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From
Legal Times:
Washington-area disability-rights advocates this week filed a federal
class action against the District of Colombia and its mayor, alleging
the city’s emergency plan discriminates against people with
disabilities.
The United Spinal Association and The DC Center for
Independent Living, along with three Washington residents, seek
declaratory and injunctive relief against the District and Mayor Vincent
Gray, according to their complaint.
“What
I would like is for the judge to realize that the D.C. emergency plan
is lacking and that there do need to be changes made to the program so
it can serve members of the community,” said Alexandra Bennewith, vice
president of government relations for United Spinal. “That’s the whole
point. There is not a plan right now.”
The lawsuit, which mirrors
similar suits against New York City in 2013 and Los Angeles in 2011,
alleges Washington’s emergency response plan violates the Americans With
Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
and the D.C. Human Rights Act, Bennewith said.
According to the
complaint, Washington’s District Response Plan, drafted by the Homeland
Security and Emergency Management Agency, “has failed to adequately plan
to meet the needs of its approximately 72,000 residents with
disabilities.”
A 2010 agency report
states it worked with Washington’s Office on Disability Services to
“ensure awareness about the city’s emergency response plan.” An agency checklist urges disabled people to stockpile money and medication and keep friends on speed dial in case of a disaster.
“That
is not an emergency plan any way you look at it,” Bennewith said. “We
do have many events where we bring our members into D.C. God knows what
would happen if there was some type of emergency that wouldn’t be able
to handle all of those folks.”
The agency and D.C.’s Office of the Attorney General declined to comment.
U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in New York ruled
in November 2013 that New York City’s emergency plan violated the ADA,
Rehabilitation Act and the New York City Human Rights Law.
Disability-rights groups filed the class action following Hurricane
Sandy (pictured).
According to court documents, Furman ruled the city failed
to make disaster centers accessible to disabled people; draft and
execute an escape plan for disabled people stranded in high-rise
apartments; and educate and inform disabled people before and during an
emergency.
In February 2011, U.S. District Judge Consuelo Marshall in California ruled the emergency response plan for the city of Los Angeles violated the ADA. Disability-rights groups sued the city in 2009.
“Because
of the city’s failure to address their unique needs, individuals with
disabilities are disproportionately vulnerable to harm in the event on
an emergency or disaster,” Marshall wrote in her ruling.
Aaron
Gallaher, a spokesman for the Florida Division of Emergency Management,
said emergency-planning agencies closely followed damage from Hurricane
Sandy and the New York disaster lawsuit ruling.
“When things like
that happen, every emergency management agency becomes introspective,”
Gallaher said. “It didn’t change what we were doing, but it did cause us
to be a little more self-scrutinizing.”
Michael McManus of
Drinker Biddle & Reath and lead attorney for the plaintiffs in the
suit filed this week, said the District—which was a target on 9/11—is at
risk for disasters.
“If you had ever told me I was going to be
truly scared to die on the 11th floor of my office building on 15th
Street, I would have told you you were crazy,” McManus said. “I never
expected to see an earthquake in Washington. … But that happened.” (An
earthquake rattled the Washington metro area in August 2011.)
McManus
expects other cities to adopt disability-friendly plans after rulings
in Los Angeles, New York and D.C.’s pending suit, he said.
“Not a
lot of additional resources need to be spent, Just time and attention,”
he said. “There is no consideration given to disabled people.”
