Celebrity dumps disabled man on island.

[Moeve]

Excuse me but this gentleman is obviously not "new" to the territory of being disabled then why in the world would he even seriously believe it possible that a cruise line offered such a "service" full well knowing (and he must have known) that it come with such a liability risk. Come on in the US evenything comes with a huge risk price tag these days - heck who would come up with the idea to sue a Dr. who helps at the site of an accident for crying out loud.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

Wow! You must have a lot of time on your hands to go read

My old posts. Yes, I am from Detroit but I attended law school in Florida. Your point?

 

Let's connect the dots, shall we? Mr. Keskeny is originally from Bloomfield Township, near Detroit. He hired an attorney, Richard Bernstein. Bernstein is from Farmington Hills, near Detroit. His attorney is blind. You are blind. You attended law school in 2009. It's reasonable to assume that, since then, you very well may have graduated and are currently in practice. You are from the Detroit area. You are a strong advocate of Mr. Keskeny. By any chance, would your name be Richard Bernstein? Or is it mere coincidence that there are, in all likelihood, two blind attorneys from the Detroit area who are advocating for Mr. Keskeny?

 

The answer to the above question is that, yes, it's possible that there is more than one blind attorney practicing in the Detroit area that have an interest in this incident. Maybe you did not graduate or have not yet graduated, or are not currently practicing law. Perhaps you are not Mr. Keskeny's attorney. But how difficult is it not to see what the point Laura is making? It would seem that you are being deliberately obtuse. Or maybe not deliberately.

 

While the chain of facts noted above is certainly not proof, they do add up to an amazing coincidence. If, in fact, you are Mr. Keskeny's attorney, that may shed a whole new light on your motivation for posting here. Possibly, you were hoping to generate sympathy and support for your client and introduce our posts of support as evidence of the outrage of the cruising community at large, hoping such would help sway a judge or jury. If so, your posting here is flying under false colors.

 

If you are not Mr. Keskeny's attorney, please say so directly. If you are, please explain why you were not straightforward with us to begin with.

[cnote100]

@detroitcruiser is slightly more interested then he lets on.

 

I have no problem with activists or advocates, and, without any comment on the ADA dispute with celebrity, I believe the gentleman with MS in the story starting all this up has done some great work in his day.

 

I do think that the OP should fully divulge that he, himself, is an activist of sorts who has been involved in multiple suits and matters regarding disability rights/ADA issues. In at least one of those suits he was represented by Bernstein, the same attorney in the current news story.

 

OP, as a decent human being, an attorney who has worked with blind attorneys and had a blind father, I applaud your efforts. However, I believe you were being disingenuous by not divulging your connection to the parties involved. You don't have give your history with every post, but when questioned, you shouldn't avoid the obvious. This is what gives people the "sketchy" feeling about public posters and can detract from your efforts to spread information and a message on an anonymous board. JMO.

[detroitcruiser]

Let's connect the dots, shall we? Mr. Keskeny is originally from Bloomfield Township, near Detroit. He hired an attorney, Richard Bernstein. Bernstein is from Farmington Hills, near Detroit. His attorney is blind. You are blind. You attended law school in 2009. It's reasonable to assume that, since then, you very well may have graduated and are currently in practice. You are from the Detroit area. You are a strong advocate of Mr. Keskeny. By any chance, would your name be Richard Bernstein? Or is it mere coincidence that there are, in all likelihood, two blind attorneys from the Detroit area who are advocating for Mr. Keskeny?

 

The answer to the above question is that, yes, it's possible that there is more than one blind attorney practicing in the Detroit area that have an interest in this incident. Maybe you did not graduate or have not yet graduated, or are not currently practicing law. Perhaps you are not Mr. Keskeny's attorney. But how difficult is it not to see what the point Laura is making? It would seem that you are being deliberately obtuse. Or maybe not deliberately.

