[Cagdu] Fw: [Cabs-talk] Discrimination in Oakland

Tue Feb 9 10:34:20 PST 2010

Hello Juliet and All,
I do not feel that this is necessary.
First, Chris did not ask for assistance.
Second, it mentions that 911 was called, so I think that is 
sufficient.
Lastly, I do not believe, that we have heard all of the facts, 
Paratransit companies are not going to do this, if the person 
takes the responsibility to make sure they know the person is 
traveling with their dog, so I really do not feel CAGDU should be 
getting involved, as well as, Chris did not come to us for 
assistance, only to let us know of the situation.
I may get some criticism for this, but this is how I feel.
Take care,
Robert Stigile
E-mail: rstigile at sbcglobal.net
Skype: Robertstigile

 ----- Original Message -----
From: "Juliett Cody" <julietcody at cox.net
To: <cagdu at nfbcal.org
Date sent: Tue, 9 Feb 2010 09:35:03 -0800
Subject: [Cagdu] Fw: [Cabs-talk] Discrimination in Oakland

Hello President Dillan and CAGDu ers,
Do you have the contact of the Police Station from Oakland who  
send a
policeman to our CAGDU  seminar? If you do it would be good to 
posted on the
NFB list serve so Chris would have  it.
Thanks,

JC and M
----- Original Message -----
From: "Anne Ward" <inland2wards at att.net
To: <Undisclosed-Recipient: ;@smtp127.sbc.mail.sp1.yahoo.com
Sent: Monday, February 08, 2010 12:29 PM
Subject: [Cabs-talk] Discrimination in Oakland

 This was sent to me this morning by Judith Lesner, who asked me 
to
 distribute it widely.

 Anne Ward

 Discrimination in Oakland?

 Last night my very good friend Marvelena Quesada was told that 
she had to
 "sit in the back of the bus".  In this case, an East Bay 
ParaTransit bus.
 The person givithng the order was the bus's dispatcher.  
Marvelena's
 status that led up to the banishment to the back of the bus was 
her
 traveling with Darla.  Marvelena is blind and Darla is her 
seeing eye dog.

 To start at the beginning, Marvelena and her husband Chris Gray 
came to my
 house for dinner.  They are both blind and Chris is the past 
president of
 the American Council of the Blind which is a national consumer 
group.
 They had arranged to be picked up by East Bay ParaTransit for a 
ride home.
 At about 9:15 they got a call that their ride was outside.  I 
walked out
 with them to bus number 352.  The driver asked if the dog was 
going along
 too.  Marvelena replied that it was.  The driver then decided 
that her bus
 was not positioned correctly and drove about a half block down 
the street.
 By the time we got to her she was on her cell phone and refused 
entry to
 Chris and Marvelena, yelling at them through the partially 
opened door
 that no one had said anything about a dog and that she had 
"issues" with
 dogs.  She said they had to wait for another paratransit  bus to 
come and
 take them.  Chris said that they had a legal right to get on the 
bus with
 the dog and forced his way through the partially opened door and 
got on
 the bus.  The driver slammed the door and wouldn't let Marvelena 
and Darla
 on the bus.

 Meanwhile the driver was speaking to her dispatcher on a speaker 
phone.
 That was when the dispatcher made her Solomon like decision to 
end the
 impasse, "Go take the dog and sit in the back of the bus".  I 
informed the
 driver and dispatcher that it was no longer the 50's where they 
could get
 away with that.  Chris and Marvelena said that she would not 
move to the
 back.  While this was going on, Marvelena and Darla managed to 
get on the
 bus.  Marvelena was calling paratransit and she and I and 
another friend
 were conferring through the open door.  At that point the 
passenger on the
 bus said that she had had it with waiting so long and would walk 
the rest
 of the way home.  She got off the bus and left.  The driver 
reported that
 the passenger had left the bus because of the dog which was a 
baldfaced
 lie.  The driver then said that the company was sending another 
bus to
 take them home.

 This all went on for some time when the driver closed the doors 
so that we
 could no longer talk to Chris and Marvelena, turned out the 
lights and
 left the bus.  Marvelena and Chris were left alone in a locked 
bus while
 the driver walked half a block away and spoke on her cell phone.  
Chris
 then called 911 and two Oakland policemen arrived shortly there 
after.

 One of the police asked my friend and I what was happening.  I 
explained
 the situation.  The policeman said something to the effect that 
it
 depended on the bus company's policy.  I said that was nonsense.  
That it
 had nothing to do with the bus company, it was a federal law 
called the
 ADA.  Marvelena and her dog had the same right of access to 
public places
 as Marvelena did on her own.  He seemed unaware of the law.

 Finally, after the police arrived, another bus arrived to take 
them home.
 The altercation took about an hour and involved the waste of two 
bus
 drivers' time as well as that of two Oakland police personnel.

 Questions that arise:

  1..  Why when so many people with disabilities are using 
service animals
 does a company whose sole clientele are people with disabilities 
hire a
 driver who will not drive a bus with a dog on it?
  2..  If the company feels compelled to hire folks who are 
afraid of dogs,
 why do they not routinely ask passengers if they are traveling 
with
 service animals so that they can send a not-afraid driver?
  3..  Why were the driver and the dispatcher not trained by the 
company to
 know the laws about access and seeing eye dogs?
  4..  Why was the driver not trained in basic courtesy?  She 
routinely
 yelled at us, slammed doors and at one point told me to "move 
him."  She
 was referring to Chris.  I explained that he was a person and he 
moved
 himself, I did not move him.
  5..  Why are the Oakland Police not trained in the fundamentals 
of ADA
 access laws?

 Issues to note:

  1..  Darla was wearing a regulation Seeing Eye harness, did not 
make any
 noise, did not show any aggression despite the shouting of the 
driver and
 lay on the floor of the bus near Marvelena's feet the entire 
time.
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