A Bay Area blind woman asked for no damages when she sued for discrimination. But the county that let her legal saga drag on for five years is now settling for $1.2 million

When blind Union City resident Lisamaria Martinez sought help from the Clerk-Recorder s office staff to file paperwork for her new business in she was repeatedly denied assistance violating the Americans with Disability Act ADA a federal jury ruled CRO staff members refused to assist Martinez with signing a fictitious business name form in stating that only the business owner could complete the legal paperwork according to court documents Though Martinez explained that she was unable to fill out the paper form on her own court documents say CRO staff and managers refused to help Martinez until she left more than minutes later Martinez sued and the legal dispute did not conclude until last week when the Alameda County Board of Supervisors approved a million settlement payment to her Related Articles Leadership release video of Oakland museum burglary subjects Eye on the Hills Concerns heard at Oakland Coffee with a Cop event East Bay school official pleads no contest to sex charge but forcible rape dropped in plea deal East Bay shooting wounds -year-old boy -year-old arrested Oakland man accused of serving as courier in Bay Area cash scam While pleased with the preeminence Martinez s lawyer Tim Elder expressed disbelief that the county let the incident drag on for so long Lisamaria Martinez was willing to resolve this situation five years ago for no damages minimal legal fees and the County of Alameda agreeing to change its plan Elder communicated Bay Area News Group Instead of following express federal guidance the county dug its heels in on a nonsensical interpretation of the law and fought this occurrence for five years Under federal law population and private entities must provide reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities to ensure they have equal opportunity to work and participate in residents life according to the ADA For blind people such as Martinez this may include having a staff member read or write on official forms under their direction Her experience was time-wasting frustrating dehumanizing and unnecessary She would not have suffered it had the ACC provided her with auxiliary aids and services as legally required Elder wrote to Alameda County Counsel Donna Ziegler and Clerk-Recorder Melissa Wilk in Nov Martinez had previously sued Alameda County in a class action lawsuit in for failing to offer an accessible voting machine that provides audio assistance for sight-impaired people A federal court ruled in October that Alameda County must ensure blind and visually impaired voters must be able to vote privately and independently during elections In the lawsuit Martinez sued Alameda County for discrimination Elder explained that his client did not seek damages for her lawsuit only a framework change that would accommodate sight-impaired people like her County Counsel Donna Ziegler s office fought the lawsuit instead claiming that Martinez had solicited for legal advice with her paperwork that would require a notary which could not be legally fulfilled by a staff member County personnel did not respond to a request for comment on the occurrence The lawsuit was litigated until when a federal jury in San Francisco ruled in favor of Martinez and awarded her in damages The million settlement approved by the Board of Supervisors represented legal fees incurred over the trial according to Elder I was faced with a choice remain silent or fight against a clear injustice Martinez stated in a message with the National Federation of the Blind in following the verdict In choosing to fight I risked being reported my rights were different because I am blind a danger worth taking to ensure no other blind person faces this kind of discrimination Elder stated the county s handling of the scenario was unacceptable Alameda County lost this incident on every issue required a federal injunction to issue and subjected taxpayers to over million in avoidable legal expense not including the money spent on the County s private losing defense firm Elder announced The Board of Supervisors and citizens should be outraged at this overly litigious mishandling of a meritorious civil rights issue