Welcome to Disability Rights Advocates
DRA is a non-profit law firm dedicated to protecting and advancing the civil rights of people with disabilities. DRA advocates for disability rights through high-impact litigation, as well as research and education. We do not charge our clients for our services. Learn more about DRA.
January 10, 2008: A federal court in San Francisco today cleared the way for a major national class action lawsuit on behalf of disabled veterans to directly challenge the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The ruling affirms the rights of veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to sue in federal court over the huge backlog of claims, the lengthy waiting time that veterans face in receiving needed mental health care, and the inadequacy of care for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The complaint, filed in the United States District Court in July, seeks a judicial finding that VA’s system of handling claims and appeals is so dysfunctional that it violates veterans’ constitutional and statutory rights. The suit also calls for court orders requiring VA to provide immediate medical and psychological help to returning troops and to screen them for risk of suicide.
Closing arguments took place on Wednesday, April 30, 2008. Please see attached articles on our trial and closing arguments.
Read the Press Release.DRA's 15th Anniversary Gala
October 16, 2008
5:30 PM to 9:00 PM
The Palace Hotel in San Francisco, CA
For sponsorship or ticket information, contact Pat Kirkpatrick at 510-665-8644 or e-mail at pkirkpatrick@dralegal.org
Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), private co-counsel, and Sutter Health announced Friday, April 18, 2008, that the Sutter network of hospitals, medical foundations and other health care service providers has taken a big legal step toward further improving health care access for patients with mobility, visual, hearing and speech disabilities who seek care from Sutter facilities.
Read the Order in Adobe Format.Read the Exhibits in Adobe Format:
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Exhibit C
Exhibit D
Exhibit E
Exhibit F
Exhibit G
Exhibit H
Learn more about Health Access.
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On December 28, 2007, an en banc court of the Ninth Circuit returned the case to the district court for further review and analysis of UPS's use of the DOT hearing standard in its driver application process. We will post additional details about the next phase of the case when they become available, in approximately 60-90 days.
Read the Press Release.The Golden Gate National Recreational Area (GGNRA) and the National Park Service (NPS) are discriminating against individuals with disabilities by denying them access to GGNRA parks. In order to end this discrimination, Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), a California-based non-profit law firm, filed a class action complaint today in federal court on behalf of all people with mobility and vision disabilities who have been denied access to GGNRA parks.
Read the Press Release.Golfers with disabilities have scored a major victory in a lawsuit against Marriott International, Inc. In a disability civil rights case with far reaching implications, a federal court in San Francisco has ruled that Marriott is obligated under federal law to make accessible golf carts available for the use of disabled golfers. Even though hundreds of golf courses around the country have informally recognized that disabled golfers are entitled to this accommodation in order to access their courses, Marriott had said it had no obligation to the thousands of disabled and senior golfers who cannot play without an accessible golf cart.
Read the Press Release.High-stakes standardized tests, like the SAT and LSAT, often pose a formidable barrier to the academic success of student’s with learning disabilities. It has come to DRA’s attention that some high-stakes testing administrators use unfair and illegal policies to review applications for testing accommodations. If you or someone you know is a person with a documented disability who has been wrongfully denied testing accommodations on the SAT or LSAT, we want to hear your story. Please click here to tell DRA your story. Your help is absolutely crucial to our efforts to end discrimination on standardized tests.
DRA is currently accepting applications for a senior paralegal Apply Here
