A Story of David v. Goliath: Two Disabled Individuals Sue The State of Utah and the Utah Republican Party
Salt Lake City, Utah-2018.
Aaron Heineman and Eliza Stauffer, who are both individuals with a disability, have decided to sue the State of Utah and the Utah Republican Party for failing to provide reasonable accommodations at the 2016 Republican Caucus and the 2016 Utah Republican State Convention.
Mr. Heineman, who is Deaf and communicates in American Sign Language (ASL), was denied effective communication after requesting an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter at the 2016 Republican Caucus and the 2016 Utah Republican State Convention. Mrs. Stauffer, who uses a wheelchair, asked for a reasonable alternative to a stand up vote at the 2016 Utah Republican State Convention because she couldn’t stand. Her reasonable accommodation request was denied.
The firm Allebest Law Group is representing Mr. Heineman and Mrs. Stauffer. Their claim is very straightforward. Any political party that is holding a convention or caucus for elective office, the party becomes an “arm of the state” and is required to follow the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The Supreme Court has stated that “when a person exercises the privilege of participating in a caucus meeting or at a state party convention to vote for nominees for the general election, the caucus meeting or state party convention is state action” because “the state makes the action of the party the action of the state.” Smith v. Allwright, 321 U.S. 649, 660, 64 S. Ct. 757, 759–66, 88 L. Ed. 987 (1944). Thus, the State of Utah, via the Utah Republican Party, violated the ADA when it failed to provide reasonable accommodations for their disabilities.
Allebest Law Group is a solo law firm that specializes in the following areas of law: advocacy, estate planning, business law, discrimination law and Deaf Rights. Jared Allebest is the founder of Allebest Law Group and is one of the handful of Deaf attorneys in the United States.
To learn more about this lawsuit, please contact:
Jared Allebest, Esq
Office: (801) 214-0521
VideoPhone: (801) 204-9055
Fax: (949) 454-2550
Email: Jared@Allebest.com
Salt Lake City, Utah-2018.
Aaron Heineman and Eliza Stauffer, who are both individuals with a disability, have decided to sue the State of Utah and the Utah Republican Party for failing to provide reasonable accommodations at the 2016 Republican Caucus and the 2016 Utah Republican State Convention.
Mr. Heineman, who is Deaf and communicates in American Sign Language (ASL), was denied effective communication after requesting an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter at the 2016 Republican Caucus and the 2016 Utah Republican State Convention. Mrs. Stauffer, who uses a wheelchair, asked for a reasonable alternative to a stand up vote at the 2016 Utah Republican State Convention because she couldn’t stand. Her reasonable accommodation request was denied.
The firm Allebest Law Group is representing Mr. Heineman and Mrs. Stauffer. Their claim is very straightforward. Any political party that is holding a convention or caucus for elective office, the party becomes an “arm of the state” and is required to follow the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The Supreme Court has stated that “when a person exercises the privilege of participating in a caucus meeting or at a state party convention to vote for nominees for the general election, the caucus meeting or state party convention is state action” because “the state makes the action of the party the action of the state.” Smith v. Allwright, 321 U.S. 649, 660, 64 S. Ct. 757, 759–66, 88 L. Ed. 987 (1944). Thus, the State of Utah, via the Utah Republican Party, violated the ADA when it failed to provide reasonable accommodations for their disabilities.
Allebest Law Group is a solo law firm that specializes in the following areas of law: advocacy, estate planning, business law, discrimination law and Deaf Rights. Jared Allebest is the founder of Allebest Law Group and is one of the handful of Deaf attorneys in the United States.
To learn more about this lawsuit, please contact:
Jared Allebest, Esq
Office: (801) 214-0521
VideoPhone: (801) 204-9055
Fax: (949) 454-2550
Email: Jared@Allebest.com