care for all disabled kids would probably devastate the program. I'm not sure how many parents want to fundraise that much, especially when they are probably also being asked for money from their schools.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Aug 5, 2012 11:07:56 GMT -5
I know idiot, weirdo and bullshit.
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