ST. LOUIS - A Missouri man accused the City of St. Louis of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by refusing to let him shower for five months due to him being in a wheelchair as a paraplegic, according to a lawsuit filed on March 9 in St. Louis federal court.
Plaintiff Anthony Tillman has been detained at the St. Louis City Justice Center since October 2020, and says defendants City of St. Louis, City Justice Center Superintendent Adrian Barnes and St. Louis Division of Corrections Commissioner Dale Glass have refused to accommodate him a shower since being detained.
Tillman was incarcerated once before at the Justice Center, where he was instructed to use a shower not designed for the disabled and without staff help; according to the suit, Tillman fell in that shower and developed sepsis due to his injuries.
According to the suit, Tillman was provided with a rag and basin to wash himself on his own in his cell. When he asked a nurse if he could get help showering after three months of no shower and starting to urinate blood, Tillman says he was told that "this is not a long-term care facility."
Tillman says that multiple corrections officers, nurses and his own case worker either ignored or refused his requests for assistance.
The plaintiff also says he has been denied the physical therapy that could help him to someday walk again while incarcerated.
Tillman asks the court to order the Justice Center install a wheelchair-accessible shower, assign medical staff to help disabled inmates with showering and award compensatory damages as seen fit. He is represented by Archcity Defenders Inc of St. Louis.