ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND GOVERNANCE
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Jenner & Block Team Secures Favorable Settlement in Civil Rights Case
On the eve of trial in a Section 1983 civil rights case, a Jenner & Block team obtained a favorable settlement for our client who had reported several prison guards for misconduct.
Our client alleged that in retaliation for his report, the guards took him to an isolated area of the prison that was closed for construction and beat him until he lost consciousness. The guards denied all wrong doing, claiming that the client had instead slipped and fell to the ground during escort.
Our client, who had limited education and financial means, was originally proceeding without counsel and having difficulty making his case in the face of the guards' denial of any wrongdoing. The Jenner team was able to secure evidence from the prison confirming that our client was taken to an outside hospital by ambulance for treatment shortly after the attack, that the area under construction had no security cameras or other safeguards to prevent abuse of prisoners by staff, and that the guards involved had coordinated their incident reports before officially filing them. Based on this evidence, the action was favorably settled.
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of California recognized Partner Kirsten Hicks Spira and Special Counsel Wesley M. Griffith as honorees for their work on this case. Associates Elizabeth Avunjian and Effiong K. Dampha were also centrally involved in the case.
Associates Vivian Bickford, Kristen Green, and Julia Hirata and Paralegal Christal Oropeza also supported this matter.
Firm Teams with The Legal Society to Pause New York City’s Transfer of City’s Homeless Out of Hotels and Back into Shelters
In July 2021, a Jenner & Block team consisting of Partner Dawn Smalls; Associates Jacob Alderdice, Ali Alsarraf, and Andrew Elliott; and Paralegal Grace Liberman, partnering with The Legal Aid Society, won a TRO against the City of New York, securing a pause to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s order to move homeless New Yorkers who had been placed in single- or double-occupancy rooms in local hotels throughout the COVID-19 pandemic back into congregate shelter without adequate notice and an individualized assessment of their needs.
The class members had disabilities as defined by the ADA or risk factors that would put them at higher risk of severe consequences if they were to contract COVID-19. After Judge Gregory Woods of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York’s July 13th decision granting the first temporary restraining order, freezing the City’s efforts to move class members out of safe housing and requiring the City to make sure the class members’ needs were addressed before they were moved, the firm and The Legal Aid Society issued a joint statement, stating in part: “The City cannot phase out the hotel program without ensuring that it meets its obligations under Butler. We thank the court for recognizing that the City must meet this obligation as prescribed by law.”
In August, US District Judge Valerie Caproni of the Southern District of New York granted a second TRO, pausing the moves until the City could come up with a better and more detailed plan, subject to the Court’s approval, for the remainder of the moves. She also ordered the City to lay out procedures for a look-back at people who had already been transferred to new locations, given the issues raised by the plaintiffs over the preceding weeks. “This is a win on behalf of the city’s homeless,” Dawn told the New York Law Journal.
This litigation followed an earlier lawsuit that Dawn, Jacob, Ali, Andrew, and Associate Cayman Mitchell and Paralegal Nyema Taylor filed against the City of New York; the Department of Social Services: and the Department of Homeless Services, for failing to take appropriate action to temporarily provide safe shelter for single adults from COVID-19. Following that first filing, the City’s placed some members in hotel rooms, allowing them to safely socially distance and saving lives during the pandemic.
