Recently, I read a case out of the Western District of Pennsylvania which I found absolutely fascinating. In this particular case, the court dealt with three issues. First, does the plaintiff have a disability at all? Second, does “regarded as” even apply outside of the title I context? Finally, was the plaintiff a direct threat
Final Federal Regulations
ADA compliance as a nondelegable duty
By William Goren on
People who are covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) have an obligation to comply with its myriad requirements. The question becomes can that obligation be delegated to someone else? That is, let’s say you are a major hotel and you are building out/renovating the hotel in a big way. You hire a firm…
Air carrier access act: only one place to go
By William Goren on
In a previous blog entry, the Air Carrier Access Act was discussed in terms of whether it allowed for a private cause of action where an airline violated the regulations that carry out that act. However, that blog entry did not answer two questions. First, assuming a private cause of action for violation of that…
Key Issues in Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act
By William Goren on
Posted in Final Federal Regulations, Title III
Title III of the ADA requires that any new buildings, after 1992, be built in accordance with strict architectural guidelines that mandate accessibility for persons with disabilities. Also, any renovations to buildings, whether the building is built before 1992 or otherwise must be made in a way so that the renovations are accessible to persons…
Title III: it may be cheaper to fix it
By William Goren on
Posted in Final Federal Regulations, Title III
Under title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the only remedy the plaintiff can get is injunctive relief and attorneys fees. The court may also fine violators up to $50,000 for a first violation and up to $110,000 for each subsequent violation. Attorney fees are only available if the person prevails. What does it…
Sovereign immunity principles outside of sovereign immunity claims and the importance of self-evaluation and transition plans
By William Goren on
In a previous blog entry, I talked about the principle of sovereign immunity as it applies to persons with disabilities. As mentioned in that blog entry, a state, including an arm of the state, is not going to be forced to waive its sovereign immunity with respect to disability discrimination in employment matters.…
Lessons learned
By William Goren on
Some cases are excellent for providing a roadmap on what to do, other cases are good for getting new lessons so that you can take preventive steps to not run down that path. The particular case here is one of the latter. In Peters v. University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 2012 WL 3878601…
Preventive law systems a must: title II and voting booths
By William Goren on
The axiom of preventive law is that we live in such a litigious society that you can’t prevent a lawsuit. However, you can take steps where if you get sued you can win that lawsuit. A case that illustrates as to what happens when you do not have preventive law systems is United Spinal Association…
Olmstead evolves
By William Goren on
In Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581 (1999), United States Supreme Court held that it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act for for a State to have a system that did not allow persons with mental illness to be treated in the community. Since that time, the United States government has been very aggressive…
Comply with the ADA, commit a felony, be sued for actual and punitive damages… Really?
By William Goren on
It is crystal clear that under the ADA that a student in the classroom as a reasonable accommodation would have the right to tape record or otherwise record the class. See 28 C.F.R. § 35.104(2),(3). However, you may want to look at your state’s eavesdropping statute to see if there aren’t some unintended consequences of…