In May 2025, DRA and Nichols Kaster, PLLP filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts against Harvard University for its systematic discrimination against students with mental health disabilities. DRA brought this suit on behalf of Students 4 Mental Health Justice (S4MHJ), a student-led advocacy organization whose membership includes current … Continue reading “Students 4 Mental Health Justice v. Harvard”
Disability Rights Advocates and Learning Rights Law Center filed suit to challenge an administrative law judge’s ruling that let a major school district off the hook for failing to ensure provision of special education services to a young student at one of its charter schools. After the plaintiff was wrongly exited from special education at … Continue reading “A.C. v. Los Angeles Unified School District”
In August 2023, Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) and Disability Rights California (DRC) released a report, “Youth in Crisis: How Kings County Locks Up Youth With Disabilities.” This report outlines findings from a multi-year investigation of the conditions at the Kings County Juvenile Center. Read the full report with recommendations and images of the facility. DRA … Continue reading “Kings County Juvenile Center”
In May 2023, DRA and DREDF filed a group complaint with the United States Department of Justice on behalf of four law school graduates with disabilities against the State Bar of California for consistently violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to provide accommodations on the California bar exam. Read the complaint. The State … Continue reading “Complainants v. State Bar of California”
In July 2021, Disability Rights Advocates filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of two participants in Los Angeles County’s federally-funded Master of Social Work Trainee Program, whose internship and employment offers with the County’s Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) were withdrawn following invasive and unnecessary psychological evaluations. Read the … Continue reading “Doe and Roe v. County of Los Angeles”
On January 26, 2021, DRA and partners filed a major class action lawsuit challenging New York City’s segregated school system for students with disabilities on Staten Island. The lawsuit alleges that the borough’s separate school district for children with disabilities, known as District 75, denies these students an equal education, forcing them into segregated … Continue reading “EF v. New York City Department of Education”
Disability Rights Advocates is investigating the experiences of higher education students who are denied disability-related accommodations for remote learning. We would greatly appreciate if you would complete the following survey if you have confronted access barriers in remote learning. If you would prefer to share your experiences via email or phone, please contact Amy Ollove … Continue reading “Accommodations and Accessibility in Higher Education”
Disability Rights Advocates is investigating the experiences of higher education students with mental health conditions at colleges and universities. If you’re interested in reading more about our work on higher education issues, you can read our case page for Mental Health and Wellness Coalition v. Stanford. Federal law requires schools to make reasonable modifications as … Continue reading “Mental Health in Colleges and Universities”
Dayniah Manderson, a tenured English teacher with over 15 years of teaching experience in New York City public schools, uses an electric wheelchair and has been unable to use a restroom at her middle school building in the Bronx for the past 13 years due to the New York City Department of Education (DOE)’s failure … Continue reading “Manderson v. New York City Department of Education”
In July 2024, a federal judge ordered West Los Angeles College (WLAC), part of the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), to restore a transportation assistance system to provide access for two disabled student plaintiffs, Charles Guerra and Karlton Bontrager, to WLAC’s steep, hilly campus by the start of the Fall 2024 semester. This case … Continue reading “Guerra v. West Los Angeles College”