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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An advocacy group is suing the Department of Veterans Affairs, alleging the agency ignored a long-standing law when it changed contracting rules used for decades to give jobs to the blind.
The National Industries for the Blind filed the lawsuit Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Washington.
Advocates say the jobs of 800 blind people are threatened under the change. A spokesman for the VA could not immediately comment.
The lawsuit comes after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year found the VA needed to give priority status to veteran-owned businesses under a 2006 law.
The lawsuit alleges the VA narrowly interpreted the ruling. They say a 1938 law intended to help employ the blind should also grant them priority status.
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