Richard Bernstein Talks About Fight for Disability Access to UM Stadium

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Part 2 (click to play):

Michigan Association of Justice - Rapid Fire Seminar

May 8, 2009

We as trial attorneys approach the world in our own way, in our own time. I have always come to believe that adversity creates passion; passion allows for purpose, purpose gives rise to connection.

I got a call from the executive director of the Paralyzed Veterans of America, an organization that does exactly as it sounds, that works with all veterans of the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. He indicated to me that there were great problems at the University of Michigan. They had a number of young veterans who were returning home from conflict and who were going to the rehab center that was very close to the stadium. And he said that one of the greatest issues that they were having was re-acclimating the younger ROTC grads into their classes, into their daily activities. They felt isolated. They felt like they didn’t belong.

Before the conflict, they were with their friends doing things that friends do when they’re in college. After the conflict, they weren’t even able to go to a football game with their friends, with their neighbors, with their community. It was an interesting situation. It was a cold November day, when all members of the U.S. Armed Services came together in front of the University of Michigan Board of Regents to ask them that, before moving forward on new stadium construction, that they please, please do an appropriate A.D.A. compliance assessment, to ensure that veterans could be a part of the facilities.

What was remarkable about this situation was that in a vote of 6 to 2, in front of all branches of the United States Armed Services, the University of Michigan Regents voted to ignore them and move ahead with construction plans, despite the objections that were brought before them.

As the New York Times, USA Today, Chronicle of Higher Education, and CNN all indicated, this case would ultimately define the outcome of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Ultimately, when you hear A.D.A., you might think employment, you might think certain things, but A.D.A. is civil and consumer rights. As the New York Times reported, the outcome and disposition of the case against the University of Michigan, would ultimately define the quality of life for disabled people all across the country.

For what the University of Michigan was contending, was that a $300 million project was nothing more than a “repair.” And the University contended that it was, in no way, an alteration. So as a result, there was no need for them to bring the facility into A.D.A. compliance.

Democrats have to do better. There can be no excuse for the conduct of the Michigan Regents and the University of Michigan President, who contended that it was O.K. that members of the United States Armed Services were soiling themselves within their stadium because there were no restrooms for them to use, that veterans were getting injured in stadium parking because the slopes were too high, that in the seats that they were assigned they were not able to see over people who stood in front of them. The dangers that they faced going up and down ramps with hundreds of thousands of people, where they would injure themselves because they couldn’t get up and down safely. They couldn’t visit concession stands the way that everyone else could.

But what was most outrageous about the behavior of the University of Michigan was the fact that this would have threatened every commercial piece of real estate in the United States. Owners of restaurants, shopping centers, any commercial facility, like the one we are here at today, would simply be able to skirt the A.D.A. and say, no matter what they were doing, that they were repairing, that they were not altering.

Thus, what is good for the disabled is good for everyone, what is bad for the disabled is consequently bad for everyone. The idea that disabled people or senior citizens would not have access to shopping facilities, would not have access to airports, would not have access to hotels, would not have access to restaurants, was apparently of no consequence to Mary Sue Coleman, Bill Martin and the Regents of the University of Michigan.

All the members of the United States Armed Services were requesting was that they be able to attend a game safely, use an actual restroom, and perhaps visit a concession stand. The lesson that comes out of this case is a simple one, that ultimately, when big corporations or big entities feel that they can govern because they have all the power and they have all the resources, it is up to us as trial attorneys, it is up to us as guardians of people and the law, to step up and say “This is unacceptable.”

It is ironic to me that there is a committee that is being formed to establish who our next U.S. attorney is going to be and who our next federal judges are going to be. But our high ranking officials, Senator Carl Levin, seem to think that it is more important that the corporate lawyers ultimately make these decisions.

When you look at who comprises the committee, you’ll always have your token number of people from this group. But what the big shots always seem to think, what Carl Levin seems to think, what Governor Granholm, unfortunately I believe, seem to think, is the fact that, when it comes to real decisions about who really creates the law and who should really interpret the law, when we put these committees together, let’s look to the large firms, let’s look to the corporate firms, let’s look to corporate litigators, let’s look to the transactional attorneys because, I believe, that they tend to think that those attorneys are better attorneys than we are.

In many situations, those are the same types of attorneys who make the arguments that disabled people should not have access to the University of Michigan facility, or that disabled people should be limited to where they can shop and where they should go, that disabled people should not have the right to fly on Northwest Airlines or access the airport in the way in which the law should intend for them to do.

