MedStar Health Sued for ADA Non-Compliance
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The US Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced that it filed an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Complaint and proposed Consent Decree in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland to resolve allegations against MedStar Health, Inc. MedStar Health is a leading healthcare provider in Maryland and the Washington, D.C., region.
The lawsuit alleges that MedStar Health violated the ADA by denying people with disabilities equal access to medical care by excluding their necessary support persons. Under the proposed Consent Decree, which the court must approve, MedStar Health has agreed to pay a total of $440,000 to compensate multiple eligible affected individuals. MedStar Health will also revise its policies to ensure ADA compliance, train its workforce on the new policies, and report to the DOJ on any future exclusion of support persons.
Actions to be taken by MedStar Health include:
Update its public-facing policy regarding Support Persons to state that Support Persons may accompany patients with disabilities.
Update its internal policy regarding Support Persons to carry out the Public-Facing Policy of the preceding subparagraph.
Add text to its existing Notice of Nondiscrimination noting that complaints regarding disability-related issues may be made to the DOJ.
Provide ADA Training to all MedStar Health-Affiliated Individuals. MedStar Health shall send to the DOJ the proposed curriculum for the ADA Training for approval by DOJ.
MedStar Health will maintain a system of tracking those who have not completed the ADA Training pursuant to the timetables required by this Decree.
MedStar Health agrees to pay a total of $440,000 into a Fund to be distributed to DOJ-Designated Individuals and Additional Aggrieved Persons.