Disability Law Center, a non-profit organization responsible for providing protection and advocacy for the rights of Massachusetts residents with disabilities, recently awarded WilmerHale its Civil Rights Award in recognition of the firm’s work on behalf of a class of over 600 individuals with hearing disabilities currently in the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Corrections. In 2019, the team secured a favorable settlement securing class members rights to basic accommodations such as hearing aids, interpreters and captioned telephones. Following a six-day bench trial held in August 2023, a Federal Judge ruled in our client’s favor on the one remaining claim and ordered the DOC to provide class members with equal access to emergency notifications.

The case was filed in 2015 with co-counsel from Massachusetts Prisoners Legal Services and the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil rights. Many WilmerHale lawyers made important contributions to the case including: Lisa Pirozzolo, Megan Barriger, Stephanie Lin, Rachel Gargiulo, Rama Attreya Vine, Tess Ambrose Foley, George Manley, Christina Luo, Ted Hasen and John Saylor.

The WilmerHale team was honored at DLC’s annual event earlier this month.