A Wisconsin lawmaker who's paralyzed isn't allowed to call into meetings; he says that keeps him from doing his job

MADISON - A state lawmaker who is paralyzed isn’t allowed to participate in committee meetings by phone under a legislative rule that he says keeps him from performing his job as well as he should.

Democratic Rep. Jimmy Anderson of Fitchburg said the Assembly rule discriminates against him because he has difficulty getting to some meetings for health reasons. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and other Republicans who control the Legislature have declined to accommodate his request to call into meetings.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever had to ask for simple dignities, right?” he said. “It’s a frustrating thing to have to ask just to be included in the process.”

Vos, of Rochester, noted lawmakers have accommodated his needs in other ways, such as by providing him with a computer that has voice recognition software. But Vos said he was unwilling to change the rule that requires representatives to show up at committee meetings in person. 

"It just comes down to the fact that I think it’s disrespectful for someone to be asking questions over a microphone or a speakerphone when individuals are actually taking the time out of their day to come and testify in person," Vos said. 

Anderson took issue with Vos' sentiment.

"I think it is absolutely ridiculous to say that an accommodation needed for a disability would somehow be disrespectful to people," Anderson said. "I think it's disrespectful to exclude a duly elected member of the Legislature to be able to fully participate when the need for an accommodation arises."

Employment attorney Jeff Hynes said the Americans with Disabilities Act requires the Legislature to accommodate Anderson — and taxpayers risk a big legal bill if it doesn’t.

“It’s a powerful law that has teeth and the teeth here are going to bite right into the Legislature if they don’t get this guy accommodations,” Hynes said.

Vos cast doubt on that possibility. He said he didn't think the requirements of the federal disability law applied to the Legislature, which courts have determined has broad authority to set its own rules. 

Hynes, who is the president of the Wisconsin Employment Lawyers Association, does not represent Anderson. 

Anderson said he is considering suing over the issue if Vos and other Assembly leaders don't change their stance. But he said he is researching whether he would qualify as an employee under the Americans with Disabilities Act since he is a lawmaker, not an employee.

The rule requiring representatives to be physically present at committee meetings has created difficulties for Anderson, who uses a wheelchair. In 2010, a drunken driver smashed into the vehicle Anderson was in, killing his parents and brother and paralyzing Anderson from the chest down.

Anderson said he prefers to participate in meetings in person but can’t always do so. It’s difficult to find personal-care workers who can assist him if meetings start early or go late and it’s not healthy for him to be in his chair for extended periods, he said.

“There are some very personal and private things that are related to my health and disability that no other representative is expected to talk about with Vos,” he said. “It’s crazy that I would have to have discussions with Vos about those issues just to get simple accommodations.”

Vos said he doesn't favor changing the Assembly policy to accommodate Anderson.

"We created the opportunity to provide every accommodation that we could, but we do not allow anyone to phone in," Vos said. "Especially considering the fact that he lives in Dane County. There are people who drive six hours round trip to go to a 30-minute committee meeting. And that’s just part of the job that you know when you sign up for (serving in the Legislature)."

The Senate and Assembly set their own rules on how they conduct their meetings. The Senate allows members to phone into committee meetings, but the Assembly does not.

The Assembly has a different policy for task forces, such as the one on suicide prevention that Anderson sits on. Members can phone in to task force meetings when they hold sessions outside Madison.

Vos spokeswoman Kit Beyer noted that Anderson voted for a set of Assembly rules in 2017 that eliminated a provision that allowed Assembly members in some cases to participate in committee meetings through web cameras.

Anderson voted on those rules a month after he joined the Legislature, at a time when he said he didn’t have a full sense of what his needs would be.

Federal law requires accommodations

Hynes, the employment lawyer, said the Americans with Disabilities Act requires an employer to provide reasonable accommodations to people who need them unless the accommodations would cause the employer undue hardship.  

“In the typical workplace this would be a no-brainer," Hynes said. "They would be foolish not to give serious consideration to this simple accommodation of this individual being able to participate by phone.

“If the Legislature takes a hard line and gets essentially the public wrapped up in a big fat lawsuit, they’re going to run the risk of taxpayers picking up the bill.”

Employment attorney Barbara Quindel said in ordinary workplaces, the law requires employers to work with employees with disabilities to find ways to meet their needs. Employers could come up with other methods of addressing an issue like Anderson's, such as by scheduling meetings only at times that accommodated him. 

Quindel said she did not know whether the Americans with Disabilities Act would apply to situations like Anderson's since he is an elected official. 

"The Legislature should do the right thing," she said. "He has a very strong moral case." 

Anderson in January raised concerns that Assembly leaders did not accommodate his needs when they held an overnight session in December on legislation to curb the power of incoming Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

The bills were stalled for much of the night and Anderson went home so he could get out of his wheelchair. Votes were held with little notice starting about 4:30 a.m. Anderson could not make it to the Capitol by the time they were held.

Anderson asked Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne to review whether legislators violated the open meetings law by not accommodating his needs.

Ozanne has not responded to Anderson's request and has since asked Attorney General Josh Kaul to review the matter. 

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Contact Patrick Marley at patrick.marley@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @patrickdmarley.