On February 8, 1990, the Connecticut Traumatic Brain Injury Association filed a class action lawsuit against the Connecticut Departments of Mental Health and Mental Retardation and various state hospitals in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. Plaintiffs were a class of persons with intellectual disabilities or traumatic brain injuries and who were or may be placed in Norwich or Fairfield Hills Hospitals. They were represented by Connecticut Legal Services, the Connecticut Office of Protection and Advocacy, and private attorneys. The complaint alleged violations of the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Plaintiffs sought to enjoin the practice of placing non-dangerous brain injured individuals and individuals with intellectual disabilities in state hospitals for the mentally ill, where necessary treatment and training was not available.

The defendants moved to exclude those class members who were voluntarily placed into the hospitals and the District Court (Chief Judge Peter C. Dorsey) denied the motion on April 4, 1995. Conn. Traumatic Brain Injury Assoc. v. Hogan, 161 F.R.D. 8 (D. Conn. 1995).

Thereafter, the parties settled the claims of the class members with intellectual disabilities on the eve of trial. Chief Judge Peter C. Dorsey entered a stipulation and order on August 2, 1995 which approved the settlement terms. The defendants agreed to place half of the class members with intellectual disabilities into community settings by June 30, 1996 and the remaining by June 30, 1997. The defendants also agreed to provide services to the class members in accord with the standards, policies, and procedures developed in the CARC v. Thorne (ID-CT-0001) litigation. After those transfers, the Fairfield Hills Hospital and Norwich Hospital were to be closed, and the portion of the case relating to class members with intellectual disabilities was to be dismissed.

The case continued with respect to claims of class members with brain injuries. Note that the PACER docket did not contain hyper-links to case pleadings and orders and we did not have copies of subsequent case documents. Information on the history of this litigation for the period of August 2, 1995 to November 2002 was limited to the PACER docket entries.

According to the PACER docket, following the partial settlement, the case proceeded to trial, beginning on July 25, 1995 and continuing through August 16, 1995. It appears that the trial was then recessed and stayed by the court so that the parties could pursue settlement negotiations. Negotiations continued and the parties participated in numerous court ordered settlement conferences with mediator, Attorney Cousins. The remaining issues in the case did not settle.

Trial as to the claims of brain injured class members reconvened in February, 2001. The docket indicates that following post-trial motions and briefs, the District Court entered judgment for the defendants and closed the case on November 26, 2002.

Angela Heverling - 04/01/2007


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