 

While the chain of facts noted above is certainly not proof, they do add up to an amazing coincidence. If, in fact, you are Mr. Keskeny's attorney, that may shed a whole new light on your motivation for posting here. Possibly, you were hoping to generate sympathy and support for your client and introduce our posts of support as evidence of the outrage of the cruising community at large, hoping such would help sway a judge or jury. If so, your posting here is flying under false colors.

 

If you are not Mr. Keskeny's attorney, please say so directly. If you are, please explain why you were not straightforward with us to begin with.

 

Let me be as clear as humanly possible. I am not a practicing attorney nor have I ever claimed to be -- I am a law student, I am also legally blind, and have cruised on Celebrity.

[ISABELLA]

If he somehow injured himself in the fall and it was made worse by staff picking him up then they would have a huge lawsuit on their hands.....................

 

Maybe that was the whole idea to begin with.

[cnote100]

Let's connect the dots, shall we? Mr. Keskeny is originally from Bloomfield Township, near Detroit. He hired an attorney, Richard Bernstein. Bernstein is from Farmington Hills, near Detroit. His attorney is blind. You are blind. You attended law school in 2009. It's reasonable to assume that, since then, you very well may have graduated and are currently in practice. You are from the Detroit area. You are a strong advocate of Mr. Keskeny. By any chance, would your name be Richard Bernstein? Or is it mere coincidence that there are, in all likelihood, two blind attorneys from the Detroit area who are advocating for Mr. Keskeny?

 

The answer to the above question is that, yes, it's possible that there is more than one blind attorney practicing in the Detroit area that have an interest in this incident. Maybe you did not graduate or have not yet graduated, or are not currently practicing law. Perhaps you are not Mr. Keskeny's attorney. But how difficult is it not to see what the point Laura is making? It would seem that you are being deliberately obtuse. Or maybe not deliberately.

 

While the chain of facts noted above is certainly not proof, they do add up to an amazing coincidence. If, in fact, you are Mr. Keskeny's attorney, that may shed a whole new light on your motivation for posting here. Possibly, you were hoping to generate sympathy and support for your client and introduce our posts of support as evidence of the outrage of the cruising community at large, hoping such would help sway a judge or jury. If so, your posting here is flying under false colors.

 

If you are not Mr. Keskeny's attorney, please say so directly. If you are, please explain why you were not straightforward with us to begin with.

 

He is not Mr. Keskeny's attorney, but an advocate who has been Mr. Bernstein's client in previous law suits. I have no problem with his motivation, he is someone who advocates for the blind and other disabled people in the hope of securing equal accomodation and ADA compliance, however, I do agree that he was avoiding declaring his connection to those involved in the story.

 

Also, one estimate put the number of practicing blind attorneys at over 500, so yes there are likely to be multiples in any fairly large city - I've met a few here in chicago.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Just to clarify my comment about the Northwest case being dismissed. What ended up happening is that airports have to be ADA compliant but planes do not. So people have to be able to be wheeled to the plane but beyond that- bathrooms and such do not have to be ADA compliant.

[Tucker in Texas]

If people want to take a nude cruise that is their prerogative, but I am surprised that the CDC does not have a problem with nude personal parts having direct contact with chairs and sofas in public areas of the ship, that will be used by subsequent cruisers.

 

Not too long ago, I read an article about a college kid that worked a cruise line as a musician one summer. He said that playing an instrument was not his only job, he had to fill in elsewhere if needed. Muster drills was one thing he mentioned.

 

He was given the option of not working a nude cruise but decided to work it. Among his extra-curricular jobs was covering all the seats in the theater with saran wrap. He was thankful it was not his job to remove the saran wrap after the show.

 

It is true you can't ask what a disability is. More and more people are bringing "Fifi" with them to hotels with no-pet rules and saying Fifi is a service dog. A dog doesn't have to be big to be a service dog. Small dogs are used to detect seizures in advance, emotional support, hearing disabilities, and other things so, I am sure, some Fifi's are legit but suspect all are not. Boarding expenses are high, plus, you will miss Fifi. You are not allowed to ask what service Fifi is performing nor can you demand "proof" Fifi is a service dog. I have even heard you can buy "Service Dog" coats for your pet on-line.

