Please E-mail suggested additions, comments and/or corrections to Kent@MoreLaw.Com.
Help support the publication of case reports on MoreLaw
Date: 02-07-2023
Case Style:
Blaire Douglass v. Optavia, LLC
Case Number: 2:22-cv-00594
Judge: Christy Criswell Wiegand
Court: United States District Court for the Western District of New York ( County)
Plaintiff's Attorney:
Defendant's Attorney: Robert A. Giacovas and Lainie Elissa Cohen
Description: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania civil rights lawyer represented Plaintiff who sued Defendant on an Americans With Disabilities violation theory.
42 U.S.C. 12101 provides:
The Congress finds that—
(1) physical or mental disabilities in no way diminish a person’s right to fully participate in all aspects of society, yet many people with physical or mental disabilities have been precluded from doing so because of discrimination; others who have a record of a disability or are regarded as having a disability also have been subjected to discrimination;
(2) historically, society has tended to isolate and segregate individuals with disabilities, and, despite some improvements, such forms of discrimination against individuals with disabilities continue to be a serious and pervasive social problem;
(3) discrimination against individuals with disabilities persists in such critical areas as employment, housing, public accommodations, education, transportation, communication, recreation, institutionalization, health services, voting, and access to public services;
(4) unlike individuals who have experienced discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, or age, individuals who have experienced discrimination on the basis of disability have often had no legal recourse to redress such discrimination;
(5) individuals with disabilities continually encounter various forms of discrimination, including outright intentional exclusion, the discriminatory effects of architectural, transportation, and communication barriers, overprotective rules and policies, failure to make modifications to existing facilities and practices, exclusionary qualification standards and criteria, segregation, and relegation to lesser services, programs, activities, benefits, jobs, or other opportunities;
(6) census data, national polls, and other studies have documented that people with disabilities, as a group, occupy an inferior status in our society, and are severely disadvantaged socially, vocationally, economically, and educationally;
(7) the Nation’s proper goals regarding individuals with disabilities are to assure equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for such individuals; and
(8) the continuing existence of unfair and unnecessary discrimination and prejudice denies people with disabilities the opportunity to compete on an equal basis and to pursue those opportunities for which our free society is justifiably famous, and costs the United States billions of dollars in unnecessary expenses resulting from dependency and nonproductivity.
(b) Purpose
It is the purpose of this chapter—
(1) to provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities;
(2) to provide clear, strong, consistent, enforceable standards addressing discrimination against individuals with disabilities;
(3) to ensure that the Federal Government plays a central role in enforcing the standards established in this chapter on behalf of individuals with disabilities; and
(4) to invoke the sweep of congressional authority, including the power to enforce the fourteenth amendment and to regulate commerce, in order to address the major areas of discrimination faced day-to-day by people with disabilities.
Outcome: 02/06/2023 41 NOTICE OF FILING OF OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT of Proceedings re Final Hearing to Consider Settlement Agreement held on January 23, 2023 before Judge Christy Criswell Wiegand. Court Reporter Karen Earley, Telephone number 412-201-2660. The parties have seven (7) calendar days to file with the court a Notice of Intent to Request Redaction of this transcript. If no such Notice is filed, the transcript may be made remotely, electronically available to the public without redaction after 90 calendar days. For redaction purposes, or otherwise, during this 90-day period a copy of the transcript may be purchased from the court reporter or viewed at the clerk's office public terminal. Any Notice of Intent to Request Redaction and Redaction Request must be separately mailed to the court reporter of said proceedings. Notice of Intent for Redaction of Personal Data Identifiers due by 2/13/2023. Redaction Request due 2/27/2023. Redacted Transcript Deadline set for 3/9/2023. Release of Transcript Restriction set for 5/8/2023. (kme) (Entered: 02/06/2023)
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: