Current Issue
NEWS RELEASE:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information contact:
Kenneth M. Chackes: 314-872-8420;
kchackes@ccsg-law.com
Robert E. Lehrer: 312-332-2121;
rlehrer@rlehrerlaw.com
NEWS CONFERENCE MONDAY, APRIL 26, 2010, AT 12 NOON
TO ANNOUNCE SUIT BY DEAF MISSOURIANS AGAINST STATE OF
MISSOURI OVER ITS DISCRIMINATORY
FAILURE TO PROVIDE
MENTAL HEALTH CARE
On Monday, April 26, 2010, the Missouri Association
for the Deaf (MoAD) and 13 deaf
Missourians will be filing a federal court lawsuit against the State of
Missouri. The suit claims that
the State is violating their rights under federal law, by failing to
provide them with needed mental
health services. The plaintiffs are seeking class relief on behalf of an
estimated 1,100 deaf persons
throughout the state, many of them children.
Several of the plaintiffs in the suit, including
Ella Eakins, the President of MoAD, will be
holding a news conference concerning the lawsuit at noon on Monday. The
news conference will
be held just outside the Thomas Eagleton United
States Federal Courthouse at 111 South 10th Street,
between Walnut and Clark, in downtown
St. Louis. In the event of rain, a representative of the
plaintiffs will be at the courthouse
to direct attendees to a nearby indoor location.
The principal defendants in the lawsuit are Keith
Schaefer, Director of the Missouri
Department of Mental Health, and Stephanie Winslow, the Director of the
Department’s Office of
Deaf Services.
Some of the plaintiffs or their representatives,
including Ms. Eakins, will make statements
at the news conference and be available to answer questions and for
interviews. Copies of the
complaint in the lawsuit, together with another press release, will also
be available. Plaintiffs’
attorneys will also be at the news conference.
EXTRA!
As of April 26, 2010, the lawsuit was filed against the State of Missouri. Click
here
to read the details on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's website.
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE
Video credit: Paul Kiel
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