Calling the New York City subway system “the least accessible in the country,” disability advocates announced that they filed two class action lawsuits against the MTA for “excluding people with disabilities.” One lawsuit against the agency, filed in state court, claims a huge majority of the system’s stations are inaccessible to people who can’t use stairs. The other, filed in federal court, …
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver will not hear a case about Utah’s efforts to stall a class action lawsuit over mental health treatment in the state’s jails. The Standard-Examiner reports (http://bit.ly/2emtf06 ) that the Utah Attorney General’s Office asked the court to consider its challenge of a ruling certifying the Disability Law Center’s suit as a class action. The appeals …
A Northwest Arkansas McDonald’s owned by Mathews Management Company and Peach Orchard is set to pay $103,000 to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The lawsuit claimed a man was fired from a McDonald’s in Bentonville after management learned of his HIV-positive status. The suit also charged that the companies’ …
A federal judge has granted class action status to a lawsuit filed against the state of Utah on behalf of several mentally ill prison inmates. The Disability Law Center is suing the state on behalf of three inmates in Utah jails, alleging that they’re being held unconstitutionally while they wait to get treatment at the Utah State Hospital. Aaron Kinikini is the center’s legal director.
Utah’s system of handling mentally ill criminal defendants appears to be failing, a federal judge said in allowing a civil rights lawsuit to proceed against the state. Because of a persistent backlog at the Utah State Hospital, people judged to be mentally incompetent to stand trail are stacked up in county jails awaiting treatment to restore their competency, the Disability …
A Jasper County judge has denied a challenge to the formula used to calculate disability payments for Joplin firefighters and police officers. Circuit Judge David Mouton ruled in favor of the board of trustees for the Police and Firefighters Pension Fund and the city of Joplin in a lawsuit filed five years ago by a disabled firefighter and the firefighters union. Police officers did not join …
A disability rights group is suing the state of Washington, saying it has no system for ensuring developmentally disabled adults can avoid institutional care in favor of other living arrangements. Disability Rights Washington says in the federal lawsuit this week that at least 91 developmentally disabled adults were being institutionalized against their will because the state …
Three women workers and the SEIU California State Council filed a proposed class-action lawsuit Wednesday in Los Angeles, challenging what they allege is systemic gender discrimination in California’s workers’ compensation system. The lawsuit names as defendants numerous government officials and entities, including the state Department of Industrial Relations and the Division of Workers’ …
Disability Rights Ohio likes to use the term “segregated” to describe developmentally delayed people. Now let’s look at the actual, legal terminology used in implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act that requires services, programs and activities most “appropriate to the needs of the individual.” For those who can and want to change their living situation, go to Disability Rights Ohio …