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“ Duprey knows how frustrating lack of access to services can be.”


Duprey knows how frustrating 12


lack of access to services can be. During a Bruce Springsteen concert at the XL Center, she was sitting in a section reserved for the “disabled.” However, the section was only slightly above the seats in front of them, and people stood, blocking her view during the entire concert. Even more problematic was that the restrooms were not handicapped accessible. Determined to have the problems


rectified, she returned to the XL Center for a UConn basketball game and videotaped her view from the disabled seating section, which was often obstructed. She then posted it on YouTube. She followed up with a letter to the U.S. Justice Department that included a link to the video. “I got a call from the U.S.


Attorney’s Office a couple of weeks later saying, ‘OK, we’re doing an investigation,’” she says. She also reached out to Bridgeport,


Conn. attorney Gary E. Phelan, a principal at the firm Mitchell and Sheahan to represent her to repre- sent her department. Te Justice Department sent representatives to look at the building, and a settlement was reached in which the XL Center agreed to add handicapped-accessible restrooms and create an unobstructed viewing area for disabled people. Te process took a number of years, how-


DIVERSITY & THE BAR® JULY/AUGUST 2014


ever. “Tey could’ve gone farther and made more accessible seating, more lines of sight for viewing,” she says. “But I think it was the best resolution under the circumstance—there were pretty substantial changes, both seat- ing and the bathrooms.” She also successfully sued the


state of Connecticut for charging $5 for handicap parking permits, which was a violation of the ADA that prohibits fees for granting accommodations. She had $50,000 of the proceeds received from the judgment donated to the University of Connecticut School of Law Foundation to establish a Disability Rights Law Endowment Fund to support discrimination mediation work in the law school’s Mediation Clinic. Of that sum, $5,000 was used to sponsor a conference that discussed the problems municipalities face in providing services to disabled citizens. Duprey’s advocacy of disability


rights has garnered a number of awards. In 2005, the city of New Haven was selected as the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Employer of the Year in 2005, which owed much to Duprey, who trained the city’s employees with MS and coordinated the efforts to provide their accommodations. Most recently, in 2010, she received the Americans


with Disabilities Act Coalition of Connecticut “ADA Leader” award, and in the year 2000, a lifetime achievement award from the New Haven County chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Duprey has been active on numer-


ous boards and civic organizations not only dealing with the rights of the disabled, but also women’s rights and employment discrimination. She was the past president of the Americans with Disabilities Act Coalition of Connecticut and one of the found- ers of the Connecticut Women and Disability Network, a network of disabled and non-disabled women dedicated to recognizing the unique issues facing women with disabilities. “Te women’s network started


20 years ago,” she says. “We saw the need to form a group to protect those with disabilities. A lot of work was accomplished but it has since become dormant.” Duprey also has lent her expertise


to the Welner’s Guide to the Care of Women with Disabilities, a standard text on the topic, for which she wrote the chapter explaining the provisions of the ADA. Because of city budget constraints,


she says that there is less money to provide outreach and promote the hiring of the disabled in New Haven than in the past, and that she cur- rently spends most of her time on compliance. “I’ll continue to plug away on


issues on a day-to-day basis,” she says. “Maybe, I’ll eventually pursue other options on the state level or on the bench, and be able to increase acces- sibility and understanding for people with disabilities. But I am quite happy here.” D&B


Tom Calarco is a freelance writer and the author of seven books on the Underground Railroad. He is based in Loveland, Ohio and can be contacted at tomcalwriter@yahoo.com.


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