 

I know on one lengthy cruise we were on, many of us were highly suspicious of a service dog whose owner seemed more interested in showing everyone the dog's tricks than we witnessed the dog doing a service. She would be in a wheel chair periodically, usually when she wanted special attention like priority tender boarding, a seat at the show, etc. Other times, she trucked along as normally as we did.

 

She bought the dog the dinner table and put food directly on the table for the dog to eat on command. Her table emptied out by the third day (lol). We, also, noticed she was very demanding of the crew.

 

Tucker in Texas

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Just to clarify my comment about the Northwest case being dismissed. What ended up happening is that airports have to be ADA compliant but planes do not. So people have to be able to be wheeled to the plane but beyond that- bathrooms and such do not have to be ADA compliant.

 

And I want to say that I was caregiver to my Grandmother and she was in a wheelchair. So I know how grateful I was to have handicapped stalls in the bathroom, ramps and things. I was grateful but did expect it everywhere I went. At her country club we would lift her up the stairs in her wheelchair. At many restaurants we were sandwiched in stalls together. Its life. I was grateful but didn't think the world revolved around my grandmother. I do know that I could have managed her on a cruise but my Grandmother was scared to do it.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

Let me be as clear as humanly possible. I am not a practicing attorney nor have I ever claimed to be -- I am a law student, I am also legally blind, and have cruised on Celebrity.

 

Okay, I accept that. My point was that you seemed unclear, even deliberately so, why anyone would logically assume that you are not in fact Mr. Keskeny's attorney. You also said you attended law school, past tense, so it's easy to presume from that that you are no longer attending law school, but perhaps you are just no longer attending law school in Florida. If you really couldn't see Laura's point of bringing up the similarities between yourself and the attorney in question, with the implication that you were actually that attorney, that doesn't speak very well for you, in my opinion.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

My son is a law student too. We argue alot. I have passion, he has reason. My Dad's a lawyer too... so I'm in a legal sandwich!

[sasset]

I don't understand how someone can put a bunch of assumptions together, with little or no facts, come to a wrong conclusion and then blame it on the person that he misjudged.

[YOW]

I don't understand how someone can put a bunch of assumptions together, with little or no facts, come to a wrong conclusion and then blame it on the person that he misjudged.

 

Pretty much the Internet in a nutshell, no? ;)

[24butterfly]

From what I have read in the article:

 

Seems to me that this character is looking to sue. I would think that if a Celeb. employee lifted him wrongly and did something to him unintentionally, then he'd REALLY have problems. If he needed somebody to help him in and out of his wheelchair, he should be travelling with somebody.

[PS90]

I think a big issue that everyone is having is the cited article itself. I can't tell if the author, Jerry Wolffe, is actually a contributor to the Oakland Press or not - it sounds like he is, but this article sounds as if it was written by a 9th grader. :confused:

 

First of all, the article is COMPLETELY biased toward Mr. Keskeny, and against Celebrity. A professional should be unbiased. Or at least, less obviously biased.

 

Second, Mr. Wolffe uses statements like "“I asked them to sit down so we could talk at eye level but they wouldn’t and I had to look up at them,” Keskeny said." The ONLY point of including this statement is to be inflammatory. The fact that they wouldn't kneel to eye-level has nothing to do with them picking him up off the floor, or disembarking him early. This is a tactic used by radical groups like PETA, and simply done for emotional effect. Certainly NOT a tactic that should be used by a professional news-writer.

 

Lastly, Mr. Wolffe repeats himself throughout the article - which is an indicator that he lacks many real facts, and is just playing the emotion card. For example, he repeats the both the facts that Mr. Keskeny paid $4000, and that he lacked vaccinations for Haiti, at least twice each.

