The VA discriminated against disabled homeless veterans in West LA, courts ruled
After a four-week bench trial, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter found that the Department of Veterans Affairs, by not providing supportive housing on or near its West Los Angeles campus, denied unhoused veterans with serious mental illness or traumatic brain injury meaningful access to VA care and placed them at risk of institutionalization, violating Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act; he also found the VA's practice of contracting with developers that count disability benefits as income facially discriminatory. On December 23, 2025, the Ninth Circuit upheld those disability-discrimination findings and the order that the VA build 1,800 permanent and 750 temporary supportive housing units, while reversing other parts of the judgment (including the claims against HUD and the charitable-trust ruling that voided UCLA's lease). The court noted the VA requested no construction funding from Congress and ended fiscal 2024 with unspent carryover funds. On September 11, 2026 the Ninth Circuit denied rehearing en banc over a dissent by several judges.
'the district court did not err in finding that the VA denied Plaintiffs "meaningful access" to their healthcare, in finding in Plaintiffs' favor on their Olmstead claim, and finding that the VA's policy ... is facially discriminatory under the Rehabilitation Act.'
Filed September 11, 2026: 'The panel denied rehearing en banc'; Judge Collins, joined by three judges, dissented.
Contacted and responded — exact wording not on record.
On 23 December 2025 a Ninth Circuit panel upheld findings that the VA violated the Rehabilitation Act by not providing supportive housing for unhoused veterans with serious mental illness or traumatic brain injury, and upheld the district court's authority to order broad relief; it reversed the ruling that an 1888 deed created an enforceable charitable trust. Source ↗