Blind Government Attorney Sues Department of Homeland Security for Inaccessible Technology

Last week, the ace disability rights law firm of Brown, Goldstein & Levy filed this lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.  The plaintiff is Michael Leiterman, an attorney who has worked at the Department of Homeland Security since 2006.  The complaint alleges that Leiterman, who is blind and uses JAWS as a screen reader, has faced numerous barriers at work, including an inaccessible travel-booking system, inaccessible software, inaccessible intranet pages, an inaccessible telephone, inaccessible telecommuting technology, and inaccessible training modules.  As a consequence, Leiterman alleges, he was denied a promotion.  He claims that DHS's conduct in this regard violates his rights under Sections 501 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.  The Section 508 claim should be particularly interesting to watch.