Judge dismisses most claims in homeless lawsuit

SAN DIEGO >> A judge dismissed most claims in a lawsuit that accused San Diego city and county officials of discriminating against homeless people with disabilities during the fight against the spread of COVID-19.

Superior Court Judge Katherine Bacal allowed two of the complaint’s six arguments to move forward, the Union-Tribune reported Sunday. One is an allegation that defendants violated a state code that prohibits discrimination against protected classes of people and the other is a claim for a judicial declaration that the defendants acted improperly.

Parisa Ijadi-Maghsoodi, the senior attorney at Disability Rights California who filed the complaint, said despite the legal efforts by city and county lawyers to stop the case, it will proceed.

“In the coming days, we will be analyzing next steps with our clients,” she said.

City and county officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the decision.

The case filed last year accused housing and public health officials of discriminating against homeless people with disabilities by steering them into congregate-living situations instead of moving them into hotel and motel rooms.

Bacal’s decision earlier this month sustained four of six arguments by the city and county that the allegations brought by the plaintiffs were not sufficient to proceed to trial.

The plaintiffs said in their lawsuit that they were denied help unless they agreed to move into facilities like the temporary shelter set up last year in the San Diego Convention Center.