GBDH, along with co-counsel Schneider Wallace Cottrell Konecky Wotkyns, Disability Rights Legal Center, and Legal Aid Society – Employment Law Center serve as class counsel in the matter of Willits v. City of Los Angeles, Case No. CV 10-05782 CBM (C.D. Cal.). GBDH and its co-counsel represent a certified class of approximately 280,000 persons with mobility disabilities who are and have been denied access to sidewalks and other pedestrian rights of way in Los Angeles. The case alleges that Los Angeles has violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 by failing to construct accessible curb ramps at intersections and failing to maintain sidewalks in a condition that is useable by class members who rely on wheelchairs, scooters, and other assistive devices for mobility.
On August 26, 2016, the United States District Court for the Central District of California finally approved a landmark class action settlement that requires the City of Los Angeles to spend more than $1.4 billion to make its sidewalks, curb ramps, crosswalks and other walkways accessible to individuals with mobility disabilities. This is the largest disability access class action settlement in U.S. history.