Press Release
Blanck quoted in AP story on court decision (Shotz v. City of Plantation, Florida).
· Herald-Tribune (Miami, FL)
· The Ledger (Lakeland, FL)
University of Iowa Press Release
http://www.uiowa.edu/~ournews/national.html
Blank Quoted On ADA Retaliation Case (Herald Tribune, Sept. 10)
A man who became the target of a city investigation after assessing violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act at its new municipal building has the right to sue for damages, an appeals court has ruled. An individual has the right to sue public agencies for retaliation under the 1990 federal law codifying the rights of disabled people, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Monday in reinstating the lawsuit by ADA consultant Frederick Shotz. The court agreed to dismiss the mayor and city attorney as defendants but reinstated the lawsuit against the city, council member Ron Jacobs and private investigator Peter Markowitz. The lawsuit filed in 2000 had been dismissed by U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Seltzer in Fort Lauderdale. "It's something that will send a cautionary message reverberating from Florida to California about the conduct of public officials toward their citizens with disabilities," said PETER BLANCK, a University of Iowa law professor specializing in disabilities law. Blanck said most government agencies welcome ADA enforcement, but people who claim retaliation now have a legal recourse. The Tribune covers southwest Florida. A version of the story also ran Sept. 10 on the website of THE LEDGER in Florida.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030909/APN/309090816