Providing information, education, and training to build knowledge, develop skills, and change attitudes that will lead to increased independence, productivity, self determination, integration and inclusion (IPSII) for people with developmental disabilities and their families.

SAN FRANCISCO,
CALIFORNIA--Five years ago, Taco Bell Corp., the nations' largest Mexican fast
food chain, settled a disability discrimination lawsuit by agreeing to modify
the 40 restaurants it owned in Colorado to make them more accessible to people
with mobility-related disabilities.

Soon after the suit was settled, Tim Fox, the lead disability rights
attorney involved in the Colorado case, started hearing complaints about access
problems with Taco Bell restaurants in California. So Fox and his wife, fellow
attorney Amy Robertson, and a group of Bay Area civil rights lawyers decided it
was time to file a legal action against the company for violating the 1990
Americans with Disabilities Act and California laws.

Four Californians with disabilities are named as plaintiffs in the suit
which was granted class action status last year. Each is seeking $4,000 in
damages for each visit a user of a wheelchair or motorized scooter to a
company-owned Taco Bell restaurant since December 2001. While the suit only
applies to restaurants owned by Taco Bell Corp., it is hoped the 500
franchisee-owned Taco Bells in California will take note and make their own
accessibility modifications without being sued.

The suit accuses Taco Bell of having store doors which are too heavy for
wheelchair users to open, soft-drink stations that are too high for them to
access, and metal line dividers -- designed to keep waiting customers in order
-- that are too narrow for them to use, forcing wheelchair users to cut into
the front of the line.

"It is really, really embarrassing," plaintiff Edward Muegge told the
Los Angeles Times of his experience with the line dividers.

"You are standing out and that is something we don't like. We want to
just flow through with everyone else."

A Taco Bell spokesperson told the LA Times that the restaurants do
comply with the ADA and state accessibility guidelines.

The two sides have agreed to have San Diego accessibility consultant Bob
Evans evaluate how each California Taco Bell-owned restaurant complies with
more than 600 disability-related structural issues. The parties will then
review Evans' reports and discuss what changes might need to be made. Once
those issues are resolved, the sides will negotiate for damages.

The case will go to trial next year if they cannot reach an
agreement.

The GCDD is funded under the provisions of P.L. 106-402. The federal law also provides funding to the Minnesota Disability Law Center,the state Protection and Advocacy System, and to the Institute on Community Integration, the state University Center for Excellence. The Minnesota network of programs works to increase the IPSII of people with developmental disabilities and families into community life.