October l9, 2001
U S Department of Justice
Civil Rights Division
Disability Rights Section
P O Box 66738
Washington, DC 20035-6738
RE: Walgreen’s
Charter One Bank
US Post Office
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to my phone conversation on Friday when I called the toll free number to the Justice Dept. Enclosed you will find copies of letters and pictures of the complaints that have been filed with the Illinois Attr. General Off. & their disability department.
As you can see from all the letters and pictures the complaint is the same.
ACCESSIBILITY!!!!!
It has been brought to our attention that the Ill. Dept. For Disabilities follow their own laws and not the Federal Law for ADA. The Cities & Suburbs follow from the state laws. The people with disabilities are in trouble. You can take the ADA law that was put in force ten years ago, is being enforced as every state decides they see fit to enforce the original law drawn up by the Federal Department of Justice, and say it never exists.
Accessibility should mean that anyone in a wheel chair, automatic cart, cane or walker can get into a public building, retail or commercial. The automatic doors stay open at least three or four feet upon entering to three to four feet after you get threw. The main accessibility is getting out of a car or van to an open walk or curb. The handicap spaces should be in front of the door and just to the right the left side of the building.
There is a new censor that opens automatic doors that do not close quickly. The open walks are another matter and this law is not enforced at all. The open curb or walk to a sidewalk that accesses to the doors is usually pitched so steep and the sides are not wide enough that the chances of a person with a cane or walker can fall and a wheel chair or automatic cart can tip.
Please let me tell you our complaints against the Atty.General Jim Ryan and the people that work the disability dept.
l. A handicap person or a person filing a complaint for a group against
retail, commercial, individual companies or corporations should be
informed by letter that the complaint has been filed. The handicap
person that files the complaint should be given the consideration of
answering the messages left when called. Instead of the person handling
the complaint but another person talks to you.
Do not get calls back from the person handling the complaints.
Finally found out that the state has asked for copies of the permits.
Will not get anymore information because the Ill. Atty. Gen.’s office does not have to tell us anything. They have professionals taking care of it. They don’t have time to answer individual complaints.
I have filed the 3 complaints for MS groups of Illinois. The list is on each letter. We are one group but individually worked. If the Atty. Gen.’s office wants to hear from all us, Jim Ryan’s office will be in trouble.
The letters are self-explanatory of what we are pushing for and what we expect the Justice Department to help us with, so the problem is fixed correctly.
Why are we being treated as second rate citizens? Why isn’t a handicap person one of the inspectors’s so when a correction has to be made it is done for the people with disabilities? Please don’t tell us the inspectors are professional trained. They don’t have an idea what we need. They don’t have to struggle everyday with our disability.
This is the Justice Dept.’s fault what is happening to us. England has a board of inspectors most of them are disabled. How could the US Justice do this to us? You know every law made is enforced according to the people interrupting them.
People with disabilities are here to stay because of diseases, accidents and wars. The people with disabilities are being discriminated against everyday. The elected officials and their workers are breaking the law everyday. They can’t say they don’t know anything about it because they are.
We need your help to make sure that we are going to get the dignity we deserve. The only way this can be is we are part of the corrections and that every time an inspector goes to check out a complaint a disabled person goes with. Then we get rid of the discrimination against us.
Please do not take two months to answer this complaint. We will take this one step further if we are not heard. With this new war we will be involved in I hope and pray to God we will not be adding more people to the disability list. PLEASE HELP THE PEOPLES WITH DISABILITY BE TREATED AS EQUALS. The law is on the book start enforcing it.
Cordially yours,
Rosemarie A Botthof
MS Group
460 Eagle Dr Apt 106
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007
Letters and pictures enclosed
CC: Jim Ryan IL Atty. General
IL Dept of Disabilities
Senator Peter Fitzgerald
IL State Pate Phillips
P.S. I was at the Oak Brook Shopping this weekend and please let me tell you I know we are being treated as second rate citizens. This time I had someone with me because I had to use my wheel chair. We went to Nordstom’s because I needed new boots. Parked in a handicap spot and went to get into Nordstrom’s and found out their were six one foot decorative posts on the side walk just as you get onto the walk. A large wheel chair or automatic cart could never get through. Got to the doors and they were not automatic, no sliders or handicap button to open the doors. If I were alone I could not get in. The person I was with could not open the doors so we could get in. A young woman with a doubled seated stroller struggled to open it up from the inside and held it open for us. Another woman held the inside door open. They should have both been automatic. This is the law. Called Nordstrom’s this morning, Sunday, to find out if they were handicapped accessible. I was told they were. Called a friend of my to check this out. SHE DID. There are 4 doors. One door that has steps to get to the door. This is out completely. The other two doors are in the garage. These doors are automatic with the button. The handicap spots are a distance away. These doors bring you to the main floor. At this end of the store the only way to the upper floors is an escalator. NOW, we get to the doors that are not automatic. This door is the outside door from the Route 83. This door leads to an elevator. This door should also be automatic. I also fouled out the Lord & Taylor and Barns and Noble do not have handicap doors. Marshal Field is the only one completely handicapped accessible. Now you tell me if the Ill. Atty. General’s office and the disability department should not be investigated. You also tell me why handicap people should not be the major investigators and a non-handicap person should be along. This is not a new shopping center and had plenty of time to comply with the ADA Law. Someone better make the right decision. This will proceed further within a month.