On February 11, 2016, six students with behavior-related disabilities residing in Pasadena brought this class action lawsuit in the United States for the Central District of California, Western Division. The plaintiffs, though their guardians, sued the Pasadena Unified School District for alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and state disability statutes. The plaintiffs, represented by Mental Health Advocacy Services, the Judge L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, and private counsel, sought injunctive and declaratory relief and attorney's fee. The plaintiffs claimed that the Pasadena Unified School District was systematically segregating students with behavioral issues in an alternative "therapeutic environment" in which students were subjected to arrests, forced isolations, suspension threats, and an inferior education overall. They sought a behavioral-service program within neighborhood schools to provide students with disabilities an equal education.

For the next year, the parties engaged in discovery and settlement negotiations.

The case is ongoing. On October 27, 2017, the case was transfered from Judge Beverly Reid O'Connell to Judge Virginia A. Phillips.

Nili Blanck - 02/06/2018


compress summary