You can track how an airline handles missing or damaged luggage, so shouldn’t you be able to find the data about how carriers deal with wheelchairs? A new rule that would mandate airlines to report information on wheelchairs and scooters in the same way they track other luggage has now been delayed, prompting a group of veterans to sue the Department of Transportation. [More]
disabilities
Group Files Complaint About American Airlines’ Allergy Pre-Boarding Policy
By 1.16.17
In many cases, airlines will do everything they can to accommodate passengers with severe allergies: from refraining from passing out complimentary peanuts to allowing travelers to board early to prepare their spaces. But one group claims that American Airline’s policies aren’t so accommodating, filing a federal complaint against the carrier. [More]
Customers Literally Rally Around Displaced Walmart Greeter With Cerebral Palsy
By 7.11.16
A few months ago, Walmart announced that it was bringing the greeter position back to all stores, and that the job in more busy locations would change. People standing at the doors would have more responsibilities in addition to greeting customers and checking receipts, and their new title would be “customer host,” with yellow vests to make them easier to spot. At least one longtime greeter reports that the change means that he lost his job. [More]
British Airways, Lufthansa & Air France Fined For Treatment Of Disabled Passengers
By 4.15.16
Four months after the U.S. Department of Transportation fined United Airlines $2 million for violating rules protecting air travelers with disabilities, the agency is continuing to police the skies when it comes to disabled passengers. This time, levying fines against Lufthansa, British Airways, and Air France. [More]
Target Introducing New Shopping Carts Designed For Children And Adults With Disabilities
By 2.10.16
Pushing a wheelchair as well as a shopping cart may pose a bit of a challenge for your average shopper. In an effort to provide another option for those customers, Target is introducing new shopping carts in all of its stores that are specifically designed for children and adults with disabilities. [More]
United Airlines Fined $2.75M For Tarmac Delays, Treatment Of Disabled Passengers
By 1.8.16
In October, United Airlines apologized to a disabled passenger who ended up crawling off the plane after he was told he’d have to wait up to 50 minutes for a wheelchair. This is just one of several complaints related to United’s treatment of disabled passengers. When combined with penalties for stranding passengers on the tarmac for more than three hours, the airline now faces federal fines of $2. 75 million. [More]
Uber Claims Disability Laws Don’t Apply To Technology Companies
By 5.22.15
Uber’s massive fleet of cars don’t belong to the company, and its drivers aren’t employees. Does that mean that they aren’t a public service, as other transportation options are, and that they don’t have to follow federal or state laws that require buses and taxis to accommodate everyone. [More]
FCC Fines T-Mobile $819,000 For Selling Phones That Don’t Work With Hearing Aids
By 8.28.14
Let’s point out something very, very obvious: within reason, everyone should have the right to communicate over the phone, even if they live with some form of hearing loss. For that reason, the Federal Communications Commission requires mobile phone carriers to sell a certain number of handsets that work with hearing aids. The agency says that T-Mobile failed to do this, and has fined them $819,000. [More]
Citibank Demands That Hearing-Impaired Customer Call Them, Hangs Up When She Does
By 2.24.14
Kerry has lost her hearing as an adult, and you can’t call her on the phone. This seems pretty self-explanatory, but apparently it isn’t. At least not to Citibank. They want Kerry to call them to verify a suspicious transaction, but hang up on her whenever she calls. [More]
Fake Service Animals Hurt Real Disabled People, Store Carpets
By 10.10.13
No matter now much you wish you could bring your pet everywhere, it’s not cool to pass your dog off as a service animal in order to do so. The problem is that impersonating a service dog is very easy to do, thanks to the privacy rules that are part of the Americans with Disabilities Act. [More]
Verizon FiOS Breaks Closed Captioning, Blames Customer
By 7.25.13
The growth of streaming video isn’t a net positive for everyone: it can be a real problem for people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing and depend on captions to understand television content. Rosalie thought that she could at least depend on the regular TV programming that comes into her house through a Verizon FiOS box to have legally mandated captions, but not so fast. [More]
Sprint Sells Blind Man Wrong Phone, Charges Restocking Fee, Shrugs
By 1.21.13
Orlando is blind, and had a very specific set of requirements while shopping for a new phone. The staff of the local Sprint store apparently weren’t very savvy about accessibility features on the phones they sell, though, so they sold him the wrong one. Who paid the quite literal price for this error, in the form of a restocking fee? Orlando, of course. [More]
Best Western Gives My Accessible Room Away To Non-Disabled Person, Shrugs
By 7.11.12
Britt is a paraplegic. While planning a recent trip, she reserved an accessible room at the Best Western where she and her boyfriend would be staying. A room that she could move around in, and that would not require her boyfriend to lift her into bed and onto the toilet. You know, allow her some independence and dignity. When they actually checked in to the hotel, though, they learned that the accessible room had been assigned to another traveler. Worse: according to staffers, this traveler was a regular guest who wasn’t disabled, but just likes having a bigger room. [More]
Push Girls On Sundance Channel: Free If You Can Hear, $2.99 Per Episode If You Can’t
By 6.26.12
Push Girls is a reality program about four beautiful, fabulous women living in Hollywood who use wheelchairs. When reader Chris, a disability activist, heard about it, he wanted to check it out. For viewers who don’t have cable (or Dish Network subscribers), full episodes of the program are actually available online. As long as you’re able to hear, anyway. If you need (or choose to use) captions, those are only available for $2.99 via iTunes, please. [More]
Law Dropout Debilitated By Asperger Syndrome Gets $339,361 In Student Loans Forgiven
By 5.24.12
College debt is one of the few debts that can’t be discharged in bankruptcy, unless you have a really, really good reason. You pretty much have to be dead or have a debilitating disability that keeps you from working. So it caught the attention of the National Law Journal when a Maryland woman in her 60s had $339,361 in college debt discharged in bankruptcy court earlier this month. [More]
How Switching To Cheaper Smartphone Plan For Deaf Customers Can Cost More
By 4.25.12
Mobile phone carriers aren’t about to let the majority of smartphone customers give up their voice plans any time soon, no matter how few minutes you use every month. Jack’s girlfriend doesn’t have much use for voice minutes, though. She’s deaf. She actually talks on the phone rarely, and more often uses the data connection to type to people and make phone calls using a relay service. After a few months, she managed to find someone at Sprint willing to put her on a special plan for deaf customers that has no voice minutes, and even gave her that plan’s price going back two months. What she didn’t realize was that she would be billed twenty cents for every minute of voice calls she had made during those two months. [More]
Should I Be Warned About A Deaf Cashier?
By 4.5.12
During Jon’s last trip to Target, he noticed something unusual: a sign in his checkout lane advising customers, “Cashier Is Hearing Impaired.” He found the sign unnecessary and potentially embarrassing for the employee. What do you think? [More]
Illinois Attorney General Twists AMC's Arm, Makes It Accommodate Disabled Moviegoers
By 4.5.12
It took pressure from the Illinois Attorney General, but AMC Theatres agreed to make adjustments that allow blind and deaf people to enjoy movies in more of the chain’s theaters in the state. The chain agreed to add captioning and audio-description features to 460 screens. Before the deal, only a couple dozen AMC theaters in Illinois offered the technology. [More]
