Haberle v. Borough of Nazereth—civil rights / disability—reversal—Scirica

The first time this case was before the Third Circuit, the court partially reversed the district court’s dismissal, holding that the American with Disabilities Act applies to police officers making an arrest and remanding to let the plaintiff amend her claim. I summarized that opinion as follows:

A severely depressed man with a gun was in an apartment threatening to kill himself. Fearing for the man’s life, his longtime partner called the Nazareth, PA, police to help. But instead of waiting for trained crisis negotiators to arrive, a local police officer called his fellow officers “a bunch of fucking pussies” and decided to go in himself because “[t]his is how we do things in Nazareth.” When the officer knocked on the door and identified himself as a police officer, the man inside killed himself.

The man’s estate sued the officer and the borough, alleging various constitutional violations and violation of the Americans with Disability Act. The Third Circuit yesterday upheld the dismissal of the constitutional claims, holding that the officer’s conduct does not shock the conscience, but remanded to allow the plaintiff to amend her ADA claim, holding that the ADA applies to police officers making an arrest.

On remand, the plaintiff amended her ADA claim, the district court dismissed again, and the plaintiff appealed again. Today, the Third Circuit reversed again, holding that the plaintiff’s allegations of deliberate indifference were sufficient because she “alleges facts that support a history of encounters between disabled individuals and Department personnel that resulted in harm to those individuals, the Department’s awareness of those encounters and their risks, and its failure to adopt an offered policy to address them.”

Joining Scirica were Ambro and Greenaway. The appeal was decided without oral argument.