Newsletter Update – July 3, 2000
We have just had a Class Action lawsuit certified against HCA hospitals (formerly known as Columbia) the largest for-profit hospital chain in the country. This will require them to bring all their medical facilities, which includes hospitals (numbering approximately 450 in total) into compliance with the A.D.A. on a nationwide basis!! We have also had certified the same type of Class Action lawsuit nationwide against the Tenet for-profit chain of medical facilities, which includes hospitals (numbering approximately 130 in total)!! We are very excited about these two very meaningful accomplishments!
We are also in negotiation with Burdine’s and Macy’s throughout the state of Florida and with Lord and Taylor throughout the nation. Also, we are in the process of filing suits against other major regional and national stores, as well as hotels, restaurants, movie theaters, etc., etc., and meeting with success consistently.
PLEASE REFER TO OUR “SHOPPING BARRIERS” POST
We have mounted lawsuits against Carnival, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Disney Cruise Lines. Most recently, we were delighted to learn that the 11th Judicial Circuit Court of Appeals has held that the A.D.A. DOES apply to cruise ships, even though they are foreign-flagged. (For clarification, that was not an Access Now case, however, it will, of course, apply to ours as well.) This is a major development for us and for the disabled community and we are very gratified to see it come about!
Recently, much to our shock and dismay, we discovered that many areas of Disney World in Orlando, Florida fail to comply with the A.D.A. We are particularly interested in accessibility regarding bathrooms, ramps and hotels on-site. Surely, Mickey will want to be A.D.A.-compliant and thus, helpful to all members of the disabled community. Accordingly, we have mounted a lawsuit against Disney World and we look forward to a much more highly accessible “Mickey Mouse Land”!!!
So, as you can see, we are working hard and making progress and we take great pride in doing this work! We look forward to your joining with us in bringing about Access Now to the disabled community!!!