 

Pardon my ignorance, but is the "Oakland Press" an ACTUAL, reputable news source? Or is this some kind of hidden outlet for a radical-group, disguised as a newspaper? :eek:

 

If the Oakland Press is real, can my 7 year-old daughter get a job as a writer? We need some extra income....

[Bridge Maven]

Twenty years ago a group of seven women paraded around a public park with nothing on above their waists as activists for woman's rights. When arrested they cried discrimination because men were allowed to go to that same park with nothing on above their waist. As a female, I was very annoyed with what they did because when so called advocates make such ludicrous requests it detracts from the importance of the feminist movement's serious issues such as equal job opportunities for comparable qualifications, equal pay for comparable positions, etc.

 

Similarly, I feel that this passenger is doing the same thing for the ADA because when a disabled person has such unrealistic expectations he is making a joke of the ADA's important issues.

[sasset]

I think a big issue that everyone is having is the cited article itself. I can't tell if the author, Jerry Wolffe, is actually a contributor to the Oakland Press or not - it sounds like he is, but this article sounds as if it was written by a 9th grader. :confused:

 

First of all, the article is COMPLETELY biased toward Mr. Keskeny, and against Celebrity. A professional should be unbiased. Or at least, less obviously biased.

 

Second, Mr. Wolffe uses statements like "“I asked them to sit down so we could talk at eye level but they wouldn’t and I had to look up at them,” Keskeny said." The ONLY point of including this statement is to be inflammatory. The fact that they wouldn't kneel to eye-level has nothing to do with them picking him up off the floor, or disembarking him early. This is a tactic used by radical groups like PETA, and simply done for emotional effect. Certainly NOT a tactic that should be used by a professional news-writer.

 

Lastly, Mr. Wolffe repeats himself throughout the article - which is an indicator that he lacks many real facts, and is just playing the emotion card. For example, he repeats the both the facts that Mr. Keskeny paid $4000, and that he lacked vaccinations for Haiti, at least twice each.

 

Pardon my ignorance, but is the "Oakland Press" an ACTUAL, reputable news source? Or is this some kind of hidden outlet for a radical-group, disguised as a newspaper? :eek:

 

If the Oakland Press is real, can my 7 year-old daughter get a job as a writer? We need some extra income....

 

Why would you ask if '...the "Oakland Press" an ACTUAL, reputable news source? Or is this some kind of hidden outlet for a radical-group, disguised as a newspaper?'

 

You could have Googled it to find out.

[montgomeryfamily]

We just had an "accessible" Sky Suite. The lip is the same as the transitional molding between hard wood floor & tile or carpet & tile.

 

While not prejudging people who unfortunately have disabilities, my mother who was horribly disabled at the end of her life, would have easily managed the transition in her manual chair. She would not have been able to have done the transition to the toilette despite the bar. She would have needed her attendant help, just like at home.

 

By the way the shower in our suite was big enough for a chair, with a folding shower seat. The floor was continuous to the rest of the bathroom, the bath room door was bigger than normal.

 

There is something that doesn't add up here.

 

AMTDGT, you were on the Infinity. The wheelchair accessible sky suite on the Infinity IS NOT the same as the wheelchair accessible sky suite on the Century. As I explained in my earlier post, the wheelchair accessible skysuite on the Century, which I understand is the ship which is at issue in this story, does have a ramp from the main part of the room to the bathroom and there is a lip or bump up at the top of the ramp. I do not want anyone who may be considering booking the Century's wheelchair accessible skysuite to have a misunderstanding of what the bathroom is like based upon posts such as yours. We were in the skysuite on the Century and we know from personal experience (which I also stated in my earlier post)

 

We have also been in wheelchair accessible sky suites on both the Infinity and the Millie and those bathrooms are basically level with the room with the minimal lip. We have also been on the Solstice, which is an absolutely wonderful ship in terms of overall wheelchair accessibility, and found both the accessible sky suite and the accessible AQ to be the same way--level with the slight lip. (and the balconies on all of those ships do have ramps from the suite to the balcony)

 

So I want to be clear, as apparently my previous post on this subject was either not clear (or not read)--the skysuite on the Century IS NOT similar to M class ships or the Solstice class ships in terms of the bathroom access. I don't want anyone who reads this thread and books an accessible sky suite on the Century to expect anything else than as I described--a ramp with a lip or bump out at the top.

