On March 26, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued an order certifying classes seeking injunctive relief and damages in Tassinari v. The Salvation Army, No. 1:21-cv-10806 (D. Mass.). Plaintiffs and the certified classes challenge The Salvation Army’s categorical ban on individuals who take prescribed methadone and buprenorphine medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) from accessing housing or services at The Salvation Army’s Adult Rehabilitation Centers (ARCs) in the northeastern United States. The lawsuit alleges that The Salvation Army’s categorical policy prohibiting access to its ARCs for individuals with opioid use disorder who take these standard-of-care life-saving medications constitutes unlawful disability discrimination in violation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Fair Housing Act.
The Court held that the plaintiffs’ claims for injunctive relief can proceed as a class action on behalf of:
“All individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) who, in accordance with a healthcare provider’s treatment plan, take any form of prescribed FDA approved methadone or buprenorphine medication for opioid use disorder, including Suboxone and Sublocade (‘MOUD’), who are participating or seek to participate in any of Defendant The Salvation Army, a New York Corporation’s Adult Rehabilitation Center (ARC) housing or services, and who are otherwise qualified for such housing or services.”
The Court also certified damages classes under Section 504 and the Fair Housing Act for “all individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) for whom,” during a defined period, “Defendant’s beneficiary files show they were discharged from any of Defendant’s ARCs for taking prescribed FDA-approved methadone or buprenorphine medication for opioid use disorder, including Suboxone and Sublocade (‘MOUD’).”
A copy of the Order on class certification is available here.