The Oregon Department of Justice on Wednesday responded to a class action lawsuit filed against Gov. John Kitzhaber and other state officials regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, the lawsuit alleges that Oregon has segregated more than 2,300 state residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities in sheltered workshops, where they have little or no interaction with non-disabled peers and where they are paid well below the state's minimum wage of $8.80.
In an emailed statement, the justice department said that Oregon is committed to improving services to disabled residents and that a stakeholder planning process to improve employment-related services is scheduled to begin this week.
According to the statement, "This lawsuit was filed just two days before that process is scheduled to begin. The stakeholders invited to participate in that process represent a spectrum of views on disability issues. One of the plaintiffs, the local chapter of United Cerebral Palsy, has been invited to participate in the stakeholder process, and so has Disability Rights Oregon, whose attorneys filed this lawsuit."