The White House is pushing back on a long-running lawsuit over its disability accommodations by challenging the right of people with disabilities to sue the federal government.
In court filings, attorneys with the Department of Justice now claim that people with disabilities don’t have the right to sue federal agencies under Section 504.
Disability advocates say this argument is out of step with Supreme Court precedent and that the federal government itself has frequently made the opposite argument in previous court cases.
“They’re arguing in a nutshell that there is no private right of action, that there is no right for an individual to go before the court and say my rights have been violated under Section 504,” said Amy Robertson, an attorney who filed an amicus brief in the case on behalf of nine disability advocacy groups. “It really would mean it would be more difficult to challenge discrimination by any federal agencies.”
The groups behind the amicus brief include the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, the American Association of People with Disabilities, the Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network, CommunicationFIRST, Disability Law United, Disability Rights Bar Association, Justice in Aging, the National Federation of the Blind and Paralyzed Veterans of America.
