Impact Fund and Allies File Class Action Amicus Brief in Ninth Circuit On Behalf of Seniors and People With Disabilities

Meredith Dixon, Law Fellow

The Impact Fund and amici recently filed an amicus brief urging the Ninth Circuit to review a decision in Stiner v. Brookdale Senior Living Inc., from the Northern District of California denying certification of a class of over 7,000 seniors and persons with disabilities challenging the conditions of their residential assisted living facilities.

Plaintiff Stacia Stiner and other members of the proposed classes live in facilities run by the largest assisted living provider in the country, Brookdale Senior Living, Inc.. Ms. Stiner alleges systemic violations of the ADA, California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, the Unfair Competition Law, and the Elder Financial Abuse statute. She argues that Brookdale’s facilities are “filled with various access barriers that violate the ADA and the Unruh Act.” Specifically, Ms. Stiner alleges that Brookdale’s facilities are not accessible to people with disabilities, and that its policies regarding transportation, emergency evacuation, and staffing prevent them from fully accessing and enjoying the facilities.

The district court denied certification of Plaintiffs’ disability access claims for failure to satisfy commonality. In doing so, the court wrote there were only two scenarios where class actions alleging ADA accessibility claims are appropriate against entities operating multiple facilities: (1) where facilities share a “common blueprint or design characteristics,” or (2) where the proposed class is “challeng[ing] a common offending policy or centralized decision-making.” This holding endangers future disability access class actions across a variety of institutions, such as schools, foster care systems, group homes, and jails and prisons.

Our brief argues that the district court’s decision ran afoul of existing case law.

The amicus brief authored by the Impact Fund, Disability Rights Advocates, and the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund argues that the district court’s decision ran afoul of existing case law and will undermine enforcement of ADA access laws in the precise cases where systemwide enforcement is most needed. Amici pointed to courts across the country that have certified classes challenging systemic failures to act in cases involving multiple unique facilities and a mixture of local and centralized decision-making. Amici also argued that the communities that most often encounter these types of large, multi-facility systems lack access to justice through individual litigation and may rely on class actions as the only feasible avenue for enforcing their rights. 

The Impact Fund is grateful to stand with Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, Disability Rights Advocates, AIDS Legal Referral Panel, Child Care Law Center, Disability Rights California, Family Violence Appellate Project, Learning Rights Law Center, Legal Aid at Work, Legal Assistance for Seniors, Legal Assistance to the Elderly, Mental Health Advocacy Services, National Housing Law Project, Prison Law Office, The Public Interest Law Project, and Senior Legal Services.

Amici hope that by urging the Ninth Circuit to review the district court’s decision, individuals with disability will retain the ability to bring class actions seeking systemic enforcement of their right to be free from unlawful discrimination.