A psychiatric resident in a Texas state hospital who alleges she was raped by another resident is seeking a new cause of action through the Americans with Disabilities Act to sue the hospital for its alleged failure to preserve evidence. Photo: Shutterstock
Counsel for a psychiatric resident in a state hospital is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to create a new cause of action against state institutions under the Americans with Disability Act.
During oral argument this week, Austin attorney Holt M. Lackey of Ellwanger Law spoke of the need for an extension or modification of Estate of Lance v. Lewisville ISD, a Fifth Circuit landmark case that extended a U.S. Supreme Court decision, Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education, to the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act.
