The Legal Aid Society brought this lawsuit on behalf of homeless New Yorkers living with disabilities, Coalition for the Homeless, and the Center for Independence of the Disabled in New York. The suit challenged the New York City Department of Homeless Services’ (DHS) failure to accommodate clients with disabilities in compliance with local, state, and federal disability rights laws. Legal Aid entered into a settlement with the City in 2017 wherein DHS agreed to create sufficient accessible shelter capacity to meet the needs of class members and to change all relevant policies and procedures so as to ensure that class members can access shelter and can obtain reasonable accommodations.

In 2021, Legal Aid won a temporary restraining order and injunction against DHS for the agency’s failure to comply with the terms of the settlement during the COVID-19 pandemic. We challenged the City’s plan to move DHS clients living with disabilities from single- or double-occupancy rooms in hotels to congregate shelters, the latter settings being far more dangerous environments for individuals at high risk of severe health consequences if they were to contract COVID. Legal Aid entered into a new settlement with the City in 2021, wherein DHS agreed to enact reasonable procedures to accommodate class members’ unique disability-related needs. Monitoring of the original 2017 settlement is ongoing through at least 2026.