By Special Press Release
Baltimore, MD. – (Monday, Nov. 4, 2024) – In a groundbreaking legal precedent, Malcolm P. Ruff, Esq., Trial Attorney at Murphy, Falcon & Murphy reached a $750,000 settlement on behalf of client, Amber Canter, with the Maryland Department of Public Safety & Correctional Services after being brutally beaten and mistreated in the jail. Canter’s case is one of the rare instances establishing individuals with ‘gender dysphoria’ as a protected class under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“This brutal attack was intolerable. CO Santana’s deep-seated bias against transgender individuals was so blatant he didn’t mind being recorded. This case highlights the culture of inhumanity in corrections, where bigots like Santana go unchecked,” said Malcolm P. Ruff, Trial Attorney at Murphy, Falcon & Murphy. “It also underscores the discrimination transgender people face behind bars. By recognizing gender dysphoria as protected under the ADA, we’ve thankfully secured justice for Amber and put correctional departments nationwide on notice that such abuse will not be tolerated.”
In the Summer of 2019, Amber was a pretrial detainee at the Baltimore City Central Booking and Intake Facility, under the supervision of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (“DPSCS”). On June 14, 2019, Correctional Officer Zanel Santana belittled Amber by calling her a “dick sucker,” yanked her to her feet by her neck using a departmentally prohibited chokehold, dragged her 30 feet while choking her, rendered her unconscious, and intentionally dropped her face-first onto the concrete floor. Officer Santana has since been fired and found guilty in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City of second-degree assault and misconduct in office.
As a result of the brutal assault, Amber sustained fractures to her left orbital bone, optic nerve canal, and at the base of her skull, multiple sinus fractures, internal bleeding behind her left eye along with other severe injuries. Amber spent four days in the intensive care unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
DPSCS officials were aware that Amber had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, a debilitating disability, two years before her assault. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (“DSM-5”) defines gender dysphoria as the “clinically significant distress” felt by some who experiences “an incongruence between their gender identity and their assigned sex.” In August 2022, the Fourth Circuit Court ruled in Williams v. Kincaid, that American Disability Act protections extended to transgender people experiencing “gender dysphoria.”
On June 30, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States declined to weigh in on whether gender dysphoria can qualify as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), allowing to stand the Fourth Circuit’s decision. On January 8, 2024, the United States Department of Justice filed a statement of interest, explaining that gender dysphoria can be a covered disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).
Despite DPSCS officials’ knowledge and the known animosity between her and CO Santana, they permitted him to supervise her and use excessive force. Following the brutal assault, CO Santana, along with COs Monyette Washington and Uchenna Okeke, dragged Amber’s unresponsive body into her cell, leaving her unattended for ten minutes despite severe head injuries. The officers then attempted to cover up Santana’s actions in their use-of-force reports.
Amber’s settlement is a rare example of a transgender inmate with gender dysphoria receiving compensation for discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
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