August 22, 2018
BBI Chairman and University Professor Peter Blanck said today in Bloomberg news in regard to “blind workers” and “online hiring systems: “Attitudes about inclusion is the real problem,” Blanck said. Jobs-page “accessibility is just a symptom.” Blanck is chairman of Syracuse University’s Burton Blatt Institute and the author of several books on disabilities laws, including e-quality: The struggle for web accessibility by people with cognitive disabilities.
Keep on reading!
August 13, 2018
Source: Syracuse Law Yearbook 2018
During 2017-2018, the College of Law’s Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) continued its important collaboration with the American Bar Association (ABA). BBI is directing a first-ofits-kind nationwide study with the ABA to examine challenges encountered by legal professionals, with an initial focus on lawyers with disabilities and lawyers who identify as LGBTQ+, to develop evidence-based strategies to reduce bias prejudice and increase opportunities in the profession. Continue Reading
August 7, 2018
BBI Chairman Peter Blanck & BBI Researcher Ynesse Abdul-Malak to Speak at National LGBT Bar Association Lavender Law Conference on Breaking Down LGBTQ Bias in Legal Profession: Lessons from National ABA/BBI Project
The National LGBT Bar Association Presents: 30th Annual Lavender Law Conference & Career Fair
Too often, the LGBTQ community and those with disabilities are not included in efforts to expand career and professional diversity, especially in the legal profession. To address this issue, the American Bar Association (“ABA”) recently launched a first-of-its-kind nationwide study, conducted by the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University (“BBI”). Continue Reading
July 26, 2018
July 26, 2018 marks the 28th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Celebrations of the signing of the ADA by President George H.W. Bush on July 26, 1990 are taking place across the nation. Continue Reading
July 20, 2018
Special to Stars and Stripes By Larry M. Logue and Peter Blanck
July observances are more about patriotism and independence than soldiering, but the two are never far apart. This past Independence Day, you may have seen the two concepts dovetail on yard signs notifying revelers that “A COMBAT VETERAN LIVES HERE — PLEASE BE COURTEOUS WITH FIREWORKS.” Continue Reading
July 16, 2018
Syracuse University News, by Martin Walls
The psychological after effects of war are not just a modern-day plight. For instance, following the U.S. Civil War, numerous soldiers returned with damaged bodies and damaged minds, but compassion was often lacking in their treatment. Continue Reading
June 6, 2018
Bruce Sexton, J.D., Syracuse University College of Law 2018, will join BBI as a research associate working on projects that advance the economic, social, and civic lives of people with disabilities. While studying at the College of Law, Bruce served as President of the Disability Law Society, Member of the University’s Beyond Compliance Coordinating Committee, and as a National Federation of the Blind (“NFB”) Student Board Member for New York. Continue Reading
May 29, 2018
Sally Weiss, a pioneer and tireless advocate for the rights of people with disabilities, retired in March 2018 from Syracuse University’s Burton Blatt Institute (BBI).
In an amazing career spanning four decades, Sally’s work began in the classroom in Rockville, MD, continued as an editor with the American Enterprise Institute, and then on to the United Cerebral Palsy where she served in multiple roles including Information/Publications Coordinator, Project Director, and National Projects Coordinator. Continue Reading
May 10, 2018
May 9, 2018
Source: SU College of Law News
(Financial Times | May 9, 2018) Unite, the UK union, helped win a legal victory in March that expanded safeguards against discrimination in the workplace established under the 2010 Equality Act to those with “pre-cancer”.
The ruling added to the range of workplace protections for disabled people in the UK. However, a challenge remains in knowing when the law should be applied, particularly in the case of mental health disabilities.
“It can be very difficult to work out whether someone is suffering from a particular impairment,” says Simon Kerr-Davis, a lawyer in the London employment practice at Linklaters. “But once that’s established, most employers are pretty clear as to what their obligations should be.” The scope of employer obligations has expanded in recent decades. In the US, the Americans with Disabilities Act became law in 1990. In the EU, provisions on disabilities were included in the Employment Equality Directive, adopted by member states in 2000. Continue Reading