November 12, 1997
Berkeley, California — A major disability discrimination lawsuit will be filed on Wednesday, November 12, 1997 in federal court in San Diego against the City of San Diego, alleging that the City illegally excludes persons with mental illness from the long-term disability (LTD) benefits plan that it offers to City employees. The suit will be filed by the Berkeley, California-based Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF); the ACLU Foundation of San Diego and Imperial Counties; the ACLU Foundation of Southern California; and the San Diego office of the law firm of Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP. Brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (the ADA) and similar California civil rights laws, the case is the first lawsuit in California to allege illegal treatment of persons with mental illness in a government employee LTD plan.