October 11, 2005
Oakland, California — Four elementary school-age students, along with the American Diabetes Association, filed an unprecedented civil rights complaint today in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California seeking class action relief against the California Superintendent of Public Schools, the California Department of Education, members of the California Board of Education, the San Ramon Valley Unified School District, the Fremont Unified School District, and their Superintendents and Boards of Trustees. The suit asks the Court to compel public school officials to comply with federal law by providing the assistance that California students with diabetes require to manage their diabetes during the school day.
ADA
Tennessee v. Lane
November 12, 2003
DREDF filed an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in Tennessee v. Lane on behalf of the of former US Attorney General Richard Thornburgh, the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), and ADA Watch, which argued that Congress had the power to enact all of Title II of the ADA, enabling disabled persons to participate in critical facets of American life and helping to achieve full integration.
Raytheon Co. v. Joel Hernandez
July 9, 2003
DREDF joined as co-counsel in the preparation of an amicus curiae brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the National Employment Lawyers Association and the American Association of People with Disabilities. The central issue in the case was whether the Americans with Disabilities Act confers preferential rehire rights on employees lawfully terminated for misconduct, such as illegal drug use.
California Supreme Court Decides Disability Rights Case
February 20, 2003
Berkeley, California — The California Supreme Court today announced its decision in Colmenares v. Braemar Country Club, the first case in a decade that the state high court has heard involving the issue of what constitutes a disability under California state law. The case looked at the contested question of whether California disability rights laws afford broader protections for people with disabilities than the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Mr. Colmenares was represented in the high court by Joseph M. Lovretovich and the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, Inc. (DREDF). DREDF attorney Linda D. Kilb argued the case on December 4, 2002.
Finger v. Walgreens
May 22, 2002
Representing plaintiff Anne Finger DREDF filed a lawsuit against drugstore giant Walgreen Co., alleging that the retailer routinely blocked access to aisles and goods and thus failed to comply with California law requiring full and equal access to customers with physical disabilities.
Colmenares v. Braemar Country Club
April 1, 2002
The Colmenares case looked at the contested question of whether California disability rights laws afforded broader protections for people with disabilities than the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Colmenares addressed the definition of disability under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). The case required the state high court to determine the scope of the California law definition of "physical disability."
Chevron USA, Inc. v. Echazabal
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).
Mary Lou Breslin Selected to Receive Prestigious Award
January 28, 2002
Berkeley, California — Mary Lou Breslin, a co-founder of the Berkeley's Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) and a highly passionate, respected and effective advocate on behalf of people with disabilities in the U.S. and around the world for more than 25 years, has been selected by a national jury to receive the prestigious Henry B. Betts Award. The presentation of a $50,000 cash award will be made to Ms. Breslin at the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) Leadership Gala on February 27, 2002 in Washington, DC.
Civil Rights Advocates Decry Supreme Court Decision
February 21, 2001
The Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, Inc. (DREDF), the country's leading disability civil rights organization, expressed dismay at today's Supreme Court decision limiting the enforcement of Title I of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. By the narrowest of margins, 5-4, the Court held in Garrett that state employees are not protected if their employers discriminate against them because of disability. The case involved two state employees with disabilities in Alabama — Patricia Garrett, a registered nurse with breast cancer, and Milton Ash, a security officer with asthma and sleep apnea, both of whom suffered discrimination in their jobs because of their disabilities.
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.