Harrisburg attorney Rolf Kroll successfully convinced the United State District Court for Delaware to dismiss Plaintiff’s claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) despite Third Circuit precedent allowing plaintiffs to bring ADA claims under certain circumstances involving police involved use of force. In this case, police officers fatally shot Plaintiff’s decedent as he exited his apartment toward police officers brandishing a large butcher knife. Before the officers arrived, they were informed through County dispatch that Plaintiff was suffering from serious mental disorders. However, the officers were also that a woman and small child were trapped in the apartment with Plaintiff’s decedent.
Plaintiff sued Defendant Police Department and multiple Defendant Police Officers for a variety of civil rights claims, including claims that the municipality failed to properly afford appropriate accommodations under the ADA.
Attorney Kroll successfully argued that the ADA had no application to the use of force in this case because no facts were alleged to establish an intent to discriminate on the part of the officers because there was not enough time for officers to form a deliberate intent to discriminate, much less an intent to harm. The court held that, although Plaintiff was entitled to the protection of the ADA, however, given the exigency of the circumstances and the absence of evidence of an intent to harm, the Delaware District Court there was no valid basis for a claim under the ADA and these claims against Mr. Kroll’s clients were dismissed.
