Fust v. First Urology, P.S.C.

What this case is about

This is a settled class-action lawsuit against First Urology, the largest urological medical practice in the greater Louisville area, with about 20 locations across Kentucky and Indiana. Three wheelchair users — Elizabeth Fust, David Allgood, and Marcus Gray — together with the Center for Accessible Living, sued in August 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. They were represented by Disability Rights Advocates. The lawsuit challenged First Urology's written "Lifting Policy," which said the practice would not help patients transfer from wheelchairs or other mobility devices to exam tables or imaging equipment. Patients with mobility disabilities were told they had to bring their own equipment, or bring friends, family members, or attendants to help them transfer. If a patient didn't bring their own help, First Urology refused treatment. Elizabeth Fust was refused diagnostic imaging entirely at all 20 locations and told to go to a hospital instead. The U.S. Department of Justice opened a parallel investigation and reached a settlement: First Urology paid $60,000 and agreed to change the policy, train its staff, and provide proper transfer equipment and assistance at all its locations. The case is now in compliance phase — the policy is gone, but advocates continue to monitor whether First Urology actually provides the equipment and assistance the settlement requires.

Who may qualify

This case is now settled. The class-action and DOJ settlement covered any patient (or potential patient) of First Urology with a mobility disability who needed help transferring from a wheelchair, scooter, or other mobility device to an exam table or imaging equipment, at all First Urology locations in Kentucky and Indiana (approximately 20 offices). If you're experiencing this issue NOW at First Urology — staff still refusing to help you transfer, or insisting you bring your own equipment or family member — that's a settlement violation. Report it to Disability Rights Advocates at dralegal.org, file a complaint with the DOJ Civil Rights Division at ADA.gov, or file with the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights or Indiana Civil Rights Commission.

What helps your case

For reporting current violations of the settlement or filing parallel administrative complaints: - Appointment records, referral documentation, and any written communications with First Urology regarding accommodation requests. - Staff identification (name, title) and date/time/location of the refusal incident. - Contemporaneous notes of statements made by staff (verbatim where possible), including any reference to or denial of a "lifting policy" by name. - Photographs of any written notices or signage at the facility addressing transfer-assistance limitations. - Medical documentation of mobility disability and the specific transfer assistance required. - Records of alternative care sought as a result of the refusal (e.g., hospital-based imaging substitutions imposed because First Urology refused service).

How to document what happened

For documentation of current First Urology accessibility barriers: Pre-visit: - Submit a written accommodation request specifying transfer-assistance needs in advance of the appointment. Preserve the request and the response (or non-response). - Inquire as to the availability of accessible medical equipment (height-adjustable exam tables, patient lifts, etc.) and document the response. At visit: - Document staff identity, time, location, the specific accommodation requested, and the verbatim refusal language. - If accompanied, request that the accompanying person also memorialize the encounter independently. - Preserve appointment confirmations, sign-in records, and any documentation indicating cancellation or denial of service. Post-visit: - Memorialize the incident in a contemporaneous written record (email-to-self with timestamp is sufficient). - File administrative complaints in parallel: DOJ (ADA.gov), state civil-rights commission, and class counsel notice. - Preserve all related medical records, including records of alternative care obtained as a substitute (e.g., hospital-based imaging).

What if you don’t have documentation?

Absence of contemporaneous documentation does not foreclose reporting. The settlement created an ongoing compliance regime that responds to current incident reports, not solely retrospective claims. Class members and current First Urology patients should consider: - Direct contact with Disability Rights Advocates (dralegal.org) regarding any post-settlement refusals. DRA retains an interest in settlement enforcement and may pursue contempt or supplementary proceedings. - DOJ administrative complaints under 28 C.F.R. § 36.502, which may proceed regardless of the private settlement. - Documenting prospective incidents contemporaneously: appointment confirmations, staff statements (preserving as much verbatim as possible), location, date, and any alternative care sought. - Pre-suit demand letters to First Urology referencing the settlement and the specific incident, which may resolve issues without administrative escalation.

What this case doesn’t cover

Scope limitations of this action: - The settlement binds First Urology, P.S.C. only. Other medical practices with analogous transfer-assistance refusals require separate enforcement, though the Fust precedent and DOJ settlement template inform such efforts. - The action addresses transfer assistance and the related equipment-provision and training obligations. Other Title III barriers at First Urology — facility access under 28 C.F.R. § 36.406, effective-communication failures under § 36.303, denial of service to service-animal users under § 36.302(c) — are not pleaded in this settlement and require separate enforcement. - The DOJ resolution's $60,000 payment was directed to the United States; individual class-member damages were not the focus. Section 504 may provide for individualized compensatory remedies in cases of deliberate indifference, but litigating such claims requires separate action. - The settlement does not preempt parallel actions under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (which incorporates Section 504 for federally funded healthcare entities), state common-law negligence theories, or analogous state public-accommodation claims.

Legal theory

ADA Title III + Section 504

Named defendants

• First Urology, PSC

Case facts

Type

Class action

Affected states

KY, IN

Court

U.S. District Court, Western District of Kentucky

Docket

3:20-cv-00562

Filed

2020-08-12

Who to contact

Check who each contact can help before you call — most of them cover one place or one group of people.

• Lawyers on this case

  Disability Rights Advocates

  Phone (510) 665-8644

  dralegal.org

  For patients with mobility disabilities at First Urology locations in Kentucky and Indiana.

• Disability rights agency

  Center for Accessible Living

  www.calky.org

  Kentucky disability advocacy organisation and a plaintiff in this case. Local help for Kentucky residents.

Key dates

DOJ resolution

Approximately 2021-2022 (parallel DOJ settlement; $60,000 plus reforms)

Complaint filed

2020-08-12

Settlement status

Compliance phase, monitoring ongoing

Class certification

Resolved by settlement

Class period covered

Settlement-applicable period through final judgment