A defendant in a Section 504 suit may assert as an affirmative defense to liability that accommodating the plaintiff's disability would constitute an "undue burden." Relying in part on the findings of that study, the American Council of the Blind and two individuals with visual impairments (collectively "the Council") sued the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, Henry Paulson, in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in 2002. The Council alleged that the Department of Treasury violated Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act by issuing banknotes that were not readily identifiable for people with visual disabilities. The U.S. district court concluded that (1) the Council met its burden to show that the visually impaired are denied meaningful access to U.S. paper currency; and (2) the Department of Treasury had failed to meet its burden to demonstrate that no effective accommodation could be implemented without imposing an undue burden on the department. Before a final remedy was ordered, the Department of Treasury appealed the ruling to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Circuit Court affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment and remanded the case for the district court to address the Council's request for injunctive relief. The court disagreed. Recent Developments

The Department of Treasury did not appeal the D.C. On May 20, 2010, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) within the Department of Treasury published a notice of proposed action identifying the accommodations that it is considering in the wake of American Council of the Blind . BEP stated that it will (1) develop and deploy a raised tactile feature as part of the next currency redesign; (2) continue its practice of adding large, high-contrast numerals and different and distinct color schemes to each denomination; and (3) implement a "Supplemental Currency Reader Program" to provide electronic currency readers to people with visual impairments. In light of these concerns, the Council urged BEP to provide specific details about the timelines for implementing the accessible features on the currency itself and establish performance specifications for devices that are distributed through the currency reader program. The Council also strongly opposed BEP's suggested eligibility requirements for the currency reader program. BEP proposed to distribute readers to people who provide documentation verifying that they need a reader to accurately identify the denomination of U.S. banknotes.
In May 2008, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued a decision in The American Council of the Blind v. Paulson. The D.C. Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court's holding that the U.S. Department of the Treasury violated Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 by issuing paper currency in denominations that people with visual impairments cannot readily identify. Specifically, the court ruled that the current design of U.S. banknotes denies people with visual impairments meaningful access to the benefits of using U.S. currency. Furthermore, the Treasury Department was not exempted from liability on the grounds that accommodating the plaintiffs' disabilities would impose an undue burden. The court found that Treasury failed to substantiate its claims about the financial cost of achieving Section 504 compliance and the poor durability of certain proposed remedial tactile features.
The Department of Treasury did not appeal the circuit court's decision. The case was remanded for consideration of an appropriate remedy, and, on October 3, 2008, the district court issued an injunction order. The injunction order required the Department of Treasury to make changes to accommodate people with visual impairments by the time the next currency redesign is approved.
On May 20, 2010, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) within the Department of Treasury published a notice of proposed action in the Federal Register. The notice identifies changes that BEP proposes to make to U.S. currency to accommodate people who are visually impaired. These changes are (1) developing and deploying a raised tactile feature as part of the next currency redesign; (2) adding large, high-contrast numerals and different and distinct color schemes to each denomination; and (3) implementing a "Supplemental Currency Reader Program" to provide electronic currency readers to people with visual impairments.
In comments submitted to BEP, the American Council of the Blind expressed concern over the institution of the Supplemental Currency Reader Program. The Council urged BEP, inter alia, to provide specific details about the timelines for implementing the accessible features on the currency itself and establish performance specifications for readers that are distributed through the program. The Council also strongly opposed BEP's proposed eligibility requirements for the reader program, contending that they unnecessarily restricted the types of professionals who could verify a person's eligibility for a currency reader. Under the proposed regulation, only certain nurses and doctors would be authorized to verify a person's eligibility for a currency reader. The Council would like a variety of other professionals to be authorized as well, including social workers and professional staff at hospitals and other institutions.