Papio Bldg Dept
Platinum Member
The following was sent to me by a co-worker from Iowa:
Lawsuit accuses UNL of discriminating against handicapped on game days
A Nebraska man turned away from a handicapped parking spot when he tried to take his family to Morrill Hall on a home football game day in 2010 has sued the University of Nebraska.
In the lawsuit filed Thursday, Richard Norton Jr. alleges the Board of Regents violated federal law when it put hoods on two handicapped meters in front of the museum to let football tailgaters or donors park there.
His attorney, Kathleen Neery, said they intend to pursue class-action status.
"If it happened to Rick Norton, it happened to someone else," she said.
A copy of the lawsuit was obtained too late in the day Thursday to get a response from university officials.
Neery said that on Oct. 30, 2010, Norton and his family went to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to see an exhibit at Morrill Hall.
Norton, who lives south of Lincoln, has a neurological and orthopedic disability.
That day, when he tried to park in a designated handicapped parking spot in front of the museum, Neery said, he was verbally harassed and ridiculed by a university employee and ultimately not allowed to park there.
Neery said the employee told him the spots were being held for donors.
Norton was told to park in an area at least two blocks east of Morrill Hall, where an employee tried to charge him $15.
Neery said eventually he was allowed to park free of charge but was told his car would be towed if he returned "even one minute late" of the two hours he said they would be at Morrill Hall.
After he walked from the parking area to the museum, Neery said, he experienced extreme pain in his legs and feet and had to seek medical attention.
A month later, Norton filed a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights of the United States Department of Education.
This May, Neery said, the office concluded that the university had not complied with the Rehab Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it blocked off the dedicated accessible parking spaces.
She said the university acknowledged the violations and deficiencies with handicapped parking in front of Morrill Hall and promised to address the issue before Sept. 1, this year's first home game.
But Neery said they failed to do so.
"The university is clearly not taking these law violations seriously," she said. "And if it takes this lawsuit to get the university to comply with federal law and show the proper respect to disabled people, so be it."
The ADA doesn't have an exception clause for home football games, Neery said.
http://journalstar.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/lawsuit-accuses-unl-of-discriminating-against-handicapped-on-game-days/article_98683ba0-718c-5046-aa5d-af3e53435131.html
my co-worker added: "Why do huskers hate people with disabilities?"
Lawsuit accuses UNL of discriminating against handicapped on game days
A Nebraska man turned away from a handicapped parking spot when he tried to take his family to Morrill Hall on a home football game day in 2010 has sued the University of Nebraska.
In the lawsuit filed Thursday, Richard Norton Jr. alleges the Board of Regents violated federal law when it put hoods on two handicapped meters in front of the museum to let football tailgaters or donors park there.
His attorney, Kathleen Neery, said they intend to pursue class-action status.
"If it happened to Rick Norton, it happened to someone else," she said.
A copy of the lawsuit was obtained too late in the day Thursday to get a response from university officials.
Neery said that on Oct. 30, 2010, Norton and his family went to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to see an exhibit at Morrill Hall.
Norton, who lives south of Lincoln, has a neurological and orthopedic disability.
That day, when he tried to park in a designated handicapped parking spot in front of the museum, Neery said, he was verbally harassed and ridiculed by a university employee and ultimately not allowed to park there.
Neery said the employee told him the spots were being held for donors.
Norton was told to park in an area at least two blocks east of Morrill Hall, where an employee tried to charge him $15.
Neery said eventually he was allowed to park free of charge but was told his car would be towed if he returned "even one minute late" of the two hours he said they would be at Morrill Hall.
After he walked from the parking area to the museum, Neery said, he experienced extreme pain in his legs and feet and had to seek medical attention.
A month later, Norton filed a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights of the United States Department of Education.
This May, Neery said, the office concluded that the university had not complied with the Rehab Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it blocked off the dedicated accessible parking spaces.
She said the university acknowledged the violations and deficiencies with handicapped parking in front of Morrill Hall and promised to address the issue before Sept. 1, this year's first home game.
But Neery said they failed to do so.
"The university is clearly not taking these law violations seriously," she said. "And if it takes this lawsuit to get the university to comply with federal law and show the proper respect to disabled people, so be it."
The ADA doesn't have an exception clause for home football games, Neery said.
http://journalstar.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/lawsuit-accuses-unl-of-discriminating-against-handicapped-on-game-days/article_98683ba0-718c-5046-aa5d-af3e53435131.html
my co-worker added: "Why do huskers hate people with disabilities?"
