In October 2022, DRA, ACLU Foundation of Northern California, Legal Aid of Sonoma County, and California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. filed suit against the city of Sebastopol for enacting an ordinance that prohibits vehicles “used for human habitation” from parking anywhere within city limits during the day. This action, aimed at driving the city’s most … Continue reading “Yesue v. Sebastopol”
Since 2020, Disability Rights Advocates and the Law Offices of Wendy Musell have represented a group of Deaf civilian employees, applicants, and former employees in an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) case against the United States Air Force—which, despite its $190 billion annual budget, has consistently failed to provide Deaf employees and applicants with American … Continue reading “Weimer v. U.S. Air Force”
This lawsuit filed in March 2020 on behalf of six Deaf and hard of hearing people who are incarcerated in Tennessee Department of Corrections (“TDOC”) facilities challenges TDOC’s failure to provide effective communication to people who are Deaf and hard of hearing and enable them to access the same programs and services as non-disabled people. … Continue reading “Trivette v. Tennessee Department of Corrections”
In July 2022, DRA filed a class action lawsuit in the Western District of Washington against Providence St. Joseph Health and Western HealthConnect for their consistent failure to ensure effective communication for d/Deaf patients seeking medical care at Providence’s Seattle-area facilities. Read the complaint here. Providence is the largest health care provider in Washington with hospitals, … Continue reading “Spencer v. Providence St. Joseph Health”
In December 2021, Disability Rights Advocates and National Association of the Deaf filed a lawsuit against three major providers of podcasts, SiriusXM, Stitcher, and Pandora, to end their exclusion of deaf and hard of hearing Americans from each company’s extensive podcast streaming service. Read the complaint here. Because Defendants do not make transcripts available for … Continue reading “National Association of the Deaf v. Sirius XM”
In October 2021, Disability Rights Advocates and TRE Legal Practice filed a disability rights lawsuit in California State Court against the California Department of Insurance (CDI) for its failure to ensure the accessibility of its licensing exam for insurance agents for blind applicants. The lawsuit also includes claims against PSI Services, the private entity that … Continue reading “Fowler v. California Department of Insurance”
On September 21, 2021, Planet Fitness, Inc., one of the largest and fastest-growing global franchisors and operators of fitness centers with more members than any other fitness brand, and the Paralyzed Veterans of America, National Council on Independent Living, and American Council of the Blind (collectively “Coalition for Inclusive Fitness” or the “Coalition”) announced a … Continue reading “Planet Fitness”
On August 30, 2021, Disability Rights Advocates and Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York filed a class action lawsuit against the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) on behalf of people with disabilities who are incarcerated at Five Points Correctional Facility and have been denied mobility-related accommodations they need to get … Continue reading “Cardew v. New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision”
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 were withdrawn following invasive and unnecessary psychological evaluations. Read the Complaint. … Continue reading “Doe and Roe v. County of Los Angeles”
On July 20, 2021, DRA filed a class action lawsuit against the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) on behalf of Deaf human resource (HR) professionals who do not have equal access to SHRM’s services because SHRM fails to provide accommodations like sign language interpreters, captioning, and timely transcripts for SHRM’s continuing education programming. SHRM … Continue reading “Ruffa v. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)”