Two members of the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University will stand before a court in Florida on Tuesday morning and defend a woman who claims she was fired from her job because of her disability.

Peter Blanck, chairman of the BBI, and Matthew Dietz, a Burton Blatt Advisory Board member, are both presenting in the case, which will occur at the 11th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Jacksonville, Fla.

The BBI, housed in Suite 300 of Crouse-Hinds Hall, works to advance the participation of people with disabilities in society. It has a staff of more than 60 individuals, many of whom have family members with disabilities or are disabled themselves.

Tuesday’s case will involve Sherrie Kaw, who was fired in 2006 because her condition, cardiogenic syncope, caused her to faint while at her job. The School District of Hillsborough County called her a danger to herself and the children around her.

When Dietz presented this case last year, the jury ruled Kaw’s termination was in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

‘They based their decision on the negative stereotypes that the ADA is all about,’ said Dietz, the lead lawyer on the case.

Though the jury ruled in Kaw’s favor, the judge overruled the decision in what is called a judgment as a matter of law.

The American with Disabilities Act was originally written in 1990 and amended in 2008. The amendments in 2008 expanded the definition of people with disabilities and made it easier for people with disabilities to get recognition from the law.

But since Kaw’s case began in 2006, and since laws that change rights do not have a retroactive effect, Blanck and Dietz are fighting the older and narrower law. Dietz said if Kaw’s case was considered under the new law, it wouldn’t be an issue.

‘If you don’t look at issues with disabilities in a multidimensional framework, you’re going to get bad law, and that’s what’s happened in regard to the ADA,’ Dietz said.

The BBI has been instrumental in disability awareness and change across the globe, said Blanck, chairman of the institute. The BBI has several other offices across the country, including Washington, D.C., New York and Atlanta.

The BBI employs a variety of professionals from many different fields, including lawyers, policymakers, psychologists, social workers, economists and many others, all working toward improving disability services, Blanck said.

‘That’s what makes it so interesting. It’s an eclectic and interesting group that approaches problems in real time and from multiple perspectives, but also with the disability community,’ Blanck said. ‘We don’t study the disability community, we work as members of and part of the disability community.’

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission cited Blanck’s research in its final rules and regulations for the employment provision of the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to a March 25 news release from the BBI.

‘That’s the whole point. What you want to do is write things that are useful, that the government can use to help people,’ Blanck said.

Blanck said his economic research showed that the benefits of the law outweighed the costs.

He founded the BBI in 2005 when he came to SU. Blanck is a University Professor, the highest faculty rank granted to only eight people before him. Blanck has worked with Chancellor Nancy Cantor to create an institute that focuses not only on research and writing, but also on taking action.

‘We want to do things that are credible and scientifically rigorous, but have a real impact,’ he said. ‘And we’ve been really fortunate, I think, to do a lot of those things.’

The institute takes its name from Dean Burton Blatt, who died in 1985. Blatt came to SU in 1969 as a professor in the School of Education. He was named dean of the School of Education in 1976, according to the university’s website.

Blatt was a forerunner in the field of disability services, according to the website. He wrote more than 100 books and articles, including his famous photo story ‘Christmas in Purgatory,’ which highlighted the awful conditions of asylum living. He was honored with awards for his work.

‘He inspired a whole generation at Syracuse to focus on civil rights, human rights, particularly around disability,’ Blanck said. ‘I think the key is to build on what is a very strong disability culture here.’

Rachel Patterson, a graduate student in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs working toward her master’s in public administration, is a research assistant at the BBI. Patterson, who has two younger siblings with disabilities, was drawn to SU because of its expansive history in disability work.

Patterson has spent most of her time at the BBI working with Michael Morris, CEO at the BBI, tracking Medicaid changes in New York state and how they will affect people with disabilities.

She said it is important to have something like the BBI on SU’s campus because of the university’s history and reputation in the field. She also believes the BBI can have a broader effect, she said.

‘Broadly, it’s important to have organizations writing, publishing and thinking about disabilities because it’s not something that’s always considered,’ Patterson said. ‘Comparing it to issues of diversity or equality, it’s on its way, but it hasn’t quite gained that status.’

Morris, the institute’s CEO, heads the Washington, D.C., office, analyzing and writing policy and working with Congress and the White House. Before joining the BBI, Morris was the national executive director of United Cerebral Palsy, which works to provide support services to people with disabilities. Morris came to Washington, D.C., 30 years ago, after he was named the first Joseph P. Kennedy Fellow in Public Policy.

Morris’ research has been implemented by Congress, according to the BBI website. He said disability services have always been the focal point of his professional career.

In addition to providing strategic direction for the office, he oversees the day-to-day management of the office’s projects. The goal is to make people more aware of how disabilities affect individuals and their families, Morris said.

‘We are focused on problem solving and really building solutions for the 21st century so that the next generation of people with disabilities really has all the opportunities that anyone else has,’ he said.

Blanck and Dietz plan to argue under this principle during the court case on Tuesday.

‘In some ways, I think we’ve already won,’ Dietz said. ‘We’ve won in the sense that we’ve raised awareness, we’ve made a statement on behalf of our client that this sort of discrimination is going to be fought against.’

mjfahner@syr.edu

Published on April 11, 2011 at 12:00 pm