Disability Rights Advocates, Westchester Disabled on the Move, Inc., and Westchester County have reached a settlement agreement that will result in significant improvements to the County’s emergency preparedness and response programs for people with disabilities who live in, work in, or travel to the County. The agreement was reached through structured negotiations without any lawsuit … Continue reading “Westchester County Emergency Preparedness”
In October 2020, Disability Rights Advocates filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of blind New Yorkers and the American Council of the Blind, New York against New York state entities, challenging the inaccessibility of “NY-Alert,” a Mass Notification System intended to warn New Yorkers and visitors of emergencies and other critical information in a … Continue reading “Chiappetta vs. New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services”
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”
On September 9, 2014, DRA filed a class action lawsuit together with co-counsel from Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP and the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs against the District of Columbia for its failure to meaningfully include persons with disabilities in its emergency planning. People with disabilities have traditionally faced exceptionally … Continue reading “D.C. Center for Independent Living, et al. v. District of Columbia”
Sacramento International Airport serves approximately 7.9 million passengers per year yet has failed to make its facilities and services accessible to travelers with disabilities. DRA’s class action lawsuit, filed in December of 2012, alleges that the County of Sacramento discriminates against people with mobility disabilities in its operation of the newly constructed Airport Terminal B, … Continue reading “California Foundation for Independent Living Centers (CFILC), et al. v. County of Sacramento”
Mr. Goodwin is a person of short stature who relies on a customized wheelchair for mobility. In 2011, Mr. Goodwin was travelling on a San Francisco sidewalk to catch a bus home when he fell from his wheelchair. He sustained injuries that required medical attention, and was transported by ambulance to a hospital in San … Continue reading “City and County of San Francisco Structured Negotiations”
The City and County of Los Angeles have experienced multiple natural disasters ranging from earthquakes, fires, and landslides; the County of L.A. has declared a state of emergency over twenty-four times since 1980. L.A.’s vulnerability to disasters highlighted the critical need to ensure that the City and County of L.A. include the safety of people … Continue reading “Communities Actively Living Independent and Free (CALIF), et al. v. City of Los Angeles”
This federal class action lawsuit was filed in September of 2011. More than a decade after 9/11, New Yorkers with disabilities continued to face disproportionate risks of catastrophic harm and death during disasters – as Hurricanes Irene had shown, and as Sandy soon demonstrated. The class of 900,000 New York residents with disabilities included people with vision, … Continue reading “Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled (BCID), et al. v. Mayor Bloomberg, et al.”
On January 21, 2010, in a settlement announced by DRA and the City of Oakland, Oakland agreed to adopt an emergency plan which includes the needs of people with all types of disabilities during emergency disasters. Oakland is particularly vulnerable to emergency disasters. Since 1983, it has experienced eight Presidential-declared disasters, including the 1989 Loma … Continue reading “California Foundation for Independent Living Centers (CFILC), et al. v. City of Oakland, et al.”