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.
ADA
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.
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.
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.
O’Hara v. Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
October 20, 1999
In 1997, on behalf of a group of individuals with mobility, hearing and vision impairments, DREDF and co-counsel filed a class-action lawsuit against the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California. The complaint alleged that the Coliseum failed to provide equitable access for people with disabilities. The parties settled in 1999.