disability rights

Fighting to Open Doors for People with Disabilities for over 50 years

WLC has engaged in disability rights work since the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act and is focused on ensuring that people with disabilities can thrive.  Despite the law, people with disabilities are excluded from employment and business opportunities, denied accessible housing, face barriers to an equal education, experience harsher treatment by police and more dire conditions in prison, and are often excluded from public participation or services.  WLC fights for equal access in all these areas and works to address disability discrimination for our community members who are particularly vulnerable because of their race, class, and gender.  From ensuring accessible voting rights, making transportation accessible, and securing fair treatment for people with disabilities in the criminal legal system, WLC works alongside our community partners to bring litigation and change policies and practices that impact people with disabilities.  

WLC has litigated cases with precedent-setting significance, including those that secured effective communication for deaf and hard-of-hearing postal employees, forced the paratransit system to implement system enhancements and provide ride vouchers, ensured accessible videophones and video remote interpreting for deaf prisoners and 911 services for callers with hearing or speech impairments.  As we look towards the future, we are working towards a more equitable and just society for all by addressing systemic barriers, promoting inclusive policies, and amplifying the voices of marginalized communities. 

Protecting the rights of students with disabilities  

WLC’s cases ensure that students with disabilities have equal opportunities to thrive at school.  By bringing case under the ADA, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, we have advocated for students with medical needs, like diabetes, asthma, and allergies, to  have accommodations to attend school safely, secured access to an inclusive education placement for a student with developmental disabilities, and obtained groundbreaking relief for incarcerated students who were denied special education.   

We are also fighting to ensure that DC has systems in place to serve students with disabilities.  We currently represent The Arc and five families challenging the DC for failing to provide safe, reliable and effective transportation to and from schools for children with disabilities, thereby denying students equal access to their education and unnecessarily segregating them from their peers. 

Removing housing barriers 

People with disabilities have the right to live in communities of their choice. In the DC metropolitan area, there is a severe shortage of accessible housing for people with disabilities. The Fair Housing Act, ADA, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the DC Human Rights Act require that housing is accessible to people with disabilities, including the design and construction of new buildings and the right to request reasonable accommodations and modifications, such as grab bars or an accessible parking space. WLC brings cases under these laws to ensure housing in DC, Maryland, and Virginia is safe and accessible. WLC’s cases include representing the Equal Rights Center to challenge accessible design and construction violations and ensure that people with disabilities can safely use and enjoy their homes.  

Equal access to civic life   

WLC helps ensure that people with disabilities can exercise their rights and participate in civil society on equal footing.  This includes ensuring access to public transportation, cabs, and ride-share vehicles, securing accommodations in government services, and making sure that places of public accommodation, such as restaurants, hospitals, and schools, are accessible.   

On the heels of the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, we filed suit on behalf of a coalition of disability organizations and individual voters against the Commonwealth of Virginia for excluding Virginians with disabilities from absentee voting. The Commonwealth of Virginia agreed to make its elections accessible and safe for voters with disabilities permanently.  Without this case, voters with disabilities would have been forced to give up their right to vote privately and independently or risk their health and safety traveling to the polls to vote in person.  

Reasonable accommodations for workers 

WLC helps ensure that people with disabilities have access to jobs and fair treatment in the workplace.  Over the years, our cases include pursuing accessible workplace technology in compliance with the Rehabilitation Act, securing accommodations for deaf workers, and a landmark class action against BarBri for failing to ensure blind individuals’ ability to use its programming.  Through our Worker’s Rights Clinic, volunteer attorneys provide advice to workers with disabilities seeking reasonable accommodations or who have faced discrimination at work.   

Safeguarding fair treatment for people with disabilities in the criminal legal system 

People with disabilities are disproportionally swept up into the criminal legal system, and WLC fights to ensure that they are treated fairly and not unnecessarily institutionalized or imprisoned because of their disabilities.  Our cases focus on holding police accountable in the assault and unjustified arrest of people in mental health crises, ensuring that incarcerated people with mental health and physical disabilities receive the care and treatment to which they are entitled, and institutions that serve people with disabilities provide a safe and healthy environment.  

Our ceaseless fight against discrimination in access to the economy and public services works to ensure that everyone, regardless of race, disability or language can truly participate in society.