Before getting started on the blog entry of the week, an update on the Beaumont Hospital case that we have blogged on twice before. See this blog entry. The update is a consent decree was signed requiring training and a $30,000 payment to the plaintiff. It also has a length of 18 months. I
Title I
Motion to Dismiss Denial of a Service Animal Goes Down in Flames
By William Goren on
The Society of Human Resources Management is not the only employer facing litigation for denying a service animal. On January 13, 2026, the Flaming Gorge Resort saw its motion to dismiss with respect to its denial of a service animal for an employee go down in flames (pun intended). The case is O’Connor v. Colett’s…
SHRM Service Dog Litigation: Answer and Possible Defenses
By William Goren on
This week’s blog entry considers the Society for Human Resource Management answer to the complaint of Fiona Torres in her case saying SHRM violated the ADA by not allowing her to have her service dog when it rescinded a conditional job offer. In the interest of full disclosure, many years ago I did speak to…
Does an Employer Have the Ability to Not Engage in the Interactive Process if the Reasonable Accommodation Request is Facially Unreasonable and Other Stuff
By William Goren on
It’s time to get back to the grind after the holiday season. I hope everyone had a great holiday season.
Today’s blog entry deals with the implications of what happens when a reasonable accommodation request of a plaintiff is facially unreasonable. What does that mean for a plaintiff’s reasonable accommodation claim? What might that…
Inflexible Return to Work Policies: Granas Update
By William Goren on
2025 Understanding the ADA Greatest Hits
By William Goren on
Posted in 1983, 501, 504, ADA, Administrative law, Constitutional law, Fair Housing Act, Title I, Title II, Title III, Title V
As promised below is the greatest hits for the Understanding the ADA blog for 2025. Some of the entries that appear in the greatest hits section were not the greatest hits of 2025, but are so important that I keep them in there any way. Here goes the list for 2025 in reverse order of…
EEOC v. William Beaumont Hospital Redux
By William Goren on
This week’s blog entry will be the last substantive blog entry of the calendar year. As mentioned previously, I will put up the greatest hits of 2025 for the Understanding the ADA blog the week of Christmas.
Turning to the blog entry for the week, on November 19, 2025, the United States District Court…
Are Retaliation and Interference Claims Viable under the Rehabilitation Act in Employment Matters? The Sixth Circuit Says No
By William Goren on
Posted in 501, 504, ADA, Constitutional law, Federal Cases, Final Federal Regulations, Rehabilitation Act, Title I, Title IX
Before getting started on the blog entry of the week, a housekeeping matter, I am thinking that there may be one additional substantive blog for the rest of the year before I do the 2025 greatest hits. My thinking is that one more substantive blog entry after this will appear the week of December 8.…
Have no Idea as to Why Defense Side Attorneys Keep Defending on the Grounds that an ADA Disability Does Not Exist
By William Goren on
After the amendments to the ADA, it doesn’t make any sense for an attorney to defend on the grounds that a disability doesn’t exist, with a notable exception being where the major life activity of working is involved. It should be a rare situation where plaintiff alleges the major life activity of working considering all…
Let’s Count the Ways Alcoholism is a Disability
By William Goren on
There is a lot of confusion out there about whether alcoholism is a disability. Illegal use of drugs gets exempted from the ADA but alcoholism is a different story. True, you can evaluate a person engaged in excessive use of alcohol in terms of performance as if the alcohol use doesn’t exist, but that is…