This Could Be Our Skyline, In a Couple of Decades
-thumb-110x110-460161.jpg)
Cops Get Tough With UC Berkeley Protesters
Photo du Jour 512
Truffle Season, It Is Here
SUV Flip at 10th and Howard
Robert Cruz, 61, and Darwin Dias, 75, filed suit against San Francisco for being in gross violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act. On May 26, 2007, according to reports, "Cruz and Dias, both in motorized wheelchairs, say they took an elevator down from street level to meet friends at Cable Car Coffee in Hallidie Plaza on May 26, 2007. It was a Saturday at about 2:45 p.m." When they returned to the elevator at 4 p.m., they found it shut off with a sign on it that said the elevator only operates until 3 p.m. on weekends. (!) So, they were stuck, "facing 20 stairs up to street level and six stairs down to the station." With little help from Cable Car Coffee staff or two SFPD officers (who suggested they urinate in a corner gutter if they needed relief), firefighters eventually carried them to the lower level. Tomorrow, the Board of Supervisors vote whether or not Cruz and Dias deserve $92,000 for this glaring oversight. What say you, do they deserve $92,000 for SF city employees' (chronic) lack of responsibility?
SF to Pay $92,000 for Stranding Wheelchair-Bound Men
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebookComments (26) [rss]
Post a comment (Comment Policy)
Tips
Contribute
Latest Tip:
i 'm new to sfist.com I was amazed at SFMOMA Avedon photo exhibit. i've done some research and writt
[more]
How long were they stuck there????
Being stranded was certainly bad, but no, it does not mean they deserve $92,000. In their case, their particular handicap and MUNI's dumb policies led to their stranding. But MUNI leaves able people stranded dozens of time a week. Does that mean that each of those able people deserve $92K? No, they just walk or get on a cab. These individuals could have driven away, or if they were going further, could also have taken a taxi. And, yes, Yellow Cab has wheelchair accessible taxis. That said, MUNI better fix their stupid policy of closing their elevators when the trains are still running.
aleph1: please read or re-read the post. You don't understand where they were stranded.
Thanks. It seems I can't read and that they were in fact stranded bellow ground level without a working elevator and ramp. I stand corrected. They do deserve some compensation and MUNI the usual corrective measures. I still think the award is too high.
92K? Wow. I could do a hell of a lot with 92K. Considering me and my GF live in 39K a year and we live in the Tenderloin, that kind of money can go along way!
I do think the city is in the wrong but I don't know where they got that number from.
How do I earn $92,000 in less than a day in San Francisco?
muni driver
The $92,000. is to remind people who are in positions to serve the public, that ALL residents of San Francisco should be served, including those with disabilities. Will the money make a dent in MUNI's budget?, then cut out some of that outrageous and unnecessary overtime.
Wait a minute. Their "friends" arranged to meet them somewhere off street level? That's a bit cruel.
This is a joke right???
Please read or re-read the post. Also, knowledge of Hallidie Plaza is important to understand the situation.
957,124,623,125 GALAXIES
The question is not whether they deserve any money. It's who in the city needs to be fired.
If anyone in this city ever got fired, they would just have to start at the top and replace everyone. Where is the top anyhow and where would a logical, thinking person begin?
I'm pretty far politically from the right wing mouthtards on Fox but when Mayor McCheese Gavin lives in a 3 million dollar 1 bedroom condo overlooking the land he so loves, something does not add up to me.
Find a principle, get a clue already.
Wait - the rats in the wheel stops working on the weekend or something? Why does a machine have Saturday and Sunday nights off?
Because the last time they built an elevator at Hallidie Plaza, people pissed in it so much that it stopped working, at a cost far greater than $92K.
They should seriously just get rid of Hallidie altogether. Landscape it with shrubbery and call it an escalator entrance.
Because in SF, if we leave an unattended elevator open all the time, homeless people will take up residence in it and it will become unusable.
Well shut my mouth and call me a non-native. Is this why we can't have nice things?
This is EXACTLY why we can't have nice things.
The $92K is not to reward these men. It's to punish the jackholes who instituted this stupid policy.
If I were these men, I'd gladly forego the payment in exchange for these poor excuse for police officers being fired and put in prison for sheer stupidity and insensitivity.
I hit submit too fast. The only thing that makes people (and cities) sit up and take notice is when they get hit in the wallet. So yes, I think the $92K should be paid without delay. It sucks, we're in a budget crisis, blah blah. But imagine you are these two men, trapped and humiliated, with two jackasses telling you to piss in a corner. Punishment should ensue so the city will ensure this does not happen to anyone else.
"But imagine you are these two men, trapped and humiliated, with two jackasses telling you to piss in a corner."
I imagined it. Not sure I'd have sued for a hundred thousand dollars. The city screws over a lot of people any given day. The difference between them and these two? Greedy lawyers.
Or lawyers who want to send a strong message that this kind of inhumane treatment is unacceptable. Depends on your perspective, I guess.
If only the $92,000 came out of the employees' paychecks who exhibited such a careless and inhumane attitude. Is it really that difficult to find out who can turn the elevator back on? This is why people will be voting no on all of the May 19th propositions ... why support a government full of workers who couldn't give a shit less and have no incentive to do more with less?
Who is their right mind would sit and have coffee in that disgusting bird shit, human piss infested plaza? The thought makes me want to vomit.
Yeah being stuck sucks, but were these people tourists? Was it their first time ever to have coffee there? Had they not used the elevator before? Was there no sign posted on the elevator when the rode it down?
Its seems like the city did what it could to help them. Police responded and fire fighters came to the rescue. Being told to pee in a corner seems cruel, but when there is no other option that is THE option.
So, yeah that sucks, and no they don't deserve any compensation. If they want fair treatment they should really be charged for the rescue. I would be charged if I got stuck on a cliff and needed rescue.
Also, did they read the sign?