City Of Boston: Notice Of Proposed Settlement Of Class Action Lawsuit

Press release from the City of Boston:

July 30, 2021

The purpose of this notice is to inform you of a proposed settlement in a pending class action lawsuit brought on behalf of individuals with Mobility Disabilities against the City of Boston. The proposed class action settlement is set out in a document called a “proposed Consent Decree.” The proposed Consent Decree, which must be approved by the United States District Court before it goes into effect, was reached in the case entitled Muehe et al. v. City of Boston, Case No. 1:21-cv-11080-RGS, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

The following is a summary of certain provisions of the proposed Consent Decree. To access a copy of the full Consent Decree, see the “Further Information” section below.

The City must maintain all curb ramps in good working order, except for temporary interruptions due to construction, maintenance, or repairs. When curb ramps are temporarily unavailable, the City will provide an alternative route that is accessible to people with Mobility Disabilities. In addition, the City must use best efforts to ensure timely removal of snow and other debris from curb ramps and sidewalks through continued enforcement of city ordinances and promptly respond to complaints concerning puddles of water that form at the bottom of curb ramps.

Under the proposed Consent Decree, Class Counsel can apply to the Court for an award of attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses from the City to pay them for their work on the case and to reimburse them for the costs they put into the case. Class Counsel’s application for attorneys’ fees will be based on the “lodestar” method, which means that Class Counsel will calculate their fees by multiplying the time the attorneys and paralegals at their offices reasonably spent working on the case by their reasonable hourly rates.

If you do not want the proposed Consent Decree to be approved, you can ask the Court to deny approval by filing an objection. You cannot ask the Court to order a different settlement or change the settlement; the Court can only approve or reject the settlement. If the Court denies approval, the City will not be required to install and upgrade curb ramps as set out in the proposed Consent Decree. Instead, the lawsuit will continue. If that is what you want to happen, you must object. Any objection to the proposed Consent Decree must be in writing.

Thomas P. Murphy
DISABILITY LAW CENTER, INC.
32 Industrial Drive East
Northampton, MA 01060413-584-6524dlc-ma.org

This notice summarizes the proposed Consent Decree. For the precise and full terms and conditions of the settlement, please see the proposed Consent Decree available at gbdhlegal.com/cases/muehe-et-al-v-city-of-boston or CREEClaw.org/BostonCurbRamps, by contacting Class Counsel at the contact information below, by accessing the Court docket on this case through the Court’s Public Access to Electronic Records (PACER) system at ecf.cand.uscourts.gov, or by visiting the office of the Clerk of the Court for the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, 1 Courthouse Way, Boston, Massachusetts 02110, between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Court holidays.

Timothy P. Fox
Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center
1245 E. Colfax Avenue, Suite 400
Denver, CO 80218303-757-7901creeclaw.org

This press release was produced by the City of Boston. The views expressed here are the author’s own.