Our Mission
With offices in California and New York, Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) is one of the leading nonprofit disability rights legal centers in the nation. Its mission is to advance equal rights and opportunity for people with all types of disabilities nationwide.
Contact for Press Inquiries
Email: communications@dralegal.org
Phone: (510) 665-8644
Links
DRA General Information Brochure (PDF)
October 21, 2019 – New York, NY – Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), the leading national nonprofit disability rights legal center, honors three outstanding advocates for the disability community in 2019. Loreen Arbus, Bank of America, and Jill Houghton + Disability:IN will each be presented with Eagle Awards at DRA’s New York Gala on October 21, 2019. Additional … Continue reading “Disability Rights Advocates Presents Eagle Awards to Loreen Arbus, Bank of America, and Jill Houghton + Disability:IN”
Settlement is most comprehensive ever to protect college students with mental health disabilities from unnecessary exclusion Palo Alto, CA—October 7, 2019—A coalition of Stanford students and Stanford University have reached a groundbreaking settlement agreement that will result in significant changes to Stanford’s leave of absence policies and practices, all of which will help ensure … Continue reading “Stanford and Students with Mental Health Disabilities Reach Landmark Settlement”
Chicago, IL—September 23, 2019—Today, Disability Rights Advocates (“DRA”) and the Proskauer law firm (“Proskauer”) filed a class action lawsuit against the City of Chicago and the Chicago Department of Transportation (“CDOT”) in order to challenge the systemic lack of accessible pedestrian signals at intersections all over the city. The lawsuit, which has been filed … Continue reading “Blind Pedestrians Sue About Exclusion from Chicago’s Pedestrian Safety Program”
August 29, 2019 – Chicago, IL – Today, Legal Council for Health Justice (“Legal Council”) and Disability Rights Advocates (“DRA”) filed a class action lawsuit against Chicago Public Schools (“CPS”) challenging CPS’s policy of denying free nutrition programs to students whose disabilities require them to attend non-public schools. The named plaintiff – the guardian … Continue reading “Chicago Public Schools Sued for Excluding Students with Disabilities from Their Free Breakfast and Lunch Programs”
August 28, 2019 – Oakland, CA – A class action lawsuit was filed today alleging that people with disabilities are discriminatorily excluded from the protections of Oakland’s rent stabilization program, colloquially known as “rent control.” Oakland’s rent stabilization program provides a majority of the city’s renters with meaningful protection from rapidly rising rents. However, people with … Continue reading “People with Disabilities Charge That Oakland’s Rent Stabilization Program Excludes Them and Must Be Fixed Notwithstanding Costa-Hawkins”
August 26, 2019—Philadelphia, PA—A class action lawsuit filed today in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania alleges 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 to people who use wheelchairs or … Continue reading “Community Members with Disabilities Challenge Philadelphia’s Dangerous and Impassable Sidewalks”
New Nationwide Class Action Lawsuit Highlights Abusive Isolation, Horrific Medical and Mental Health Care, and Denial of Accommodations to and Discrimination Against Detained Immigrants with Disabilities August 19, 2019 – Los Angeles, CA –A nationwide class action lawsuit was filed today against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Department of Homeland Security … Continue reading “Civil Rights Groups Charge that ICE Disregards Immigrants’ Medical, Mental Health Needs and Ignores Discrimination Against Immigrants with Disabilities”
Disponible en español abajo. July 31, 2019 – Los Angeles, CA – Federal Judge John A. Kronstadt of the Central District of California has certified a class of elementary and middle school children in a case charging that the mostly Latinx Oxnard School District does not provide special education evaluations or services for students who show clear … Continue reading “Federal Court Certifies Class of Children Systematically Denied Access to Special Education in Oxnard, California”
July 23, 2019 – New York, NY – Today, Judge George B. Daniels of the Southern District of New York approved a historic class action settlement that establishes a comprehensive remedial plan to dramatically improve sidewalk accessibility for New York City’s disability community. For decades, the disability community – as well as all New Yorkers – has … Continue reading “Judge Gives Final Approval to Settlement That Dramatically Improves New York City’s Sidewalks”
FDNY Firetruck, by Andrew Dallos, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 New York, New York—June 19, 2019—The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) has issued an important determination that the Fire Department of New York (“FDNY”) has unfairly discriminated against veterans with a history of post-traumatic stress disorder (“PTSD”) in its firefighter hiring process. Several members of the … Continue reading “EEOC Finds That FDNY Discriminates Against Veterans with PTSD in Hiring Process”