February 1, 2002
DREDF joined as co-counsel in amicus curiae brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of a wide variety of disability organizations including the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), AARP, the American Council of the Blind (ACB), the American Diabetes Association (ADA), ADAPT, the Brain Injury Association of America, the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, ("DREDF"), Epilepsy Foundation, HalfthePlanet Foundation, the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, the Legal Aid Society Employment Law Center (LAS-ELC), the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), the National Association of the Deaf Law Center, the National Association of Developmental Disabilities Councils (NADDC), the National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems (NAPAS), the National Association of Rights Protection and Advocacy (NARPA), the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), the National Mental Health Association, the National Mental Health Consumers - Self-Help Clearinghouse, the Polio Society, The Arc of the United States (The Arc), and the United Cerebral Palsy Associations, Inc. (UCP).
Cases
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc., v. Ella Williams
August 31, 2001
DREDF filed an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc., v. Ella Williams on behalf of the National Council on Disability. The case involved a worker who, upon developing carpal tunnel syndrome was reassigned from her job as an assembly line to other positions, where she performed satisfactorily. Eventually, Toyota required Williams to perform additional manual tasks, whereupon her pain reappeared. Williams requested an accommodation of her company-diagnosed medical condition and a return to her previous job as paint inspector. Williams stopped going to work and Toyota fired her.
Garrett v. University of Alabama
October 11, 2000
DREDF went before the Supreme Court of the United States on October 11, 2000, to argue the Garrett, et al. v. University of Alabama, et al. case, in which Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act was at stake. DREDF authored the respondents' Supreme Court brief along with the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, Michael Gottesman, Larry Gold and the Alabama law firm of Gordon, Silberman, Wiggins & Childs, which represented former Alabama employees and respondents Patricia Garrett and Milton Ash.
Davis et al. v. Department of Health and Human Services et al.
July 11, 2000
Individual plaintiffs and the Independent Living Resource Center of San Francisco (ILRCSF) sued the City and County of San Francisco, California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHS), California Department of Health Services (DHS), California Department of Social Services (DSS), California Department of Mental Health (DMH) and the California Department of Aging (DOA) alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Nursing Home Reform Act and other statutes. Specifically, defendants failed to assess or provide support to residents of Laguna Honda Hospital that would have enabled them to live in a home of their choice outside of LHH.
Midpeninsula Citizens for Fair Housing…
July 6, 2000
DREDF and co-counsel Legal Strategies Group represented Midpeninsula Citizens for Fair Housing (MCFH) in a fair housing lawsuit against Lytton Courtyard Apartments for violating architectural design and construction requirements that apply to new construction.
Sanchez v. Johnson
May 4, 2000
The lawsuit challenged the State's failure to increase wages of direct care workers for persons with disabilities residing in the community, resulting in turnover in excess of 50 percent a year. California had increased rates paid to community providers for wages insubstantially since 1989. As a result, workers in community facilities are paid 54 percent of what similar workers in California's institutions are paid. Only two states in the nation paid less per person than California for Medicaid Home and Community Based Services.
The Sutton Trilogy
February 22, 1999
In the spring of 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a trio of critical cases involving the federal law definition of disability, which the ADA specifies is an "impairment" that "substantially limits" one or more "major life activities." DREDF participated in these cases by writing an amicus curiae brief on behalf of Senators Harkin and Kennedy, former Senator Dole and Congressmen Hoyer and Owens, presenting arguments in favor of a broad interpretation of the ADA.
Ingram v. Serendipity Land Yachts
August 6, 1998
In a class action lawsuit, passengers with mobility disabilities who use wheelchairs and scooters on Amtrak Thruway Bus services in California alleged that the defendants failed to comply with various state and federal laws concerning the safe transportation of bus passengers who use wheelchairs (including scooters) and the proper training of bus drivers to provide respectful and courteous service to passengers with disabilities.
Greener v. Shell Oil
June 19, 1998
In June 1998, DREDF and co-counsel filed a class action complaint against Shell Oil along with a proposed settlement to address Shell's failure to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act at Shell service stations in cities across the United States. Shell and the three Northern California wheelchair users negotiated the agreement over a two year period without litigation and agreed to filing the complaint for procedural reasons.
Bragdon v. Abbott
February 6, 1998
DREDF filed an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Senators Harkin, Jeffords and Kennedy, and Representatives Hoyer, Owens and Waxman in Abbott v. Bragdon. The central issue in this case was whether people who have HIV but appear asymptomatic are considered disabled and therefore protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act.