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.
Good News Ahead for Amtrak Thruway Bus Passengers in California
September 8, 2000
Berkeley, California — Beginning in Fall 2000, Amtrak guests with mobility disabilities using wheelchairs who ride Thruway Buses will enjoy consistent access advantages in California travel. The planned benefits were are announced today by America's national passenger railroad, and by bus companies Serendipity Land Yachts and Antelope Valley Bus Company who operate Thruway bus service for Amtrak in California.
Class-Action Lawsuit Demands Real Homes not Nursing Homes
July 13, 2000
San Francisco, California — Ten plaintiffs will be filing a class action lawsuit in United States District Court on July 12, 2000, seeking access to community-based long-term care services to avoid unnecessary institutionalization in nursing facilities. The lawsuit alleges that the City and County of San Francisco, as well as several state agencies, are discriminating against people with disabilities by failing to utilize existing Medicaid funding and other funding sources for home and community-based services, instead committing the vast majority of available funding to institutional care. A de facto policy bias toward institutional care persists at the expense of home and community based alternatives.
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.
California, Florida to Get First Bank of America Talking ATMs
March 15, 2000
San Francisco, California — Bank of America today announces a plan to install more than 2,500 talking ATMs in Florida and California its largest retail markets. The plan, reached in conjunction with the California Council of the Blind and several blind individuals, schedules installations of the talking ATMs over the next three years. Additional plans to install the ATMs in other states where Bank of America operates will be worked out early next year.
DREDF Government Affairs Director to Receive the George Bush Medal
February 24, 2000
Patrisha A. Wright, Director of Government Affairs at the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, will be awarded the George Bush medal at a gala luncheon ceremony today in Houston. The award is presented to individuals who have "distinguished themselves in the movement for equal rights and opportunity for people with disabilities worldwide," writes the Bush Medal Committee. Past recipients include President Bush, Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Ed Roberts (founder of the first Center for Independent Living), and Bengt Lindquist (special envoy on disability to the United Nations.) It was first given in 1993.
President Bush to Award Bush Medal to Six ADA Advocates
January 31, 2000
Houston, Texas — President George Bush will present the George Bush Medal to six individuals, two posthumously, who have distinguished themselves in the movement for equal rights and opportunity for people with disabilities worldwide during a February 24 gala luncheon in Houston. "Lighting The Way," the theme of the luncheon, recognizes the inspired leadership of the six individuals being honored. Their passionate commitment to equality and opportunity for all has helped to make the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) a valuable part of the American culture.
Victory for Disabled Children in East Palo Alto
January 4, 2000
East Palo Alto, California — After a three-year legal battle on behalf of hundreds of children with disabilities in the Ravenswood Elementary School District in East Palo Alto, California, Federal Court Judge Thelton E. Henderson gave final approval yesterday to an unprecedented settlement agreement in Emma C. v. Delaine Eastin, et al., Case No. C-96-4179, and commented that the agreement is "very well done".