Judy Heumann on Disability Discrimination and The Fight For Rights

Today we are running a conversation between Amber Hikes, the ACLU’s Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and disability rights icon Judy Heumann on CVS v. Doe, a case that the Supreme Court was set to hear on Dec 8.

The case threatened to attack the very foundation of disability rights laws, specifically by threatening Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. If CVS had pursued the case and won, people with disabilities would no longer have the ability to sue for discrimination that is based on ignorance as opposed to animus, or actual intent to harm. In this conversation, Judy discusses the disability rights laws we’ve fought for and won and explains why disability discrimination is consistently questioned by both the general public and the courts.

Yesterday CVS reached a settlement likely thanks to the pressure of disability advocates over the past few weeks. Though this case will no longer be heard by the Court, we’re running this conversation, recorded late last week, because the argument that CVS presented has been seen in copycat arguments in different cases across the country. This issue is likely to get to the Supreme Court in some form soon. For more information on these kinds of cases, follow the ACLU across social and subscribe to our email list. We’ll keep you updated.