IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA 

FORT WAYNE DIVISION 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

 Plaintiff, 

v. 

PAIN MANAGEMENT CARE, P.C., 

 

 Defendant. 

CIVIL ACTION NO. 1:16-CV-00119 

COMPLAINT 

 THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA respectfully alleges:

1. This action is brought by the United States of America (hereinafter “Plaintiff”) to 

enforce Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended (“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. 

§§ 12181-89, and its implementing regulation, 28 C.F.R. Part 36, against Pain Management 

Care, P.C. (hereinafter “Defendant” or “PMC”). Defendant violated the ADA when it refused to 

treat Ralph Hardin, an individual with HIV, because of Mr. Hardin’s HIV. 

2. The Attorney General has commenced this action based on a determination that a 

person or group of persons has been discriminated against and that such discrimination raises an 

issue of general public importance. 42 U.S.C. § 12188(b)(1)(B). The United States seeks 

declaratory and injunctive relief, compensatory damages, and a civil penalty against Defendant.

3. This Court has jurisdiction over this action under 42 U.S.C. § 12188(b)(1)(B) and 

28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1345. 

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4. The Court may grant declaratory relief and further necessary or proper relief 

pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201 and 2202 and may grant equitable relief, monetary damages, and 

a civil penalty pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 12188(b)(2). 

5. Venue is proper in the Northern District of Indiana pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1391(b)(2) because a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim 

occurred in this district. 

6. Defendant is an Indiana-based Professional Corporation located at 2106 Ironwood 

Circle, South Bend, Indiana, 46635. Defendant provides interventional pain management 

treatment through anesthesiologist and pain management specialist Dr. Joseph Glazier at two 

clinical locations: 2106 Ironwood Circle, South Bend, Indiana, 46635, and 707 North River 

Drive #C, Marion, Indiana, 46952. 

7. Defendant is a public accommodation within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. 

§ 12181(7).

8. Ralph Hardin was referred to PMC for pain management care in or about 

November 2014 upon the closure of his prior pain management care provider’s office. 

9. Ralph Hardin has a disability within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. § 12102 and 28 

C.F.R. § 36.104. He has HIV, which is an impairment that substantially limits one or more 

major life activity, including the functions of the immune system, which is a major bodily 

function. 

10. Mr. Hardin’s treatment referral was for therapeutic injections, informally known 

as “cortisone shots,” which was the pain management treatment he had been receiving previously 

on a bi-monthly basis. 

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11. In or about November 2014, Mr. Hardin first contacted PMC regarding his 

interest in receiving treatment at PMC’s Marion clinic location. 

12. Mr. Hardin spoke with Linda Glazier, a PMC employee, who requested 

preliminary documentation relevant to the treatment he was seeking, including medical records 

and other documentation. 

13. Mr. Hardin provided documentation including paperwork from his previous pain 

management care treatment provider, a compact disk with a copy of an MRI scan relevant to the 

pain he was having, and other medical records. 

14. Ms. Glazier followed up with Mr. Hardin to confirm receipt of the documentation 

and informed him that Dr. Joseph Glazier, an anesthesiologist and pain management specialist, 

and the sole treatment provider at the clinic locations, would contact him after reviewing his 

records. 

15. On or about November 20, 2014, Ms. Glazier left Mr. Hardin a voicemail 

message stating that PMC would not treat him “due to the risks involved with needles and blood 

due to [his] condition of being HIV positive.” 

16. Shortly after receiving the message, Mr. Hardin contacted Ms. Glazier via 

telephone to request that PMC change its position and agree to provide treatment. 

17. PMC continued to deny treatment to Mr. Hardin after the aforementioned request. 

18. Following PMC’s denial, Mr. Hardin actively searched for treatment providers in 

his geographic vicinity that could provide him pain management care, but was not able to find 

such a provider until June 2015. 

19. PMC’s discriminatory denial caused Mr. Hardin to endure over six months 

without needed pain management care and to experience emotional distress. 

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CAUSE OF ACTION 

Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act

20. The allegations of the foregoing paragraphs are hereby re-alleged and 

incorporated by reference as if fully stated herein. 

