After almost five years of litigation, Disabled In Action’s access lawsuit against the Duane Reade drugstore chain has been settled, and it affirms our civil right to shop by being able to do such things as pass through store aisles, reach counters and credit card swipe machines, and communicate privately with pharmacists. We are looking forward to the improvements that Duane Reade has promised to make.

Magistrate Debra Freeman, of the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, signed the consent decree on January 24, 2006, to end the lawsuit that Disabled In Action and 10 named plaintiffs initiated with New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, Inc. and Fish and Neave, LLP (now Ropes and Gray, with one of our principal attorneys now at Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale, and Dorr, LLP). Judge Freeman’s order came more than a year after the parties agreed to avoid trial and settle on many issues. The two issues the parties could not agree on, and which Judge Freeman ruled on, were standards for stock in the aisles and whether or not the terms of the consent decree would be confidential. In a victory for Disabled In Action’s long held view that civil rights cases have to be public knowledge, Judge Freeman ruled that the settlement and her decision would be open to the public, not confidential, but that the parties must try to collaborate on press about the case

It is Disabled In Action’s view that through publicizing information about civil rights cases, other people with disabilities can be inspired and encouraged to fight for their civil rights, and hopefully other businesses will realize their responsibilities and provide access without expensive, time-consuming litigation.