Posted on 05/12/2005 5:21:32 PM PDT by hadit2here
Faced with a lawsuit, the Bellingham Board of Library Trustees last night adopted a new policy banning latex balloons and gloves in the building.
Patrick Callahan, whose 9-year-old son Andrew has severe latex allergy, said he is relieved. He has been fighting for three months to get the facility latex-free.
"As long as we are in agreement, I will officially drop the case," he told trustees after a meeting in the library last night.
Trouble brewed in February after a children's program in the library left balloon sculptures displayed in the building.
Callahan said he asked library officials to remove the balloons and implement a no-latex policy. He had made the same request to the South Elementary School, he said, which complied immediately after his son enrolled.
"My son has a life-threatening latex allergy," he said. "This is a part of our lives."
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Web site, latex allergy symptoms can range from itchy skin to trouble breathing and was first recognized in the 1970s. However, there are no OSHA guidelines for latex exposure.
While his son could not go to the circus and had to recently leave a bowling alley where families turned up with balloons, as a resident for 12 years and a taxpayer, Callahan said a public library is something to which his son should have access.
"When they refused to institute a policy, we recognized it as discrimination right away," he said, citing the Americans with Disabilities Act, which covers public buildings.
His protest convinced the Massachusetts Office of Disabilities and the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination to file a complaint against the library and a suit with the attorney general's office.
See link for the rest of this idiocy...
Oh, thank God, so I'll still be able to get it on at the library.
There goes the condom machine in the basement men's room...
wait 'til the local LGBT organization hears of this.
"And you want to be my latex salesman."
What about mylar baloons?
Hey! You can't perform CPR on my son, you're wearing
latex gloves!
Does this mean they will ban books that cause people to breath funny and act weird??
Note to son,
Do not, DO NOT eat another balloon, you remember what
happened last time.
Let's see, no peanuts on airplanes,
no balloons in libraries,
no riding bicycles without helmets,
Absolutely no four wheeling!
Now go outside and play.
Ya know, they could be in series trouble here,
what if I came in and had an allergy to paper
and HAD to wear latex gloves to read a book!
Interesting conflict eh?
That kid has no chance. All it'll take is one event requiring emergency medical service... and he's a goner.
Where does someone get the idea that the entire world must be bent to fit their extremely rare condition? Isn't this just a tad unrealistic?
I feel the same about people with peanut allergies and the like. It would be far better for that kid and that family if they could figure out some way to survive in the world. Eventually... they'll be in a place where they can't control others. Better figure out how to deal with it.
...and now that child's allergy and the child that just learned that he can get his way by threatening a lawsuit has become a part of everyone else's lives, thanks.
"My son has a life-threatening latex allergy," he said. "This is a part of our lives."
Apparently it's part of everybodys life now. Also I'm confused as to why latex has to be removed. Can't the kid be in the same room as latex or hasn't he learned not to touch it?
Thank you, Bush 41, for signing the ADA (otherwise known as the "Law of Unintended Consequences" act).
Amen
When will the town ban latex condoms?
Minority Rules.
I didn't realize that this was the Socialist State of Washington.
Your lives, not mine. Latex has probably saved ten thousand lives for every one it has threatened. If this guys kid is too sensitive so latex, keep him home.
Does this mean there will be no condom on the cucumber when this kid gets to middle school?
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