Education/Schools
November 1, 2018
In November 2018, DRA, the American Diabetes Association®, and Alan L. Yatvin of Weir Greenblatt Pierce LLP sued the New York City Department of Education (“DOE”) and other New York City agencies, alleging that these agencies systemically failed to ensure that students with diabetes could attend school safely and have access to the same educational … Continue reading » “M.F. v. NYC Department of Education”
May 17, 2018
Disability Rights Advocates initially brought this case on behalf of the Stanford Mental Health & Wellness Coalition and three students in May 2018. On July 16, 2018, with three new students joining the suit, DRA filed a motion for class action certification requesting that the court certify a class to challenge Stanford’s system-wide policies and … Continue reading » “Mental Health & Wellness Coalition v. Stanford”
February 22, 2018
Read the Class Notice in English or Spanish. On February 22, 2018, Disability Rights Advocates, in partnership with Disability Rights California (“DRC”), released a 50-page report on our 6-month investigation of the treatment of youth with disabilities at the Kern County Juvenile Hall and other Kern County juvenile detention facilities. Our investigation uncovered abuse and … Continue reading » “T.G. v. Kern County”
July 27, 2017
On June 22, 2021, a United States District Court approved a settlement with the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) to resolve a 2017 lawsuit brought by Bronx Independent Living Services (BILS) and two students with disabilities in the Bronx, represented by Disability Rights Advocates (DRA). The class action lawsuit challenged the DOE’s denial … Continue reading » “M.G., et al. v. New York City Department of Education, et al.”
May 19, 2015
Disability Rights Advocates in partnership with Public Counsel filed this lawsuit because Contra Costa County Juvenile Hall had a policy and practice of locking young people with disabilities in solitary confinement for up to 23 hours a day and depriving them of education. In a video, parents of young people held at Juvenile Hall say … Continue reading » “G.F. et al. v. Contra Costa County et al.”
September 21, 2012
As a result of a lawsuit filed by Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), Oregon undertook extensive steps to modify its high stakes testing system to ensure that the tests do not discriminate against students with learning disabilities. The settlement is based on the findings of an expert panel that was convened by the parties to examine … Continue reading » “A.S.K. v. Oregon”
September 21, 2012
This case received major national attention as it challenged the practice of “flagging” test scores for students with disabilities who ask for accommodations. Flagging is the practice by which administrators of standardized tests place notations on the score reports of people with disabilities who take the exams with accommodations for their disabilities. Since its implementation … Continue reading » “Breimhorst v. ETS”
September 21, 2012
DRA represented a class of all students in Alaska with learning disabilities who were required to take the Alaska High School Graduation Qualifying Examination (HSGQE). The parties reached a comprehensive settlement agreement on Monday, August 2, 2004. Among other critical new access features to the testing program, the settlement included a broad expansion of the … Continue reading » “Noon v. Alaska”
September 21, 2012
DRA reached a class action settlement with the University of California, Berkeley that is resulting in comprehensive access improvements to this leading national University. The Plaintiffs are a class of all students with mobility and/or vision disabilities at U.C. Berkeley. Under the settlement, U.C. Berkeley has been removing thousands of access barriers throughout its facilities. … Continue reading » “Gustafson v. U.C. Berkeley”
September 21, 2012
DRA reached a class action settlement with the Santa Barbara School District in improved access to the District’s High School. DRA represented several students with mobility disabilities who had been subjected to discriminatory and dangerous conditions at this high school. One of the students, Liana Mitchum was struck three times by cars on her way … Continue reading » “Mitchum v. Santa Barbara School District”