Disabled Man, O.C. Reach Tentative Pact on Access

A prospective juror who sued Orange County over lack of wheelchair access at courthouses has reached a tentative settlement, his lawyer said Monday.

Arthur Blaser, a political science professor at Chapman University in Orange, alleged in his January 1998 lawsuit that the county violated the Americans With Disabilities Act by depriving him of his right to serve as a juror because court facilities were not accessible for those in wheelchairs.

Laura Diamond, an attorney for the Center for Law in the Public Interest representing Blaser, said, “If the terms of this agreement are adhered to, I feel confident that Orange County will be a place that is much more accessible to people with disabilities of all kinds. I am very pleased with the result.”

Marianne Van Riper, deputy county counsel, would not discuss the proposed agreement except to say that “we will be presenting a possible settlement to the Board of Supervisors” as early as today. She said the matter is likely to be discussed in closed session.

The 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act requires municipalities to make government services, buildings, programs and activities accessible to the disabled. Although the deadline for compliance was Jan. 26, 1995, Orange County officials said the county’s bankruptcy the previous year had prevented them from solving access problems.

“To the county’s credit,” Diamond said Monday, “they acknowledged that they hadn’t complied with the law and, almost from the beginning, worked with us to come up with a remedy.”

Under the terms of the tentative settlement, she said, the county would conduct a survey of all the buildings and facilities under its jurisdiction and devise a plan for making them accessible to disabled people within four years. To oversee the process, she said, the county would set up an advisory committee including people with disabilities and others with expertise on the architectural requirements of ADA.

The proposed agreement also calls for Orange County to pay about $30,000 in legal fees, Diamond said.

Blaser did not seek damages.

The 45-year-old Orange resident suffered a stroke in May 1993 that left him in a wheelchair. Blaser said he was summoned to jury duty by the Orange County Superior Court in 1994 and 1996. The first time, he said, he was sent to Harbor Court in Newport Beach, where he discovered that the restroom could not accommodate his wheelchair. Upon receiving his second notice, Blaser said, he responded in a questionnaire that he had special needs due to his disability and was promptly excused.

“I never wanted to be excused,” the professor said at the time.