Ellen
03-21-2006, 09:44 AM
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/03/21/parents_of_diabetic_7_win_a_victory?mode=PF
Parents of diabetic, 7, win a victory
Wellesley camp operator won't bar such children
By Shelley Murphy, Globe Staff | March 21, 2006
The 7-year-old girl takes gymnastics and swimming lessons and goes to day camps and afterschool programs. But in summer 2004, the operators of the Wellesley Sports Club ejected her on her first day in their day-camp program because she had diabetes.
Yesterday, however, the girl's parents, Kay Thompson and Quintus Medley of Wellesley, declared a victory for all children with diabetes as the club's owners, Town Sports International Inc., agreed not to discriminate against children with the condition as part of a federal court settlement with the US Department of Justice and the Disability Law Center in Boston. The company also agreed to pay $25,000 to the girl, $20,000 to the Disability Law Center, and $5,000 to the Justice Department.
''I think it's good for her to know that we felt it was wrong and we were able to not let them get away with it," said Thompson, who asked that her daughter's name not be used to protect her privacy. ''It shows that she can participate in these kinds of environments and she shouldn't accept being excluded."
Washington attorney Maria Hallas, who represents Town Sports International, said neither she nor anyone from the company would talk about the case, because ''It is TSI's policy not to comment on any litigation."
In a lawsuit filed last year in US District Court in Boston on behalf of Thompson and her daughter, the Disability Law Center said that Thompson had notified the sports club's Camp Wellesley in advance that her daughter had diabetes mellitus and wears a pump that automatically injects insulin into her bloodstream.
Thompson, a doctor who works as a family practitioner at a Walpole clinic affiliated with Newton-Wellesley Hospital, showed camp counselors and other employees how to monitor the pump, which keeps track of her daughter's blood sugar.
But, the girl was told not to return after attending for one day, the suit alleges, because the camp needed more medical documentation and approval from Wellesley's Health Department. Yet, even after the department and the girl's doctors approved her attendance at the camp, the suit says Thompson was told that Town Sports International's corporate managers decided she couldn't return because her diabetes was ''too complex for them to handle."
Thompson and Medley said they were surprised because their daughter, now a second-grader, had been to preschools, afterschool programs, and other camps in Jamaica Plain, Wellesley, and Needham without incident.
''Everybody else has always been so accommodating and never sort of put up any kind of barriers for her," Thompson said.
After their daughter was excluded, she spent the next week in a camp run by the Wellesley Recreation Department, but the program was booked the rest of the summer, Thompson said.
Attorney Pamela Coveney of the Disability Law Center argued in her lawsuit that Town Sports International had violated the girl's rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act. ''The law says that you have to reasonably accommodate a person with a disability," she said.
The Justice Department agreed and filed a motion to intervene in the case.
Yesterday, all of the parties signed a consent decree, which settles the suit. Town Sports International did not admit liability or violating any rights, but agreed not to discriminate against any camper with diabetes. The company agreed to provide diabetic campers with an equal opportunity to participate in all camp programs, unless the camper's participation would pose a ''direct threat" or would force the camp to fundamentally alter its program.
The company must notify the Justice Department and provide reasons for exluding a child with diabetes.
''Diabetes, nor any other disability should keep children from participating in summer camp," said US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan in a press release issued yesterday. ''Camps and child care providers should be on notice that their policies and practices cannot limit or preclude the participation of children with disabilities. Diabetics live full and productive lives and should not suffer discrimination in any community programs or services."
Stanley Eichner, executive director of the Disability Law Center, said that under the consent decree, Town Sports International will appoint a diabetes management coordinator, provide training to camp personnel, implement a plan to evaluate the needs of campers with diabetes, and establish a program for accommodating those needs.
The agreement says the camp must accommodate children who require pumps or injections for diabetes. According to Coveney, the company has ''a very high burden to meet to justify not admitting a child with diabetes."
Parents of diabetic, 7, win a victory
Wellesley camp operator won't bar such children
By Shelley Murphy, Globe Staff | March 21, 2006
The 7-year-old girl takes gymnastics and swimming lessons and goes to day camps and afterschool programs. But in summer 2004, the operators of the Wellesley Sports Club ejected her on her first day in their day-camp program because she had diabetes.
Yesterday, however, the girl's parents, Kay Thompson and Quintus Medley of Wellesley, declared a victory for all children with diabetes as the club's owners, Town Sports International Inc., agreed not to discriminate against children with the condition as part of a federal court settlement with the US Department of Justice and the Disability Law Center in Boston. The company also agreed to pay $25,000 to the girl, $20,000 to the Disability Law Center, and $5,000 to the Justice Department.
''I think it's good for her to know that we felt it was wrong and we were able to not let them get away with it," said Thompson, who asked that her daughter's name not be used to protect her privacy. ''It shows that she can participate in these kinds of environments and she shouldn't accept being excluded."
Washington attorney Maria Hallas, who represents Town Sports International, said neither she nor anyone from the company would talk about the case, because ''It is TSI's policy not to comment on any litigation."
In a lawsuit filed last year in US District Court in Boston on behalf of Thompson and her daughter, the Disability Law Center said that Thompson had notified the sports club's Camp Wellesley in advance that her daughter had diabetes mellitus and wears a pump that automatically injects insulin into her bloodstream.
Thompson, a doctor who works as a family practitioner at a Walpole clinic affiliated with Newton-Wellesley Hospital, showed camp counselors and other employees how to monitor the pump, which keeps track of her daughter's blood sugar.
But, the girl was told not to return after attending for one day, the suit alleges, because the camp needed more medical documentation and approval from Wellesley's Health Department. Yet, even after the department and the girl's doctors approved her attendance at the camp, the suit says Thompson was told that Town Sports International's corporate managers decided she couldn't return because her diabetes was ''too complex for them to handle."
Thompson and Medley said they were surprised because their daughter, now a second-grader, had been to preschools, afterschool programs, and other camps in Jamaica Plain, Wellesley, and Needham without incident.
''Everybody else has always been so accommodating and never sort of put up any kind of barriers for her," Thompson said.
After their daughter was excluded, she spent the next week in a camp run by the Wellesley Recreation Department, but the program was booked the rest of the summer, Thompson said.
Attorney Pamela Coveney of the Disability Law Center argued in her lawsuit that Town Sports International had violated the girl's rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act. ''The law says that you have to reasonably accommodate a person with a disability," she said.
The Justice Department agreed and filed a motion to intervene in the case.
Yesterday, all of the parties signed a consent decree, which settles the suit. Town Sports International did not admit liability or violating any rights, but agreed not to discriminate against any camper with diabetes. The company agreed to provide diabetic campers with an equal opportunity to participate in all camp programs, unless the camper's participation would pose a ''direct threat" or would force the camp to fundamentally alter its program.
The company must notify the Justice Department and provide reasons for exluding a child with diabetes.
''Diabetes, nor any other disability should keep children from participating in summer camp," said US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan in a press release issued yesterday. ''Camps and child care providers should be on notice that their policies and practices cannot limit or preclude the participation of children with disabilities. Diabetics live full and productive lives and should not suffer discrimination in any community programs or services."
Stanley Eichner, executive director of the Disability Law Center, said that under the consent decree, Town Sports International will appoint a diabetes management coordinator, provide training to camp personnel, implement a plan to evaluate the needs of campers with diabetes, and establish a program for accommodating those needs.
The agreement says the camp must accommodate children who require pumps or injections for diabetes. According to Coveney, the company has ''a very high burden to meet to justify not admitting a child with diabetes."