<p>IDEAS is a General Services Administration (GSA) event that focuses on partnering industry and education with government to meet the requirements under Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. This year's conference will take place from <strong>October 5-6, 2009</strong> in Washington, DC. <a href="http://ideas2009.com/contact.aspx">Registration</a> for the conference is free. </p> <p>New <a href="http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/coveredentities/breachnotificationifr.html">regulations</a> have been issued by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) requiring health care providers, health plans and other entities covered by the <a href="http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/summary/index.html">Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act</a> (HIPAA) to notify individuals when their health information is breached. The regulations require health care providers and other HIPAA covered entities to promptly notify affected individuals of a breach in the privacy of their records, as well as the HHS Secretary and the media in cases where a breach affects more than 500 individuals. </p> The Department of Justice has announced a settlement that, pending court approval, will resolve allegations that builders and designers of the Summerland Heights Apartments, in Woodbridge, VA violated the federal Fair Housing Act by failing to make the ground floor units, public use and common use areas accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has announced that K1 Speed, Inc., a Carlsbad, CA, company, will provide $50,000 and other relief to settle a federal lawsuit charging that the company refused to accommodate an employee with cystic fibrosis and fired him from its facility in Redmond, WA. <p>The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has announced that CDI Media, a company in Salt Lake City, UT, will pay $65,000 to a former employee whom the business failed to provide reasonable accommodations as his Parkinson's disease worsened. Discrimination based on disabilities, such as Parkinson's disease, is a violation of the <a href="http://www.ada.gov/q%26aeng02.htm">Americans with Disabilities Act</a> (ADA), as is retaliation against an employee for requesting a reasonable accommodation. </p> <p>The Department of Justice has announced the resolution of a disability discrimination lawsuit in which the operator and manager of the Rathbone Retirement Community in Evansville, IN violated the <a href="http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/housing/title8.php">Fair Housing Act</a> by prohibiting the use of motorized wheelchairs and scooters in residents' apartments and in the home's common dining room during meals. </p>