We always seem in the legal profession, to allow for our elected officials to continually tell us just how hard they’re working, just how hard Governor Granholm is working, just how hard the state Democrats are working.

You know, when was the last time that you went to one of your clients and you told them, “Oh God, I am just working so hard.” When was the last time one of your clients cared? I can assure you that the United States Marines didn’t want to hear about it. Because as we sit here and we hear from the high ranking Democratic officials, we will hear time in and time out, “Oh, we’re working to get Kreiner done, we’re working to do this, we’re working to do that, but you know there is this obstruction.”

It’s one guy, who is over in the State Senate. You have the Governor’s mansion, you have the State House, and now you have a good showing on the Supreme Court, but yet they are going to say, “We are working just so hard.” Oh God, we have to get these people towels they’re working so hard. One guy, in the State Senate! I can assure you that we don’t approach our clients that way. We don’t talk about just how hard we work. We don’t talk about what our effort is. No one really cares. You’ve got to win sometimes. You’ve got to have some results sometimes.

In the cases that I have handled, I can assure you that the Paralyzed Veterans, who were fighting with then-Mayor Kilpatrick, so they could ride the bus to have dialysis and receive their health care, really did not care how hard I was working. As they were sitting outside in temperatures that were indescribable for hours and hours at a time, because no one would help them or step up, they did not care how hard I was working. They needed a remedy, they needed help. They needed something to be done.

The Paralyzed Veterans of America, who mainly comprise, which I think is a very interesting thing, the members of the United States Marines, because as I learned from working with these folks for over two years, what I realized is that when you are looking at the combat injuries, it tends to be the Marines that will often have the most severe. So the Paralyzed Veterans, though representing all branches of the United States Armed Services, were mainly comprised of the United States Marines.

What was remarkable to me about the behavior of our elected officials in Lansing was the fact that the United States Armed Forces, members of the U.S. Armed Forces, the ones who are the most respected because they are the ones who gave the greatest sacrifice to this country by being paralyzed in combat, formally requested in writing, from the Governor’s office, from all high ranking officials, both Democrats and Republicans in Lansing, that we at least be heard on this issue.

These are people that will have hearings on everything under the sun to the point of nausea, but we were officially denied by the Governor, by the State Senate, and by the State House, Republicans and Democrats alike, that our people should have a chance to be heard.

A call came into Wayne State University from a high ranking Democratic legislator on the House side. Wayne is heavily dependent on state appropriations for our survival. A high ranking Wayne State official indicated to me that the caller from the State Legislature had indicated that it would be best if I did not pursue the University of Michigan, if I were to leave this one alone. It would be best for not only me, but it would be best for Wayne State during these difficult appropriation times. We have to make sacrifices and establish priorities, so perhaps it would be best if I did not move forward fighting for the rights of veterans. A high ranking legislator on the House Democratic side, Democrat, made that call to one of our governmental affairs people at Wayne State University.

We can do better. We have to do better. We’re not going to accept the same rhetoric. We’re not going to accept the same excuses. We’re not going to accept the same game.

I’m going to conclude by giving you a sense of the outcome of what happened with the University of Michigan. The veterans only requested that they be treated with dignity and respect. They only requested that maybe we could have a ramp that they could use that was safe, some seats that they could see from, and a restroom. We were told absolutely not, under no circumstances. But Mary Sue Coleman and the Democratic Regents were so concerned about the United States Armed Services, that they had indicated that we care about you so much, we will let your people use port-a-potties.

Can you imagine going to a shopping center, a movie theatre, or this hotel, and having a precedent being established that says that disabled people can go use port-a-potties? We can do better, we must do better. This cannot continue.

The end of this case ultimately resulted after two years of intense litigation and an intervention from the United States Department of Justice, who indicated that, because of the University of Michigan’s behavior and conduct, a three-year period in which to oversee the University of Michigan’s behavior and conduct was not sufficient. Due to their behavior, due to the way they handled this entire case, [the Justice Department] had to petition for an additional two years, which means that the University of Michigan will be under supervision for no less than five years for violating the basic civil rights of its disabled members.

The irony of this is if you take on these cases, if you accept these challenges, if you get involved in these issues, you have to understand you won’t have many friends. You will be alone, you will be attacked. But if you do what is right, if you do what is just, if you do what is noble, you can allow for a facility that now has to be rebuilt. New parking, new concessions, new concourses, new concrete, new portals all around the stadium, new seating with access for disabled people in all sections, not just one restroom being accessible but all restrooms must be accessible, even the locker rooms must be accessible including the coaches offices, so that disabled reporters have the chance to cover the story the way their brothers and sisters do.

