La Vista vet stands up for rights of disabled (WON the 1.5 mill from QuikTrip 4 ALL!)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/article/20101009/NEWS01/710099859

Published Saturday October 9, 2010

By Leia Mendoza
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER


It's not easy for Martin Ware to get around. The 75-year-old Army veteran uses an electric wheelchair often and needs at least a cane to get around his La Vista home. He wears corrective shoes because his toes on both feet are fused, and he moves around with braces on his leg, arm and back.

What frustrates him more, he says, is being unable to access a local business or public facility because of his disability, something federal law is supposed to prevent.

His angst about the accessibility of two Omaha-area QuikTrip convenience stores led in July to a national, million-dollar settlement — one of the largest involving the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, federal officials said.

Ware said he'd had enough of being unable to go inside the stores because an access ramp was blocked or being unable to get help pumping gas.

“It's not just about me,” Ware said. “I stepped up to the plate for the rest of the disabled veterans … and other handicapped people.”

The consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice requires QuikTrip to establish a $1.5 million fund to compensate anyone who experienced disability-based discrimination at a QuikTrip gas station, convenience store, travel center or truck stop. As part of the settlement, the company acknowledged no fault but agreed to the terms to avoid further litigation.

FULL story and photo at link.