Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) and Disability Rights Arizona (DRAZ), two non-profit law centers, are investigating the autonomous vehicle industry and how it provides access for people with mobility disabilities, including people who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices. Autonomous vehicles, also referred to as self-driving cars, are vehicles with technology that senses the conditions around … Continue reading “Accessibility of Autonomous Vehicles”
In February 2024, DRA filed a class action lawsuit in the Northern District of California against national car rental company Hertz to end its systemic civil rights violations against people with disabilities who need hand controls to operate a rental car. While there are many configurations, hand controls generally consist of a mechanism that allows … Continue reading “Ho v. The Hertz Corporation”
On June 10, 2021, three wheelchair users and the IMAGE Center of Maryland filed a class action lawsuit alleging widespread and ongoing violations of federal accessibility requirements by the City of Baltimore for its failure to properly install and maintain of curb ramps and sidewalks. These violations severely impact the ability of people with mobility … Continue reading “Goodlaxson v. Baltimore”
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”
In October 2018, Disability Rights Advocates filed a class action lawsuit alleging that Mobility Works—the country’s largest provider of wheelchair accessible vehicles for sale or rent, and a major installer of adaptive devices—employed two policies that discriminated against drivers with disabilities. Mobility Works denied these allegations, and does not admit liability. But, after extensive negotiations, … Continue reading “Community Resources for Independent Living (CRIL) v. MobilityWorks”
In September 2019, DRA and Proskauer Rose LLP, on behalf of the American Council of the Blind of Metropolitan Chicago and three individual plaintiffs, filed a landmark class action lawsuit against the Chicago Department of Transportation. The lawsuit alleges that Chicago ignores blind pedestrians in its pedestrian planning, sometimes ignoring their safety needs and sometimes … Continue reading “American Council of the Blind of Metropolitan Chicago vs. City of Chicago”
The New York City subway system, the lifeblood of the city, is the most convenient way for nearly all New Yorkers to get around town. However, the MTA wholly excludes hundreds of thousands of NYC residents and visitors who have a mobility disability that limits their use of stairs from the 75% of stations that … Continue reading “The History of DRA’s Lawsuits Against the NYC Metropolitan Transportation Authority”
On June 11, 2019, DRA and co-counsel Carlson Lynch filed a class action lawsuit against Uber, challenging its failure to make wheelchair-accessible vehicles available through its popular, on-demand ridesharing service in the Pittsburgh area. Uber is a multi-billion dollar company and a major provider of transportation services in the Pittsburgh area. However, Uber fails to … Continue reading “O’Hanlon v. Uber Technologies, Inc.”
In May 2019, DRA filed a civil rights class action lawsuit in New York against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), challenging its prevalent, discriminatory practice of renovating New York City subway stations without installing elevators or other stair-free routes in blatant violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This illegal conduct harmed hundreds of … Continue reading “De La Rosa v. MTA (Federal case)”
On October 24, 2018, Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) filed a major class action lawsuit against Uber challenging the popular ride-sharing service’s lack of wheelchair-accessible vehicles. The federal lawsuit was brought by a coalition of individuals and disability rights groups in the San Francisco Bay Area: the Independent Living Resource Center of San Francisco, Community Resources … Continue reading “Independent Living Resource Center of San Francisco (ILRC), et al. v. Uber Technologies, Inc., et al.”