Today, the San Diego Board of Supervisors approved a comprehensive settlement agreement to resolve Plaintiffs’ claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and related state law in Dunsmore et al. v. San Diego County Sheriff’s Department et al., No. 3:20-cv-00406-AJB-DDL, a class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, against the County of San Diego, San Diego County Sheriff’s Department (now known as the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office), and San Diego County Probation Department over unconstitutional and unlawful conditions at the San Diego County Jail facilities. Seven other claims in the case remain ongoing and in active litigation. The agreement and order from the Court to seek preliminary approval within 30 days are here and here.
The proposed settlement agreement follows an initial settlement agreement reached in 2023, after the Plaintiffs filed a preliminary injunction motion to seek accessible housing for people with mobility disabilities at the downtown San Diego Central Jail, as well as access to sign language interpreting services.
As a result of that initial settlement, the Sheriff’s Office has undertaken renovations to Central Jail to make it more accessible to people who use wheelchairs or have other mobility disabilities. The Sheriff’s Office has also begun offering sign language interpretation to deaf people through video remote interpreting, and other methods.
Now, after extensive fact discovery and the exchange of expert reports, the Sheriff’s Office has agreed to enter into a more comprehensive settlement agreement to resolve the remainder of Plaintiffs’ claims for disability discrimination and denial of access to programs, services and activities. As summarized below, the proposed settlement of the disability claim requires additional significant changes to the Jail’s policies, procedures, and practices for accommodating individuals with disabilities including those with mental health needs and intellectual disabilities. The proposed settlement also requires physical construction to several Jail facilities to provide accessible housing to people with disabilities. The proposed settlement will be submitted to the Court for preliminary approval within 30 days.
“This settlement is a tremendous step forward for our clients, members of the disability subclass. We are grateful to Magistrate Judge David Leshner for the many hours he devoted to working with the parties to achieve this excellent resolution. The settlement demonstrates the foresight and dedication of Sheriff Martinez and the Board of Supervisors, who are making a significant commitment to improve the lives of incarcerated people by investing the time and money necessary to bring their facilities and policies into compliance with the ADA and California state law. We look forward to working with the Sheriff’s Office and the independent experts to ensure expeditious and effective implementation of all terms of the agreement,” said Gay Grunfeld, a partner of Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP and counsel for the Plaintiffs and the disability subclass. The disability subclass is also represented by Aaron Fischer of the Law Office of Aaron J. Fischer, and Christopher Young of DLA Piper LLP (US) (“Class Counsel”).
Background
Named plaintiff Darryl Dunsmore filed this lawsuit without legal representation in 2020. In February 2022, now represented by Class Counsel, Mr. Dunsmore and additional named plaintiffs amended the complaint to include class action allegations on behalf of all individuals who are or will be incarcerated in the County’s jails, with an amended complaint filed in November 2022. The lawsuit includes eight claims for class relief, including the Third Claim for Relief, which seeks relief under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, and California Government Code section 11135. In May 2023, Plaintiffs filed a motion for preliminary injunction to address inaccessible housing for people with mobility disabilities and a persistent lack of access to sign language interpretation. The parties reached a settlement in June 2023 to resolve the issues set forth in the preliminary injunction. Under that settlement, the Sheriff’s Office has undertaken construction at San Diego Central Jail to provide accessible housing for people with mobility disabilities, and has rolled out sign language interpretation services for people in custody. In October 2023, the Court certified a class and subclasses in the case, including a subclass of all individuals with disabilities.
Summary of Terms
The instant settlement agreement addresses the remainder of Plaintiffs’ disability-related claims and provides relief for the entire disability subclass, consisting of hundreds of individuals on any given day. The proposed settlement agreement is the product of months of negotiations between the Plaintiffs and the County under the auspices of Magistrate Judge David Leshner. If approved by the District Judge Anthony Battaglia, the settlement agreement will lead to changes across all of the Jail system’s seven facilities, with oversight by independent experts and continued involvement of Class Counsel. Key provisions include:
- Significant changes to policies and procedures affecting people with disabilities: The settlement agreement provides improvements to the Sheriff’s Office disability access policies from the moment a person enters the Jail to the moment they leave, with provisions for orientation as well as access to assistive devices like wheelchairs upon discharge.
- Additional ADA-related renovations throughout the system: In addition to the construction already occurring at San Diego Central Jail to provide accessible housing, the agreement requires additional accessible housing at other facilities in the system, including at Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility—San Diego’s only jail for women. The agreement requires each person with a disability to be housed according to their accessibility needs within four years.
- Equal access to programs: Currently, many people with disabilities are housed at San Diego Central Jail, which lacks programs available at other facilities, such as East Mesa Reentry Facility. Under the proposed settlement agreement, the County commits to ensuring that all people with disabilities will have access to the vocational and other programs currently available at other facilities such as landscaping, culinary and veterans programming.
- Coverage for all class members with disabilities: The proposed settlement agreement covers all members of the disability subclass, including those with any type of disability under the ADA and California state law. For example, the proposed settlement agreement requires new protections for individuals with mental health, intellectual, and developmental disabilities.
- Appointment of independent experts to evaluate compliance: The agreement requires the appointment of two independent experts to report twice yearly on the County’s implementation of the agreement. One expert will evaluate the policies, procedures, and practices, while the other will evaluate the ADA-related construction and renovations.
- Class Counsel participation: The proposed agreement provides for the continued involvement of Class Counsel, including through regular interviews at the facilities with class members, accompanying the independent experts on their inspections of the facilities, and access to documents.
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