Litigation Updates

Judge John Acosta of the United States District Court has scheduled a final hearing to determine if the State of Oregon has complied with its obligations under the Settlement Agreement in Lane v. Brown.

On April 17, 2022, the district court found the State of New Mexico finally achieved compliance with a 2019 settlement agreement and dismissed the case of Jackson v. Los Lunas Community Program.  The class action litigation was originally filed in 1987 on behalf of hundreds of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities who lived in the state’s two public institutions.

Based upon its successful ADA class action litigation in Oregon, CPR partnered with Disability Rights North Carolina (DRNC) to pursue an initiative and potential litigation to expand supported employment services and eliminate reliance on segregated sheltered workshops in North Carolina. 

On September 27, 2021, Judge Michael Ponsor approved the Joint Motion for Dismissal in Hutchinson v. Patrick, finding the defendants to be in substantial compliance with the 2013 Amended Settlement Agreement.  This Order concludes a 14-year class action lawsuit which dramatically expanded outreach, transition planning, and home and community-based services for individuals with Acquired Brain Injuries (ABI) in Massachusetts.

On August 24, 2021, CPR joined Massachusetts officials in requesting dismissal of Hutchinson v. Patrick, an ADA class action lawsuit which dramatically expanded outreach, transition planning, and home and community-based services for individuals with Acquired Brain Injuries (ABI).  Originally filed in 2007, the Hutchinson case was brought on behalf of thousands of persons with ABI who were unnecessarily institutionalized in nursing and long-term rehabilitation facilities.

CPR and its partners, the Disability Rights Center of Kansas, AARP Foundation, and the law firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon, have reached an agreement with the State of Kansas to expand mental health services and provide more community residential options for individuals living in, or at risk of being admitted to, Nursing Facilities for Mental Health (NFMHs).

In a 2-1 decision, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a 2020 FDA rule banning the use devices that deliver electric shocks to individuals with self-injurious and aggressive behaviors. he devices at issue, also known as Graduated Electronic Decelerators (GEDs), are manufactured and used in only one program – the Judge Rotenberg Center based in Canton, Massachusetts. 

The Sixth Circuit of Appeals has upheld a Settlement Agreement in this class action brought on behalf of thousands of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities who expressed an interest in moving from Intermediate Care Facilities (ICF) to integrated community programs.

On June 19, 2021, Judge Richard Stearns issued an opinion in our longstanding children’s mental health case, Rosie D. v. Baker, finding the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in compliance with the court’s 2007 remedial order

The Department of Health & Human Services Office for Civil Rights (HHS OCR) has resolved a disability discrimination complaint against the MedStar hospital system. Complainant William King is a 73-year-old man with communications-related disabilities, who was refused access to his designated support person during a lengthy hospital stay.