One of my favorite songs of all time is “The Gambler” by Kenny Rogers. For those who don’t know, it is a song about poker, but it might as well be a metaphor about litigation. The chorus of the song goes, “you gotta know when to hold em, know when to fold ’em, know when
Federal Cases
IDEA Exhaustion, Attorneys Fees, and Applicable Statute of Limitations
By William Goren on
Normally, when I am putting together a blog entry, what I do is that I find an interesting case that comes out during the week and then: analyze that case; discuss the court’s reasoning and my take on it; and then offer takeaways. This week I did see a case that met that criteria (it…
Should we now be asking when to bother with the Rehabilitation Act and preventive tips can come from anywhere
By William Goren on
Jon Hyman’s blog is in my blogroll and I want to thank him for calling to my attention the case of Sjostrand v. The Ohio State University. Jon, as always, did a great job in his blog entry, but I want to take a different approach. What I want to discuss is how this…
Looking at Defenses in a Title II case
By William Goren on
This particular blog entry will look at possible defenses that may be raised in a title II case. As is usual, there are different categories. Here we have case of the week, the court’s response to the arguments raised by the defendants in the case, and takeaways. Feel free to focus on any and/or all…
Is attendance always an essential function of the job?
By William Goren on
When the ADA first was enacted back in 1990 and went into effect in 1992, the Internet was just getting started. Back then, it was pretty obvious to everyone that an essential function of the job must mean showing up for it. Since then, technology has evolved quite a bit so now many people can…
Professional licensing authorities and sovereign immunity
By William Goren on
Recently, I talked about a decision from the 11th circuit which displayed a very good understanding of disability, in that case deafness, in a way that you do not often see in judicial decisions. Oftentimes when you are reading a case, you wonder whether a judge gets “disability,” so to speak. This particular blog entry…
Does Association discrimination apply to title II of the ADA?
By William Goren on
This blog entry explores whether an association discrimination claim applies to title II of the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and, for that matter, the California Disabled Persons Act. As is my practice, the blog is divided into the facts, the issue, the court’s reasoning, and takeaways. Feel free to zero in on any and/or all…
Third-party administrators and the risk of being an employer
By William Goren on
It is not unusual for companies of all sizes to outsource their HR functions and/or their benefit administration, though outsourcing their benefits administration is probably more common. What happens if the third party administrator starts making employment decisions for the company whose benefits they are administering? In that situation, there is a risk that the…
Suing state court system redux
By William Goren on
One of my more popular blog entries is the blog entry that discusses suing a state court system for disability discrimination . Here is another case along those lines. In Phillips v. New Hampshire Circuit Court, Eighth Circuit, District Division, 2014 WL 495656 (D. N.H. February 5, 2014) (unpublished decision), the plaintiff had a…
Is it consistent with the ADA for an amusement park to deny access to the rides because of a person’s disability?
By William Goren on
Erik Beard, an attorney with the law firm of Wiggin and Dana and who has a blog on legal issues affecting amusement parks , has been talking for some time about a case out of the central district of California that squarely presents the issue of whether amusement park rides must be accessible to persons…