Recognition
LAS–ELC Senior Staff Attorney Claudia Center Receives the ABA’s 2009 Paul G. Hearne Award for Disability Rights
The American Bar Association Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law awarded the 2009 Paul G. Hearne Award for Disability Rights to Claudia B. Center, Senior Staff Attorney for the Legal Aid Society–Employment Law Center and head of its Disability Rights program.
The Hearne Award for Disability Rights is presented each year to an individual or organization that has performed exemplary service in furthering the rights, dignity and access to justice for some 54 million Americans with disabilities. Ms. Center has been directly involved in several landmark cases, including U.S. Airways, Inc. v. Barnett, in which she argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that there should be no presumption under the Americans with Disabilities Act that reasonable accommodation requests that may interfere with seniority rights of other workers constitute an undue burden. Barnett is frequently cited by disability advocates because of its clear articulation that rules that seem neutral on their face may still be discriminatory.
The Hearne Award for Disability Rights is presented each year to an individual or organization that has performed exemplary service in furthering the rights, dignity and access to justice for some 54 million Americans with disabilities.
Ms. Center also wrote amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs in other important disability cases, including two other U.S. Supreme Court decisions supporting the rights of persons with disabilities over the sovereignty rights of the states (Board of Trustees of University of Alabama v. Garrett) and the rights of persons who have a past record of drug addiction (Raytheon Company v. Hernandez), respectively.
Ms. Center was the driving force behind coalition that broadened the definition of disability under California law and played a critical role in the passing of the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, partaking in roundtables, drafting language, and negotiating with others in the disability community. She has published and lectured widely on disability rights issues.