Disabled Chicago Residents Allegedly Obstructed by Unyielding Sidewalks File Collective Legal Action Against the City
In a bid to ensure equal access for people with mobility disabilities, four residents of Chicago have filed a class action lawsuit against the City of Chicago. The lawsuit, represented by Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) and Latham & Watkins LLP, alleges that the City is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
The plaintiffs include Cherlnell Lane, a Washington Park resident, who has been forced to ride in the street due to inaccessible sidewalks and has experienced verbal abuse and near-accidents. Iliana Rivera Haven, a Near West Side resident, and Michele Lee, a Streeterville resident, have also joined the lawsuit, stating that without accessible, safe sidewalks, people with mobility disabilities cannot fully participate in society. Kevin Sullivan, a suburban Chicago resident, has also joined the suit, wishing for the city to fulfill its promise of accessible public spaces.
The lawsuit seeks to require the City of Chicago to ensure all sidewalks, curb ramps, and other pedestrian pathways are accessible to people with mobility disabilities. According to Rachel Weisberg, supervising attorney with Disability Rights Advocates, "Access to the public pedestrian rights of way goes to the very heart of the ADA."
The lawsuit details specific remedial measures, providing guidance for the City to create and maintain pedestrian rights-of-way that are accessible to everyone. The City's sidewalks, crosswalks, and other pedestrian infrastructure are riddled with access barriers, containing several barriers at once, including being deteriorated, cracked, crumbling, sunken, uplifted, uneven, full of holes, overgrown with vegetation, or blocked with permanent mid-sidewalk obstacles.
Thousands of sidewalk inspection complaints languish for years before resolution, and more than 20,000 requests for sidewalk improvements have been open for at least a year. The class action lawsuit highlights the City's failure to use a coordinated, proactive system to maintain its pedestrian rights of way.
Latham & Watkins LLP, a leading global law firm advising on complex transactions, litigation, and regulatory matters, is supporting the lawsuit. The firm has offices in financial centers around the world. Jack McNeily, a partner at Latham & Watkins, stated that the City of Chicago previously agreed to implement systems to address curb ramp accessibility but has since discontinued many processes.
Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) is a leading national nonprofit disability rights legal center. Through precedent-setting work, DRA has improved access to education, health care, employment, transportation, disaster preparedness planning, voting, and housing for people with disabilities across the country. More information about DRA can be found at www.dralegal.org.
The lawsuit comes after Chicago's previous agreement to settle a lawsuit for failing to install, repair, and maintain curb ramps in violation of federal disability law, more than 20 years ago. The lawsuit emphasizes the urgent need for the City to address these issues and create a more inclusive city for all its residents.
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