[PS90]

Why would you ask if '...the "Oakland Press" an ACTUAL, reputable news source? Or is this some kind of hidden outlet for a radical-group, disguised as a newspaper?'

 

You could have Googled it to find out.

 

Google doesn't explain why a "real" media outlet would publish such a horribly-written article.

[Sherrie74]

Twenty years ago a group of seven women paraded around a public park with nothing on above their waists as activists for woman's rights. When arrested they cried discrimination because men were allowed to go to that same park with nothing on above their waist. As a female, I was very annoyed with what they did because when so called advocates make such ludicrous requests it detracts from the importance of the feminist movement's serious issues such as equal job opportunities for comparable qualifications, equal pay for comparable positions, etc.

 

Similarly, I feel that this passenger is doing the same thing for the ADA because when a disabled person has such unrealistic expectations he is making a joke of the ADA's important issues.

 

Bridge Maven .... wonder where you live .... obviously not in Toronto.

 

For many years now, we ladies in Toronto have been given the right to go topless if we so chose to. BUT .... NO ONE DOES (other than the nude beach on the island ;) ). Just for this matter alone it proves just because you want something doesnt mean you will actually take advantage of it if you gain the priviledge to do so.

[cruise47]

Any lawyer can win this case for the cruise line in 15 minutes.

[fungo]

I wonder if ships registered abroad even have to comply with ADA??? Anyone know for sure? Century is registered in Liberia.

 

Hard to believe all the fuss about nudity. Some people like it, others don't. Most of the ones that don't are from other countries (as are the staff). I for one admire the nudists. I wish I was so comfortable in my skin.

 

Also of note, just because he was on a nude cruise doesn't mean he went nude or even picked that sailing because of the nude group. My wife and I are going on a gay cruise later this year, but neither of us are gay (we're just cheap, and boy did we get a deal).

 

This guy's given plenty of reason to question his story, but IMO leaving the fact that it was a nude cruise out of the article was one of the few things the author got right. It's simply not relevant.

 

And now, some Haiku:

 

Guy signs cruise contract

Didn't bother to read it

But the captain did

[Feelin' Nauti']

James Keskeny is also suing Northwest Airlines.... :cool:

 

And guess who's the Attorney?

 

Disability rights advocate Richard Bernstein:rolleyes:

 

http://www.callsam.com/bernstein-media-center/richard-bernstein-news-fighting-for-justice/disabled-travelers-file-lawsuit-for-access-to-airlines

[tuggers]

All I can say is the cruise lines must be desparate for money to have a nude cruise for heaven sake. That's revolting. If this guy chose this cruise its no wonder no one wanted to sail with him. In fact, was he nude in his cabin? That might be why the cabin steward refused to help. What a picture this paints!

 

Do your own search of Nude cruise on Celebrity Century and there it is in black and white. This was a nude cruise that was chartered by a group. The only way this man could have known about it was thru this group. If he dealt with this group and not the ship directly then its the charter that he needs to go after. Not the cruise line. I am ashamed of Celebrity for this behavior. How they can allow their crew to be treated this way is astonishing. This is so uncivilized and I don't know who these people are that want to prance around in the nude. Its gross.

 

I think this is probably the most offensive, judgemental and ill informed post I have read on CC for many years. I sincerely hope this was a knee jerk reaction and not the true feelings of this poster.

 

There are several nude cruises every year on many cruise lines. Can't believe you haven't run into comments about one before.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Tuggers- I was shocked. I was shocked that this happens on Celebrity. Sorry at this point I'm like whatever. To each their own. It was just the initial shock. Sort of like if someone said they started doing lap dances in the disco. That would be shocking to me. I shouldn't have phrased it that way.