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Save the Date!
The 2013 APRIL conference will be October 26th, 27th and half day on the 28th in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The 2013 APRIL Youth conference will be October 25th. Mark your calendars! Read More
Experts: $240M judgment for disabled men 'stunning'
May 1, 2013 Written by; Clark Kauffman, The Des Moines Register
In a decision that legal experts are calling "stunning," an Iowa jury this morning awarded $240 million to the 32 mentally disabled men who faced decades of discrimination and abuse while working for Henry's Turkey Service in Atalissa.
When jurors announced the judgment, after less than eight hours of deliberation, Sherri Brown, the sister of one of the 32 men, broke down in tears inside the Davenport courtroom.
"I totally lost it," she said later. "I wanted the jury to make a statement so that my brother Keith and all of those men would know that someone had heard them. And if this isn't a statement, I don't know what is."
The $240 million judgment reflects $2 million in punitive damages for each of the 32 men, plus $5.5 million in compensatory damages for each of the men.
Steven Schwartz, a disability rights attorney and former Harvard professor, said today's judgment will be heard across the nation.
"It's stunning," he said. "It's amazing. I'm almost incredulous. I think this verdict sends an incredibly powerful message to jurors all over the country. And of course it sends an equally powerful message to the people who cause this sort of harm. This is also an extraordinary testament to the EEOC and its attorneys, Robert Canino in particular, that they are willing to stand up for people with mental disabilities. They represent the best our government can be."
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DISABILITY ACTIVISTS SCORE MAJOR VICTORIES IN DAY OF ACTION
ADAPT Hails Renewed Talks with Labor Groups Over Work Rule Affecting the Independence of People with Disabilities; Secures Commitment from HUD to Release Key Guidance to Housing Authorities
Washington, DC - Following a long day of direct action, grassroots disability rights group ADAPT celebrates two major victories. First, a new agreement to seek a compromise that considers the freedom of people with disabilities to direct their own attendant services and the need of organized labor to seek the best possible conditions for those workers was reached with the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
Fiscal Year 2014 Electronic Appropriations Request Form Office of Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth (IL-08)
The Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 Appropriations process has officially begun. To ensure that Congresswoman Duckworth’s office has sufficient time to review and submit requests to the Appropriations Committee, we have set an internal deadline of 12:00 PM on Friday, April 5 2013 for requests to be submitted to our office.
The Committee requires that all requests be submitted electronically through a secure website accessible only by each Congressional office. In order to have your request considered, you must e-mail our office a copy of this form by noon on April 5, 2013. Please fill out the form and save it as a word document and e-mail it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . If you have multiple requests, please send a separate e-mail with the attached form for each request.
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