You have to stick with it. You have to fight. You have to believe. But most importantly, you have to be in this for the right reason. You have to be in it because you believe, because you care, because you know what you have to do. You have to believe in it, not because it sounds good, but because it is good.

For ultimately, it has always been the trial lawyers that have stepped up on all the high profile cases, on all the key issues. It’s not really the corporate folks, it’s always us. We understand people, we relate to people, but most importantly we connect with people. I might be a member of the Michigan Association of Justice, but I am truly, mostly, no entirely, without question, a trial lawyer.

September 13, 2010

A. J. Filippis – Presentation of Courage Award:

I also am a board member of the Athletes with Disabilities Network, which was put together of two organizations; and that’s the Athletes with Disabilities Hall of Fame, which my father started 12 years ago to recognize disabled athletes. Those of you who haven’t experienced seeing the Paralympics games or Special Olympics see these individuals that work twice as hard as you and I do every day just to achieve their goals.

And this award really is to recognize an individual who does just that, who has done just that. We were talking in the hall, and he kept saying, and I’m sure he’ll talk about it a little bit, that it was really my father who drove that. He felt like sports changed his life when he lost both of his legs at the age of 12, and sports obviously had a huge effect on his life.

So, with this, I want to bring up and recognize the Wright and Filippis Courage Award Winner this year, Richard Bernstein.

Richard Bernstein - Acceptance Speech:

This week, I got a call from a young mother who told me, “I’m a religious person. I believe so strongly in Hashem, I believe so strongly in God. I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, but I don’t know what to do, because my child was born blind. I feel totally and completely devastated. I don’t know what the future is going to hold, and I don’t know what is ultimately going to happen.”

This being the Jewish new year, she indicated to me that her one prayer, was that her child could live an ordinary life.

As I thought about our conversation, and as I thought about her words, I thought back to my best friend Tony Filippis, who got me involved in athletic competitions. I thought about how Tony encouraged me by saying, “Athletics will change your life. Athletics will enhance your soul. Athletics will change who you are.” I thought about my friend Tony, who every day when I would speak with him, we would take on another challenge. Tony was so proud after each and every athletic competition.

After competing and completing 12 marathons, and in the past year completing an Ironman competition in Coeur d’Alene Idaho, I was able to convey to this young mother, the message that we take from tonight’s inductees and to all of us who enjoy athletics, is that athletic competition, athletic sport, is what allows for extraordinary things to happen. It’s what allows for extraordinary things to take place in each and every one of our lives.

For ultimately, what athletic competition teaches us, is the incredible distinction between the body and the soul. The body will experience tremendous pain, tremendous hardship, tremendous difficulty, but what every athlete will tell you, whether they’re competing in a marathon, whether it’s an ironman, whether it’s a swimmer, whether it’s a football player, a hockey player, a basketball player, no matter what that athletic competition will be, is that what every athlete knows is that when your body experiences tremendous pain, tremendous agony, tremendous hardship, when your body feels as though it cannot move another step or do another thing, it’s ultimately your spirit, it’s ultimately your soul that’s what takes over.

That’s what allows you to achieve. That’s what allows you to ultimately make it. That’s what athletics represents. That’s what athletics means.

As I conclude my comments here tonight, the reason that we celebrate athletes, the reason that we celebrate sports, is because it symbolizes life in its essence.

Athletic competition is pain, is challenge, is struggle, is sorrow - while at the same time, triumph, euphoria, admiration, and ultimately overall spiritual survival. Athletics brings out the best in each and every one of us and in our community.

So as we turn back to this young mother who had this question, who had this prayer, it’s through athletics, it’s through competition, it’s through endurance, it’s through perseverance, that you recognize that you’ll cross that line, you’ll reach that finish, and no matter what your circumstances, no matter what your situation, you will find your way home and achieve that which is what we all look for, a sense of true, genuine, and lasting inner peace.

Frank Beckmann - Closing Remarks:

I’ll tell you what, when the Hall of Fame induction class stands up to applaud you, Richard Bernstein, you know that you’ve hit it on the head with everybody here. Thank you so much for the inspiring words and for spreading that to people who can overcome whatever is placed in front of them.