Disability Rights Cases
City of Virginia Beach, Virginia
On April 18, 2024, the Justice Department entered into a settlement agreement under Title II of the ADA with the City of Virginia Beach, VA, a jurisdiction that has one of the highest concentrations of veterans in the country, many with service-connected disabilities. Under the agreement, the City will ensure the accessibility of its facilities, curb ramps, websites, and emergency management procedures, that it provides effective communication in its programs, and that it trains City staff about the requirements of the ADA.
Utah Department of Corrections
On April 2, 2024, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the State of Utah and the Utah Department of Corrections (UDOC) alleging UDOC violated Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by discriminating against an incarcerated transgender woman on the basis of her disability, gender dysphoria. The complaint alleges that UDOC failed to provide the complainant with equal access to health care services and failed to make reasonable modifications to its policies and practices to avoid discrimination on the basis of disability.
On March 12, 2024, the Justice Department issued a letter notifying UDOC that it violated the ADA by discriminating against an incarcerated transgender woman on the basis of her disability, gender dysphoria. The letter outlined the minimum remedial measures UDOC must take to address the violations identified and invited UDOC to work with the United States to reach an appropriate resolution.
In Re: New York City Police Department
On March 29, 2024, the United States issued a letter of findings to the New York City Police Department (NYPD) under Title II of the ADA regarding the lack of accessibility of the pedestrian grid caused by the NYPD’s widespread practice of permitting NYPD and New York City-permitted vehicles to park on sidewalks and in crosswalks. That letter demanded that the NYPD address the violations identified by taking corrective actions, including reforming parking policies and parking-enforcement trainings in addition to establishing procedures to hold accountable NYPD and New York City employees who park, or allow others to park, in manners that result in violations of the ADA.
Volusia County School Board
On August 2, 2021, the United States executed a settlement agreement with the Volusia County School Board on behalf of the Volusia County School District (VCS) under Title II of the ADA. The settlement agreement resolved allegations that the district punished students with disabilities for their disability-related behavior and denied them equal access to VCS’ programs and services through unnecessary removals from the classroom. Under the agreement, VCS will revise and implement policies and practices to comply with the ADA, particularly those relating to attendance and removals, discipline, law enforcement involvement, and behavioral interventions and supports, provide staff training on the ADA, retain an outside behavioral supports consultant, and establish an ADA complaint procedure and tracking system.
On March 20, 2024, the United States announced a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with VCS to extend the term of the 2021 settlement agreement by two years. The MOA also amends the settlement agreement to require VCS to take additional critical steps to achieve compliance with the ADA. Under the agreement, VCS will implement a robust training program, as well as new procedures that govern law enforcement contact with students with disabilities and ensure that students receive appropriate behavioral supports.
Individuals with information related to the department’s investigation and the district’s compliance with the settlement agreement are encouraged to report such information by email at vcs.compliance@usdoj.gov.
T.G. vs Maryland Department of Human Services
On March 4, 2024, the Justice Department filed a statement of interest explaining how the integration mandate of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to children who have been medically cleared for discharge from psychiatric institutions but who remain institutionalized because of the lack of available community placement. The statement of interest was filed in T.G. v. Maryland Department of Human Services, a lawsuit on behalf of a proposed class of children with mental health disabilities in the state’s foster care system who are institutionalized in psychiatric hospitals and other institutional settings, despite being medically cleared for discharge, due to a lack of available community-based services. The department’s brief explains that the ADA’s integration mandate requires states to provide services to people with disabilities in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs when they do not oppose such services, and when such placement can be reasonably accommodated. The statement also explains that (1) plaintiffs’ eligibility for a program makes them qualified under the ADA; (2) a treatment professional’s approval of a plaintiff for discharge establishes that the plaintiff is appropriate for a more integrated setting; and (3) a claim under Title II’s integration mandate does not require a showing of discriminatory intent, disparate treatment, or disparate impact.
U.S. v. Los Angeles County
On May 16, 2023, the Department of Justice issued a Letter of Findings to Los Angeles County under Title II of the ADA after investigating physical accessibility for persons with mobility and vision disabilities at the County's vote centers during the 2020 primary and general elections and 2022 general election. In addition, the Department reviewed other aspects of the County's voting programs, including curbside voting and ballot drop boxes. The Department concluded that the County, by reason of disability, excluded voters with disabilities from participation in and denied them the benefits of the County's voting services, programs, or activities, or subjected those individuals to discrimination, in violation of Title II and its implementing regulations.
On June 29, 2023, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles County after its investigation determined that the County discriminated against people with disabilities at vote centers, ballot drop boxes, and curbside voting during recent elections in violation of Title II of the ADA. On May 16, 2023, the Department of Justice issued a Letter of Findings to Los Angeles County concluding that the County, by reason of disability, excluded voters with disabilities from participation in and denied them the benefits of the County's voting services, programs, or activities, or subjected those individuals to discrimination, in violation of Title II. The Department seeks a court order directing the County to comply with the ADA, promptly develop a plan to remedy the alleged violations, and not further discriminate against individuals with disabilities.
State of Tennessee and the Shelby County District Attorney General's Office
On February 15, 2024, the United States filed a complaint against the State of Tennessee and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) for violating Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The complaint alleges that the State and the TBI subject people to harsher criminal penalties solely because of their human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status by maintaining and enforcing Tennessee’s aggravated prostitution statute. The aggravated prostitution statute elevates what would otherwise be misdemeanor conduct to a felony because the individual has HIV, regardless of any actual risk of harm. Aggravated prostitution is also categorized as a “violent sexual offense” mandating registration as a sex offender, in most cases for life.
