The subject of tort reform in Mississippi has been dominating local news lately. The debate rages between trial lawyers and medical doctors; the doctors seek more protection from frivolous lawsuits, and the lawyers seek protection from their overspending wives. The fact that we live in a lawsuit-obsessed society is readily apparent to anyone who has seen the warnings on a McDonald’s coffee cup. After a woman spilled hot coffee in her lap and burned herself badly, she sued the fast food chain for not warning her that the coffee was hot. In an all-time low for common sense fans nationwide, our clumsy Big Mac- hating friend won a truckload of money in the case.
Recently, a new case surfaced in the news that defied logic yet again.
Last Friday, U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz ruled that Southwest Airlines was not in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The airline was operating a Web site that sold plane tickets online. Access Now, a blind advocacy group, sued the airline because their Web site was not accessible to blind people.
Blind people, like everyone else, have personal limitations. People with vision problems obviously encounter more problems as a result of their limitations.
Before anyone makes any assumptions, I want to say that I have a great deal of respect for blind and vision-impaired people. My father is close to being legally blind. At the rate my vision is going down the tubes, I will likely be following in my old man’s footsteps.
However, I think this lawsuit was simply ridiculous. I have a limitation. I cannot fly. Should I seek to gain equality and a large sum of money by bringing a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines? After all, their planes can fly, and that makes me feel worthless, being the permanently grounded individual that I am.
The answer is not to waste money and effort by bringing a lawsuit. The computer technology in this country is growing exponentially, and it is the belief of many that this case will be a moot point very soon. Programmers already have software that will convert objects on a Web site into audio, which blind people could listen to on their computer speakers.
In fact, the person bringing this particular lawsuit already has a rough version of that software and operates it on his computer. He admitted that he could buy tickets on Southwest Airlines’ Web site, but it was “extremely difficult.”
I think it is an extraordinary credit to the computer experts that a blind man can order tickets off of a computer monitor that he cannot see.
I guess we should consider our state fortunate. This lawsuit did not occur in Mississippi, so it is refreshing to see that we are not the only state that sorely needs tort reform.
However, this is a bittersweet story for all of the common sense fans out there who were once again treated to a numbing defeat at the hands of a sue-happy society.
Josh Johnson is a junior broadcast meteorology major.