Press

New York, NY—November 29, 2017—In resolution of a federal lawsuit brought by Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) last March, the Four Freedoms Park Conservancy and New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation have agreed to the installation of a lift at the front steps of the monument built in 2012 to honor Franklin […]

Boston, Massachusetts—November 20, 2017—A coalition of blind and visually impaired individuals and advocacy groups filed a nationwide class action today against Hulu to end the video streaming company’s ongoing exclusion of blind and visually impaired Americans. The lawsuit—filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts—challenges Hulu’s violation of the Americans with Disabilities […]

New York, NY—October 2017—Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), the leading national nonprofit disability rights legal center, honors three outstanding advocates for the disability community in 2017. The Museum Access Consortium (MAC), Rebecca Alexander, and Starbucks were each presented with Eagle Awards at DRA’s Inaugural New York Gala on October 12, 2017. About DRA’s Eagle Awards Every […]

New York, NY—October 12, 2017— Beth Israel Medical Center, St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, and Continuum Health Partners (collectively, the “Heritage Continuum Hospitals”) have agreed to a comprehensive long-term plan to improve access to health care for patients and hospital visitors with disabilities. The agreement settles a 2013 lawsuit brought […]

Photo by Andrew Dallos, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 New York, New York—Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), a national nonprofit legal center, filed a Charge of Discrimination for Julio Andrade, a former Marine, after the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) denied him a job as a Fire Fighter because of a diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress […]

New York, NY—September 14, 2017—eatsa, a growing, national fast-casual restaurant chain, has reached an agreement with the American Council of the Blind (ACB) and members of the blind community in New York and California to make its automated self-service restaurant experience accessible to blind customers throughout the country. eatsa utilizes a high-tech service model in […]

New York, NY—August 10, 2017—Special Master Robert L. Burgdorf, Jr., one of the nation’s leading experts on disability rights, issued a 285 page report finding that it could take another 20 years or more to bring New York City street corners into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if a proposed class settlement is […]

July 27, 2017 – New York, NY – Disability Rights Advocates (“DRA”), a national nonprofit legal center, brought a class action lawsuit in federal court today on behalf of students with disabilities from the Bronx who are being denied legally-mandated special education services. When the New York City Department of Education (“DOE”) cannot find providers […]

WASHINGTON, July 26, 2017 — The American Bar Association will posthumously honor Laurence (Larry) W. Paradis, the former executive director of Disability Rights Advocates in Berkeley, Calif., with its Paul G. Hearne Award for Disability Rights. Paradis died July 28, 2016. The ABA Commission on Disability Rights selected Paradis for his advocacy and leadership for […]

Seattle, WA—May 16, 2017—Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) today announces an agreement with Northwest Hospital & Medical Center.  Over the last several months, Northwest Hospital, DRA, three individual members of Seattle’s Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing (DDBHH) community, and Abused Deaf Women’s Advocacy Services (ADWAS)  have worked together to ensure that Northwest Hospital’s outstanding, patient-focused […]