Disability Rights Nation June 1-15

From Ragged Edge's D. R. Nation department May/June, 1999

Lawsuit over birth of disabled son brings $1.85 million for parents' "pain & suffering" NCD Progress Report Available Department of Justice weighs in over single step in pro-se case The U.S. Department of Justice has intervened in Deborah Cunningham's pro-se lawsuit to get a ramp at the Memphis eatery The Public Eye. In the nearly nine years since the passage of the ADA, the owners and management of The Public Eye have not ramped the single step at the front door. Cunningham had gone to Federal District Court over the matter several years ago, filing her lawsuit pro-se (see cover story, Sept/Oct Ragged Edge) "because requests, protests and technical support have failed to accomplish voluntary compliance with the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act," she said in a press release. In 1995, Cunningham asked the Dept. of Justice to intervene. Finally it has, saying that the restaurant has "engaged in a continuing pattern and practice of discrimination." Reported as pro-choice victory Lawsuit over birth of disabled son brings $1.85 million for parents' "pain & suffering" A New Jersey doctor was found guilty of malpractice for failing to offer a woman a prenatal test that would have revealed her fetus had Down syndrome, reports the New Jersey Star Ledger. The story, which was reported as a pro-choice victory, says $1.5 million of the $1.85 million award is to go toward the care of 4-year-old Michael Imbergamo; the jury awarded $250,000 to his mother, Deborah Campano, and $100,000 to his father, Michael Imbergamo, who are divorced, for their "pain and suffering." The boy's mother, a 34-year-old systems analyst, said she was elated with the verdict, but worries people will think she doesn't love her child. Campano testified she would have terminated the pregnancy had she known the child would be born with birth defects. NCD Progress Report Available The National Council on Disability's "National Disability Policy: A Progress Report," a review of federal policy activities in 1997-8, covers civil rights, education, employment, health care, long-term services and supports, immigrants and ethnic minorities with disabilities, Social Security, welfare, housing, technology, transportation and international issues as they pertain to people with disabilities. For a free copy, contact the National Council on Disability, 1331 F Street, NW, Suite 1050, Washington, D.C. 20004-1107. The report also is available for downloading at http://www.ncd.gov/ --The Disability News Service, Inc More D. R. Nation Back to table of contents