21. Mr. Hardin is an individual with a disability because he has an impairment that 

substantially limits one or more major life activities. 

22. PMC discriminated on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of its 

goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations in violation of Title III of 

the ADA, 42 U.S.C. § 12182(a), and the Title III implementing regulation at 28 C.F.R. Part 36, 

by: 

(a) denying an individual or class of individuals, on the basis of disability, the 

ability to participate in or benefit from its goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or 

accommodations by refusing to provide pain management treatment, in violation of 42 U.S.C. 

§ 12182(b)(1)(A)(i) and 28 C.F.R. § 36.202; 

(b) using standards or criteria or methods of administration that have the 

effect of discriminating on the basis of disability, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 12182(b)(1)(D) and 

28 C.F.R. § 36.204; and 

(c) imposing or applying eligibility criteria that screen out, or tend to screen 

out, an individual with a disability or class of individuals with disabilities from fully and equally 

enjoying PMC’s goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations, in 

violation of 42 U.S.C. § 12182(b)(2)(A)(i) and 28 C.F.R. § 36.301(a). 

23. Defendant has discriminated against a person or group of persons and that raises 

an issue of general public importance under 42 U.S.C. § 12188(b)(1)(B)(ii). 

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24. As a result of Defendant’s discriminatory conduct, Mr. Hardin suffered physical 

pain and emotional distress. Mr. Hardin and other persons who may have been the victims of 

Defendant’s discriminatory practices are aggrieved persons under 42 U.S.C. § 12188(b)(2)(B). 

Prayer For Relief 

 WHEREFORE, the Plaintiff United States prays that the Court: 

A. Grant judgment in favor of the United States and declare that Defendant violated 

Title III of the ADA, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12181-89, and its implementing regulation, 28 C.F.R. Part 36; 

B. Order Defendant, its officers, agents, employees, and all others in concert or 

participation with it, to comply with the requirements of Title III of the ADA, 42 U.S.C. 

§§ 12181-89, and its implementing regulation, 28 C.F.R. Part 36; 

C. Order Defendant to take such affirmative steps as may be necessary to restore, as 

nearly as practicable, Ralph Hardin and other aggrieved persons to the position that they would 

have been in but for Defendant’s conduct; 

D. Award compensatory damages, including damages for pain, suffering, and 

emotional distress, to aggrieved persons under 42 U.S.C. § 12188(b)(2)(B), for injuries suffered 

as the result of Defendant’s violations of Title III of the ADA, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12181-89, and its 

implementing regulation, 28 C.F.R. Part 36; 

E. Assess a civil penalty against Defendant in the maximum amount authorized by 

42 U.S.C. § 12188(b)(2)(C), to vindicate the public interest; and 

F. Order such other appropriate relief as the interests of justice may require.

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Respectfully submitted this 7th day of April, 2016. 

FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: 

LORETTA E. LYNCH 

Attorney General of the United States 

DAVID A. CAPP 

United States Attorney 

Northern District of Indiana 

/s/ Deborah Leonard 

DEBORAH LEONARD 

Assistant U.S. Attorney 

E. Ross Adair Federal Building 

 and U.S. Courthouse 

1300 South Harrison Street, Room 3128 

Fort Wayne, IN 46802-3489 

(260) 422-2595 

deborah.leonard@usdoj.gov 

/s/ Vanita Gupta 

VANITA GUPTA 

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General 

Civil Rights Division 

 

EVE L. HILL 

Deputy Assistant Attorney General 

Civil Rights Division 

/s/ Rebecca B. Bond 

REBECCA B. BOND 

Chief 

KATHLEEN P. WOLFE 

Special Litigation Counsel 

AMANDA MAISELS 

Deputy Chief 

Disability Rights Section 

Civil Rights Division 

/s/ David W. Knight 

DAVID W. KNIGHT 

Trial Attorney 

Disability Rights Section 

Civil Rights Division 

U.S. Department of Justice 

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. – NYA 

Washington, DC 20530 

202-616-2110 

david.knight@usdoj.gov

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