Brooklyn Center for Independence of Disabled v. Bloomberg

290 F.R.D. 409, 2012 WL 8319310, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 159835
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedNovember 16, 2012
DocketNo. 11 CIV. 6690 (JMF)
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 290 F.R.D. 409 (Brooklyn Center for Independence of Disabled v. Bloomberg) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brooklyn Center for Independence of Disabled v. Bloomberg, 290 F.R.D. 409, 2012 WL 8319310, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 159835 (S.D.N.Y. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

JESSE M. FURMAN, United States District Judge:

This case—filed shortly after Hurricane Irene in 2011—raises the question of whether the City of New York’s emergency preparedness plans adequately address the needs of people with disabilities. Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled (“BCID”) and the Center for the Independence of the Disabled, New York (“CIDNY”), two non-profit organizations, along with Gregory D. Bell and Tania Morales, two individual plaintiffs, bring suit against the City of New York (the “City”) and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (“Rehabilitation Act”), 29 United States Code, Section 794, et seq.; Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), 42 United States Code, Section 12131; and the New York City Human Rights Law (“NYCHRL”), N.Y.C. Administrative Code, Section 8-101, et seq., alleging a systematic failure to address the needs of persons with disabilities in the City’s emergency and disaster planning. (Amended Compl. ¶¶ 1,14).

Trial in this matter is scheduled for December 10, 2012. The question now pending before the Court is not whether the plaintiffs’ allegations have merit, but whether the case should proceed as a class action. On August 31, 2012, the plaintiffs moved to certify the following class under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 23(a) and (b)(2): “all persons with disabilities in the City of New York who have been and are being denied the benefits and advantages of New York City’s emergency [413]*413preparedness program because of Mayor Bloomberg and New York City’s continuing failure to address the unique need of this population in the City’s emergency planning and preparations.” (Mot. to Certify Class (Docket No. 35)). Defendants oppose the motion, principally on the ground that plaintiffs lack standing to bring their claims because they have not proved an “injury in fact.” (Defs.’ Mem. in Opp’n to Pis.’ Mot. to Certify Class (“Defs.’ Opp’n Mem.”) at 2 (Docket No. 59)). The motion was fully submitted on September 24, 2012.

For the reasons discussed below, plaintiffs’ motion to certify the class is GRANTED as modified and subject to comment from the parties.1

BACKGROUND

The City’s Office of Emergency Management (“OEM”) is responsible for planning and preparing for emergencies, educating the public about preparedness for emergencies, coordinating emergency responses and recovery efforts, and collecting and disseminating emergency information to the public. (Parks Decl. Ex. G at 1 (Docket No. 51)). Part of OEM’s mandate is to develop written, citywide plans to address emergencies that might befall the City. (See id. Ex. H). These plans cover emergencies ranging from natural disasters (for example, hurricanes, floods, and winter weather) to other miscellaneous hazards (for example, downed trees, power interruptions, and oil spills). (Id.).

Plaintiffs in this action allege that the City’s emergency plans are either inadequate with respect to the needs of people with disabilities or that they fail to provide for their needs entirely. (See Mem. in Support of Mot. to Certify Class (“Pis.’ Mem.”) at 3). In particular, the plaintiffs identify four alleged problems with the City’s emergency plans. First, they contend that the City’s plans for evacuations are over-reliant on public transportation. During an evacuation, the City expects trains, subways, buses, and other public transportation to move evacuees to areas of safety. (See id. at 5). Yet many of these methods of transportation, plaintiffs claim, are inaccessible to people with mobility disabilities, and the City has put forward no practical way to deal with that problem. (Id.).

Second, plaintiffs assert that the City has no plan for evacuation of people with disabilities from high-rise buildings. The plaintiffs contend that “no information is provided as to what someone who uses a wheelchair or scooter or walker, or who has a heart condition is supposed to do instead of using the elevator in a multi-story building.” (Id. at 6).

Third, according to plaintiffs, the emergency shelter system is ineffective for people with disabilities. (Id. at 7). For instance, in one disaster scenario, disability-related supplies will be stockpiled only at eight designated “special medical needs shelters” to which not all people with disabilities are expected to be evacuated. (Id. at 7-8). Moreover, because the City itself allegedly does not know, the public has not been informed as to which shelters are physically accessible by people with disabilities and which are not. Indeed, plaintiffs contend that many shelters are not accessible to people with certain disabilities at all. (Id.).

Finally, plaintiffs quarrel with the City’s assumption, upon which many of its emergency plans are based, that New Yorkers will need to survive for three days after an emergency without public assistance. (Id. at 9). Many people with disabilities, they argue, may need assistance sooner and the City has no plans for “prioritization of services for people with disabilities during that period.” (Pis.’ Reply Mem. of Law (“Pis.’ Reply Mem.”) at 3).

Plaintiffs seek a declaration from this Court that the above failures (and others) violate the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and [414]*414the NYCHRL. (Amended Compl. ¶155). In addition, they seek an injunction requiring the City to develop and implement an emergency preparedness program that addresses the unique needs of people with disabilities. (Id. ¶ 156). For the moment, however, the sole issue before the Court is plaintiffs’ motion to certify a plaintiff class of “all persons with disabilities in the City of New York who have been and are being denied the benefits and advantages of New York City’s emergency preparedness program because of Mayor Bloomberg and New York City’s continuing failure to address the unique need of this population in the City’s emergency planning and preparations.” (Mot. to Certify Class).

DISCUSSION

A. Standing

In opposing class certification, defendants argue principally that both the individual plaintiffs and the organizational plaintiffs lack standing. Standing “is a threshold question—antecedent to class certification— that requires plaintiffs to have been personally injured----” Pub. Emps.’ Ret. Sys. v. Merrill Lynch & Co., 714 F.Supp.2d 475, 480-81 (S.D.N.Y.2010). More specifically, to have standing,

the plaintiff[s] must have suffered an injury in fact that is both concrete and particularized and actual or imminent, not conjectural or hypothetical; [2] there must be a causal connection between the injury and the conduct complained of such that the injury is fairly traceable to the challenged action of the defendants]; and [3] it must be likely, as opposed to merely speculative, that the injury will be redressed by a favorable decision.

Bryant v. N.Y. State Educ. Dep’t, 692 F.3d 202, 211 (2d Cir.2012) (quoting Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560-61, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992) (internal quotation marks omitted)).

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Bluebook (online)
290 F.R.D. 409, 2012 WL 8319310, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 159835, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brooklyn-center-for-independence-of-disabled-v-bloomberg-nysd-2012.