What Are Civil Rights?
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals’ freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations and private individuals, and which ensure one’s ability to participate in the civil and political life of the society and state without discrimination or repression.
Areas of Litigation
Ciobanu Law Attorneys litigate civil rights cases in the areas of housing, public accommodations, and police accountability, including cases of excessive force, false arrest, unreasonable searches and seizures, as well as other constitutional violations.
Our attorneys have extensive experience in representing cases through the Indiana Civil Rights Commission (“ICRC”), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), Indiana Department of Education (“IDOE”), state and federal court. Civil rights may also cover Employment Law, Education Law, and American Disabilities Act (“ADA”).
ABout Andrea
Andrea has served on the Disability Legal Services of Indiana (“DLSI”) Board, and has represented various due process claims and other actions before the IDEO to ensure that students obtain an equal and fair access to education, or obtain the necessary accommodations for special education if necessary.
Andrea Ciobanu is fluent in American Sign Language (“ASL”) and this gives her an advantage when representing cases and advocating for deaf rights. The ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, transportation, public accommodation, communications, and governmental activities. The ADA also establishes requirements for telecommunications relay services. ADA disabilities include both mental and physical medical conditions. A condition does not need to be severe or permanent to be a disability. Some ADA cases can be pursued through the Indiana Civil Rights Commission (ICRC), state court, and/or federal court. Some education cases may be pursued through the Office of Civil Rights (OCR).
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulations provide a list of conditions that should easily be concluded to be disabilities: deafness, blindness, an intellectual disability, partially or completely missing limbs or mobility impairments requiring the use of a wheelchair, autism, cancer, cerebral palsy, diabetes, epilepsy, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and schizophrenia. Other mental or physical health conditions also may be disabilities, depending on what the individual’s symptoms would be in the absence of “mitigating measures” (medication, therapy, assistive devices, or other means of restoring function), during an “active episode” of the condition (if the condition is episodic).
What should you do?
It is particularly important to retain an attorney immediately if you believe that your civil rights have been violated because these cases may have shorter filing requirements, including filing requirements with various administrative agencies than other types of torts cases. Certain civil rights cases may also require the filing of a state or federal tort claims notice.
