On May 22, 2020, DRA and a coalition of disability organizations filed a lawsuit against the New York State Board of Elections for excluding New Yorkers with disabilities from their Absentee Ballot program, which has expanded in response to COVID-19. The lawsuit charges the state agency with discrimination against voters who are unable to independently … Continue reading “Hernandez v. New York State Board of Elections”
In April 2020, Disability Rights Advocates and Disability Rights California filed a class action lawsuit against the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS) on behalf of deaf individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). The lawsuit sought to address the state agency’s discrimination against deaf people who depend on regional center programs and services funded … Continue reading “McCullough v. California Department of Developmental Services”
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 November 2019, Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of Plaintiffs Tanya Jackson and Center for Independence of the Disabled New York (CIDNY) against Queens Borough Public Library, The Board of Trustees of the Queens Borough Public Library, and the City of New York, challenging the inaccessibility of Hunters Point … Continue reading “Jackson v. Queens Borough Public Library”
In August 2019, DRA filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, alleging that the City of Philadelphia discriminates against residents and visitors with disabilities that affect their mobility by failing to make its sidewalks and pedestrian routes accessible. When the lawsuit was filed, some corners … Continue reading “Liberty Resources, Inc v. the City of Philadelphia”
In November 2018, DRA, the American Diabetes Association®, and Alan L. Yatvin of Weir 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 opportunities as … Continue reading “M.F. v. NYC Department of Education”
In October 2018, DRA and a coalition of blind advocates filed a class action lawsuit in Federal Court against the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) and its county agents for failing to provide Medi-Cal notices in accessible formats, such as Braille. The plaintiffs are the California Council of the Blind and three individuals; … Continue reading “Hinkle v. Baass”
In November 2017, DRA and partners filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of San Diego residents who depend on their vehicles as their only form of shelter against the City of San Diego, challenging the constitutionality of the City’s enforcement of the Vehicle Habitation Ordinance (VHO) and the Oversized Vehicle Ordinance (OVO). The VHO … Continue reading “Bloom v. City of San Diego”
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”
Disability Rights Advocates represents Santa Clara County Jail inmates with mobility disabilities in litigation against Santa Clara County. Currently, there are no housing areas at the County Jails compliant with federal or state accessibility standards, and much of the rest of the County Jails have some sort of architectural barriers. Accordingly, some inmates report suffering … Continue reading “Cole, et al. v. County of Santa Clara, et al.”