Washington, D.C. (June 17, 2024): Laurette Santos, a dedicated and experienced clinical social worker employed by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) at its facility in White City, Oregon, has filed a lawsuit against the VA in federal court in the District of Columbia. The lawsuit alleges violations of Section 508 and Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 arising from the VA’s use of inaccessible technology and failure to accommodate Ms. Santos, who is blind. The National Federation of the Blind, the transformative membership and advocacy organization of blind Americans, is supporting the litigation. 

Ms. Santos, who has served the VA for over a decade, relies on the Job Access With Speech (JAWS) screen reader software to perform her job duties. Screen readers convert text and other content on a computer screen into spoken words (or Braille output through a connected device) and allow blind users to access and interact with applications using a keyboard instead of a mouse. Despite her proven history of excellent performance coordinating services for visually impaired veterans and service members, the VA's implementation of an inaccessible electronic health record (EHR) system, Cerner Millennium, has severely curtailed her ability to do her job independently.

Section 508 requires all electronic and information technology purchased or used by federal agencies to be accessible. However, the complaint alleges the VA failed to ensure that the Cerner EHR system complied with Section 508 accessibility standards before its implementation. Despite multiple audits and repeated reporting of the system’s inaccessibility, the VA deployed Cerner, which requires the use of a mouse and has other features incompatible with JAWS and other screen readers, at its White City facility. This deployment has forced Ms. Santos to rely on sighted colleagues to perform essential tasks, undermining her ability to serve veterans effectively and jeopardizing her clinical license. Furthermore, the VA has not provided Ms. Santos with the reasonable accommodations necessary for her to perform her job independently, in violation of Section 501. The VA has failed to offer a workable solution or a timeline for resolving the accessibility issues with Cerner.

The lawsuit alleges that the VA’s actions constitute ongoing violations of both Section 508 and Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act. Ms. Santos seeks a declaration of her rights, a permanent injunction requiring the VA to halt the use of non-compliant technology, and the establishment of accessibility review teams within the VA, among other relief. 

“It is my privilege to serve our nation’s courageous veterans, including many with disabilities, but my ability to do so is severely compromised,” said Ms. Santos. “This case is not just about me, but about the quality services our veterans deserve and the ability of all federal employees to provide these and other services to our country in a manner that is equally effective.” 

“Over twenty-five years after Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act required federal agencies to procure and deploy accessible technology, covered entities like the VA are still overwhelmingly noncompliant,” said Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind. “We are supporting this litigation not only to help an outstanding blind employee of a critical agency, but also to serve notice to other agencies throughout the federal government that continued willful failure to comply must come to an end and that blind Americans will not stop fighting until it does.”