On December 1, 2023, the United States issued a letter of findings to the State, the TBI, and the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office notifying them that they violated the ADA by maintaining and enforcing the state’s aggravated prostitution statute. That letter of findings asked the State, the TBI, and the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office to stop enforcing the aggravated prostitution law, to remove affected individuals from the registry, and to take other measures to redress the discrimination.
Lincoln Public Schools
On February 14, 2024, the Justice Department issued a Letter of Findings to Lincoln Public Schools (LPS) in Lincoln, Nebraska, finding that the school district violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by denying some deaf and hard of hearing students an equal opportunity to attend their neighborhood schools. Following a comprehensive investigation, the department found that, when LPS believes that a student needs American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation, LPS requires the student to attend a cluster school serving deaf and hard of hearing students. In applying this policy, LPS does not consider the individualized needs of deaf and hard of hearing students, denies them an equal opportunity to participate in neighborhood school and high school choice programs and fails to provide effective communication to some deaf and hard of hearing students. LPS’s cluster school requirement also harms the impacted students’ parents who incur transportation costs taking their children to the distant cluster schools. The letter asks the school district to change its policies and procedures, designate an ADA coordinator, train staff, and pay compensatory damages.
United States v. Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania
On January 31, 2024, the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania (UJS) agreed to pay $100,000 and to encourage all its component courts to adopt new policies to ensure that individuals under Pennsylvania state court supervision can take lawfully prescribed medications to treat opioid use disorder (OUD). The settlement agreement resolved the Justice Department's lawsuit against the UJS, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and the Blair, Jefferson, Lackawanna and Northumberland County Courts of Common Pleas.
The United States filed its original complaint on February 24, 2022, asserting that UJS courts violated Title II of the ADA by implementing administrative policies categorically limiting or prohibiting the use of lawfully prescribed medication for the treatment of OUD by individuals in court supervision programs. The United States had previously notified the UJS that its courts had engaged in discrimination in a letter of findings issued on February 2, 2022. The District Court dismissed the United States' original complaint on April 21, 2023, without prejudice and the United States filed an amended complaint on May 22, 2023. A second motion to dismiss by the Defendants and an opposition filed by the United States were pending before the court at the time of resolution.
Press Release Letter of Findings
Press Release Settlement Agreement
In Re Georgia Senate Bill 202
On January 31, 2024, the Justice Department filed a statement of interest explaining how the ADA's equal opportunity and reasonable modification requirements apply in the voting context. The statement of interest was filed in In Re Georgia SB 202, a consolidated lawsuit challenging restrictions on absentee and in-person voting under Georgia Senate Bill SB 202 (“SB 202”). One of the private lawsuits alleges that SB 202 fails to provide people with disabilities an equal opportunity to vote absentee and in-person or make reasonable modifications to avoid disability-based discrimination, in violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. The department’s brief explains that, under the ADA, voters with disabilities must have an equal opportunity to vote by a particular method as do voters without disabilities, and that this equal opportunity requirement is separate from the requirement that public entities make reasonable modifications.
U.S. v. MedStar Health, Inc.
On January 30, 2024, the United States filed a Complaint against MedStar Health, Inc., a leading healthcare provider in Maryland and the greater Washington, D.C., region. The lawsuit, filed under Title III of the ADA, alleges that MedStar Health denied people with disabilities equal access to medical care by excluding their necessary support persons. The suit alleges that MedStar Health failed to modify visitor restrictions so that people with certain disabilities, which affected their ability to independently access medical care, could be accompanied by their support persons (such as a family member, companion, or aide). These included individuals with dementia, intellectual disabilities, or autism spectrum disorder whose disabilities prevented them from providing medical history or understanding medical directions. As a result, they were unable to receive equal care without the assistance of their support person.
On January 30, 2024, the United States simultaneously filed a proposed Consent Decree to resolve the allegations of the Complaint. Under the proposed Consent Decree, MedStar Health has agreed to pay a total of $440,000 to compensate affected individuals. MedStar Health will also revise its policies to ensure ADA compliance, train its workforce on the new policies, and report to the Department on any future exclusion of support persons, as defined in the Decree.
Alabama Medicaid
On December 5, 2022, the United States executed a settlement agreement with the state of Alabama's Medicaid Agency (Alabama Medicaid), under Title II of the ADA regarding access to health services. The agreement will ensure that Alabama Medicaid recipients with Hepatitis C (HCV) who also use alcohol or illicit drugs, including those with a substance abuse disorder (SUD), will be provided equal access to medications to treat their hepatitis. Alabama Medicaid previously maintained a sobriety restriction policy that prevented any person with HCV who had used any alcohol or illicit drugs within the six months prior to treatment initiation from receiving potentially life-saving medication to cure their HCV. Alabama Medicaid has withdrawn the policy and the agreement requires notification to Medicaid recipients and Medicaid providers of these changes and prompt remediation of any instances where the prior policy is applied.
On January 24, 2024, the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services issued a Dear Colleague Letter to state Medicaid administrators urging them to ensure that their Medicaid programs allow access to life-saving medications for people with Hepatitis C (HCV), regardless of whether or not they also have substance use disorder (SUD), in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.