Posts Tagged ‘autism’

Disabled rights roundup

  • Willingness of Connecticut courts to order accommodation of mental disorders is not limitless, as in case of “dazed and confused” teacher who “frequently reported to the wrong school or for the wrong class” [Chris Engler at Dan Schwartz’s Connecticut Employment Law Blog; Langello v. West Haven Board of Education]
  • “‘Seinfeld’ diner sued for not being handicap-friendly” [NY Post] Florida lawyers descend on New Jersey to file ADA suits [N.J. Civil Justice Institute]
  • “Plaintiffs want to expand lawsuit against Disney for how it treats guests with autism” [Orlando Sentinel]
  • It’s “sad that we need a federal appellate court to remind us” that ADA’s protection of alcoholism does not actually immunize worker fired after repeatedly driving municipal employer’s vehicles drunk [Jon Hyman, Ohio Employer Law Blog]
  • “Employers beware: EEOC appears to be stepping up disability discrimination enforcement” [Hyman] EEOC sues Wal-Mart over firing of intellectually disabled employee [Rockford Register-Star, EEOC]
  • Nice crowd your ADA racket attracts, California [Modesto Bee]
  • Argument: Employers that use “emotional intelligence” measurement in evaluating job applicants may be violating ADA rights of those with autism [Michael John Carley, HuffPo]

RFK Jr. likens effects of vaccination to Nazi death camps

Yes, America’s Most Irresponsible Public Figure® is at it again. [Orac, Respectful Insolence] For good measure, the celebrity environmentalist/wayward scion, speaking in Chicago at a conference called Autism One, is quoted as saying of Dr. Paul Offit and other vaccine scientists, “They should be in jail and the key should be thrown away.” [Age of Autism]

Update: As of Tues. June 3 in the afternoon, the AoA blog post has been taken down. [h/t Justin Miller]

February 3 roundup

  • Judge blocks California budget cuts re: in-home services for disabled [Mercury News]
  • Media exploited her daughter for titillation, claims suit by mother of “Toddlers & Tiaras” star [Above the Law]
  • Narrower definition of autism ahead? [Althouse]
  • “Police Charge Canadian Blogger With Criminal Libel for Criticizing the Police” [Sullum, Popehat]
  • Prince George’s County, Maryland, wants to ban liquor deliveries; no harm linked to them, but you can’t be too sure [Ben Giles, Washington Examiner] Centers for Disease Control’s curious definition of “binge” drinking [Sullum]
  • The law of authors’ liability for inaccurate memoirs [Mark Fowler, Rights Of Writers; earlier here, etc.]
  • “Diagnosing Liability: The Legal History of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder” [Deirdre M. Smith, SSRN via TortsProf]

December 20 roundup

November 17 roundup

  • Executive with “Autism Speaks” group quits to found group more aligned with scientific opinion on cause of condition [SciAm]
  • Here comes the ban-cigarettes-entirely crusade [Peter Singer on forthcoming Robert Proctor “Golden Holocaust”] “Parents try to blame Four Loko for son getting shot” [Elie Mystal, Above the Law] Still-relevant cartoon from ’30s on Federal War on Drugs (or Booze, take your pick) [Perry]
  • Controversy over definition of medical disorders in DSM-V has implications for workplace law including ADA, FMLA [Labor Related, petition]
  • “Not Safe to Display an American Flag in an American High School” [Volokh]
  • “Criminal Defense Lawyer Charged in Alleged $1.5M Fraud On Clients Obtained Under False Pretenses” [ABA Journal, Greenfield; Texas]
  • Father of Notre Dame student who died says family never considered suing [Chicago Tribune]
  • “The Ignominious End Of The Digitek Mass Tort” [Beck]

Salon yanks discredited RFK Jr. vaccine piece

Six years late, the online publication is throwing in the towel on a notorious venture into antiscientific claptrap by America’s Most Irresponsible Public Figure®, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Meanwhile, Carter at Point of Law reports that the newly civility-aware celebrity environmentalist will be headlining a “Progressive Voices Cruise” of the Caribbean that by total coincidence will also feature attorney Michael Papantonio, with whose Levin Papantonio injury-law firm the hothead scion has long been associated, a connection curiously absent from his current Wikipedia page and most other coverage (& welcome Jonathan Adler readers).

“Wakefield’s article linking MMR vaccine and autism was fraudulent”

A British Medical Journal editorial confirms that scientific misconduct by then-Dr. Andrew Wakefield was even worse than previously assumed. The resulting media-fueled panic led parents to refuse vaccination in large numbers, and childhood scourges such as measles soared as a result, with disability and even death resulting. Wakefield was being financed by lawyers hoping to sue the vaccine industry. [Respectful Insolence, CNN, AP, Adler]

“1-800-Ask-Gary firm sues lawyers over critical blog”

“Three lawyers say they were just engaging in legitimate speech about the 1-800-Ask-Gary [lawyer-referral] hot line. Not amused, the people behind Ask Gary sued.” [Tampa Tribune] Separately, the hotline’s founder, Sarasota chiropractor Gary Kompothecras, has drawn press attention for the active role he’s taken in the autism-vaccine wars. [Miami New Times and followups here and here]