article: On April 30, 2019, an anonymous plaintiff filed a civil suit against Fairfax Behavior Health (“Fairfax”) under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act and state statutes. Seven additional anonymous plaintiffs joined this suit via amended complaints, all represented by Disability Rights Washington, a public interest organization, and private counsel. They filed suit in the Western District of Washington seeking damages for pain and suffering, compensatory and punitive damages, injunctive relief, and attorneys’ fees. The plaintiffs were individuals with unspecified mental illnesses admitted to Fairfax for treatment. They alleged that Fairfax has an indiscriminate policy of requiring all adult and teen patients to submit to random strip and cavity searches, a policy not shared by any other psychiatric hospital in Washington State. This process was also video recorded by Fairfax in violation of patients’ privacy. Specifically, the plaintiffs alleged that this practice is substantially motivated by discriminatory animus towards people with serious mental health conditions requiring inpatient treatment, inhibiting those patients’ ability to receive the treatment they need. The plaintiffs sought to bring a class action on behalf of all persons who were admitted to Fairfax between April 30, 2016 and the date of class certification. The court denied class certification in an order from Judge Thomas S. Zilly dated August 10, 2020. 2020 WL 4584228. Certification was denied because the court found that the allegedly common questions among the class were unrelated to the ADA and state law claims and because the class was defined too broadly. The case is ongoing.
summary: In April 2019, former mental health patients at Fairfax Behavioral Medicine in Washington State sued Fairfax under Title III of the Americans with Disability Act and state statues. The plaintiffs alleged that Fairfax has an indiscriminate policy of requiring all adult and teen patients to submit to random, video-recorded strip and cavity searches. The plaintiffs sought class certification on behalf of all persons admitted to Fairfax between April 30, 2016 and the date of class certification, but certification was denied in August 2020. The case is ongoing.