TRANSCRIPTTranscript (redacted)
On June 17, 2026, ADA Coordinator John J. Shiptenko of the State Bar of Georgia emailed me. The email, its date and the people on it are below.
Date: June 17, 2026, 4:22 PM ET
From: ADA Coordinator John Shiptenko (JohnS@gabar.org)
To / Cc: To the complainant. Cc Deputy General Counsel William D. NeSmith III (BillN@gabar.org); Grievance Counsel Adrienne Nash (AdrienneN@gabar.org).
Subject: RE: [External] State Bar of Georgia: Outstanding ADA Compliance Issues and Unanswered Questions
Attachments: None noted.
Transcript (redacted):
You don’t have to use the grievance form to file a grievance. You appear to have the ability to use your voice-to-text tool to create a PDF. That relates to option (2) that I mentioned in my email yesterday. While the grievance form is typically required for all grievants, we are happy to accommodate you by accepting a grievance document generated with your existing voice-to-text tool. We just request that you do your best to include the information requested on the grievance form in your grievance document.
Thank you.
What this shows: The Bar stated in writing that the grievance form is not required and that it would accept a grievance document the complainant generated with his own voice to text tool.
What this does not show: This reply, sent 34 minutes after the complainant’s 17 question email, addresses only the grievance form point; it does not answer the other questions in that email, and it was sent to the complainant and two Bar staff rather than to the leadership group he had addressed.
The Bar received my summary of its outstanding ADA compliance issues
John J. Shiptenko Told Me to Use My Own Voice to Text Tool
They Read It. The State Bar’s own read receipts show who opened each message, and when. I am logging the ones they read and never answered.
June 17, 2026.
John J. Shiptenko did not say the State Bar of Georgia grievance form was accessible. He said I did not have to use it, and pointed me to the voice-to-text tool I already pay for.
At 3:48 PM on June 17, 2026, I sent seventeen written questions to John J. Shiptenko, the State Bar of Georgia ADA Coordinator assigned to my case, about the Bar’s grievance form, its CAPTCHA, file handling, who handles conflicts, and the status of a dismissal the Bar admits rested on an incomplete file.
At 4:22 PM, he answered one point. He wrote that I “don’t have to use the grievance form” and that the Bar was “happy to accommodate you by accepting a grievance document generated with your existing voice-to-text tool.” He sent that reply to me and two staff, not to the leadership group I had addressed.
So I did exactly that. I filed a grievance against him as a self-generated document, through the route he said I could use. In it I put the point plainly, in my own words.
“An accommodation I paid for is not an accommodation the Bar provided.”
“My private software is not the Bar’s ADA program.”
“My paid assistive technology is not the Bar’s accessible filing route.”
“My ability to survive the Bar’s access barrier does not make the barrier fixed.”
“I identify the barrier. The Bar does not fix the barrier. The Bar tells me to work around the barrier.”
The next morning, the reply came back in one word: “Received.” No complaint number. No reviewer. No ADA contact for access complaints. No description of how the Bar screens a grievance about one of its own.
The documents
| Date / Time | Direction | From | To / Cc | Document | Attachment | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 16, 2026, 1:43 PM | Received | John J. Shiptenko | the complainant; cc NeSmith, Nash | June 16 grievance-form email | Current grievance form (PDF) | Offered three non-CAPTCHA filing routes; said the reviewer, not the ADA Coordinator, would answer questions |
| June 17, 2026, 3:48 PM | Sent | the complainant | Shiptenko + Bar leadership | Outstanding ADA questions (17) | 11-page PDF, Bar’s words highlighted | Raised the form, CAPTCHA, ADA route, and conflict checks; asked who is reviewing and whether the dismissal stands |
| June 17, 2026, 4:22 PM | Received | John J. Shiptenko | the complainant; cc NeSmith, Nash | Voice-to-text reply | None | Said the form was not required and pointed to the complainant’s own voice-to-text tool; one point of seventeen, 34 minutes later |
| June 17, 2026 | Sent | the complainant | Shiptenko + Bar leadership | Grievance filed via the offered route | Grievance memo + attachments (PDF) | Filed the grievance as a self-generated document through the route the Bar said he could use |
| June 18, 2026, 8:05 AM | Received | John J. Shiptenko | the complainant | “Received” confirmation | None | One-word receipt; no complaint number, reviewer, or conflict-screened process |
The questions still open
This is the latest entry on a longer scoreboard. I had asked who is reviewing the correction, by what standard, in what timeframe, and whether the April 10 dismissal still stands. See The Unanswered Questions.
Read the emails and letters: the full State Bar of Georgia story, and this day on the Timeline.
Status: the grievance was confirmed received in one word. No complaint number, reviewer, or conflict-screened route was provided, and the April 10 dismissal still states that no rebuttal was received.
Corrections: this site is built from the documents I received. If any fact here is incomplete or inaccurate, identify the page, the sentence, and the supporting document, and I will review and correct this page.
Patterns on this page: read-no-answer, cost-on-the-disabled. Each is a recurring pattern in the State Bar record. We are noting the timing, not asserting a reason.