Author: Kirby Shaw

The Department of Justice filed a joint motion today to extend the Consent Decree in a lawsuit brought against the City of Jackson, MS (the City) related to its public transportation system, including its fixed route bus system, known as JATRAN. The proposal would extend the decree until September 30, 2016 to give the City additional time to comply with the terms of the consent decree that require it to maintain wheelchair lifts/ramps in operative condition; cycle the lifts/ramps each morning and record the results; remove buses without operable lifts/ramps from service; perform preventative maintenance on the accessibility features of its buses; establish an ADA Coordinator who is responsible for the day-to-day compliance of JATRAN with title II of the ADA; and maintain and report certain data and records, including each lift/ramp malfunction and subsequent service, preventative maintenance, and paratransit telephone access.

The Department of Justice is pleased to announce that, as of today, individuals wishing to file ADA complaints with the Department will be able to fill out the form and submit it completely electronically. Filers will also immediately receive a “reference number” that can be used whenever contacting the Department about that complaint.

The Justice Department today announced an agreement with Rapid City, South Dakota (City), to improve access to aspects of civic life for people with disabilities. The agreement was reached under Project Civic Access (PCA), the department’s wide-ranging initiative to ensure that cities, towns and counties throughout the country comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The Justice Department today announced a settlement agreement with Washington County, Missouri, to improve access to all aspects of civic life for people with disabilities. The agreement was reached under Project Civic Access, the department’s wide-ranging initiative to ensure that cities, towns and counties throughout the country comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Under the agreement, the County will take important steps to improve access for people with disabilities, such as: physically modifying facilities surveyed by the Department so that they are accessible; retaining an Independent Licensed Architect; appointing an ADA Coordinator; adopting a Grievance Procedure; providing auxiliary aids and services necessary to ensure effective communication; ensuring accessibility of polling places; ensuring that emergency procedures, plans, and shelters accommodate people with disabilities; and posting and publishing a notice to inform members of the public of the provisions of Title II and their applicability to the County’s programs, services, and activities. Today’s agreement is part of the Department’s activities to honor the ADA’s 25th Anniversary. Each month, the Justice Blog will highlight different ways that the ADA benefits people with disabilities. Today’s entry in the Justice Blog features information about the Washington County settlement.

The Department of Justice reached an agreement today to resolve a lawsuit it brought against Sairam Enterprises, Inc., the owner of the Days Inn Tulsa located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The proposed consent decree resolves a 2014 lawsuit that the Department filed against Sairam alleging that on July 31, 2010, it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it denied a room to a veteran and his family because the veteran uses a service dog.

The Justice Department filed a best practices report from an expert panel convened pursuant to the Consent Decree in Dept. of Fair Employment & Housing (DEFH) v. Law School Admission Council, Inc. (LSAC), Case No. 12-1830-EMC (N. D. Cal). The panel, consisting of experts in cognitive disabilities, the provision of testing accommodations, and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), was charged with examining ten specific areas of LSAC’s testing accommodation practices and establishing, where needed, changes or “best practices” to bring LSAC into compliance with Title III of the ADA. The panel’s Best Practices Report requires sweeping changes to LSAC’s testing accommodation practices in each of the ten areas examined. For example, the Best Practices Report details the types of documentation that will be sufficient for various types of testing accommodations requests, outlines who should review testing accommodation requests and how the review should be conducted, and creates an appeals process for those candidates whose testing accommodation requests are denied. The timeline for LSAC’s implementation of the best practices depends on whether any of the parties challenge them in court.

The Justice Department today announced a settlement agreement with Nueces County, Texas (County), to improve access to all aspects of civic life for people with disabilities. The agreement was reached under Project Civic Access, the department’s wide-ranging initiative to ensure that cities, towns and, counties throughout the country comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Under the agreement, the County will take important steps to improve access for people with disabilities, such as: physically modifying facilities surveyed by the Department so that parking, routes into the buildings, entrances, service areas and counters, restrooms, and drinking fountains are accessible to people with disabilities; posting, publishing and distributing notices to inform members of the public of the provisions of the ADA and their applicability to the City’s programs, services and activities. Notably, under the terms of the agreement, the County will ensure that its websites and all online services, including those websites or online services provided by third parties upon which the County relies to provide services or content, comply with, at minimum, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.0.

The Justice Department announced today that it reached settlement agreements under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with the cities of DeKalb, Illinois; Vero Beach, Florida; Fallon, Nevada; and Isle of Palms, South Carolina. Under the settlement agreements, each city agrees not to conduct any medical examinations or make disability-related inquiries of job applicants before a conditional offer of employment is made, and to make its online employment opportunities website and job applications conform with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, which are industry guidelines for making web content accessible.

On January 29, 2015, the U. S. Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a joint letter finding disability rights violations by the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF). DOJ found DCF has violated Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and HHS found DCF has violated Title II and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 504), by denying a mother with developmental disabilities the opportunity to benefit from supports and services following the removal of her two-day-old infant and over the next two years as she was seeking to reunify with her daughter.