The Blog of William D. Goren, J.D. LL.M.
Person works for a company of over fifteen employees, develops a disability, and is terminated from her position because of that disability. She then files for SSDI. She then brings suit under the ADA for failure of the employer to reasonably accommodate her disability.
In these type of situations, the employer will invariably defend using…
Many years ago I represented a public entity that was the subject of an adverse licensing decision. In that particular situation, the public entity had a group home for persons with a certain type of disability. The Medicaid certification inspection was done in such a way so that the disabilities of the people living in…
Under Tennessee v. Lane, the equal protection class persons with disabilities fall into is going to depend upon the facts and circumstances of the individual case. That equal protection class is also going to dictate how likely a state is going to be able to defend on the grounds of sovereign immunity. The question…
Previously, I have talked about service dog v. therapy dogs. I have also talked about the administrative regulations from the Department of Justice with respect to the difference between service dogs and other kinds of dogs that a person with a disability may have with respect to how they would likely hold up under…
In order to get damages under title I of the ADA, you have to show intentional discrimination. In order to get damages under title II of the ADA, you have to show deliberate indifference. But what does intentional discrimination mean with respect to a regarded as claim? Must there be discriminatory animus or can there…
I do not normally blog more than once a week. You would be surprised how time-consuming writing a blog entry really is. Also, I don’t like to have blog entries that cannibalize each other. Rather, I like to have a blog entry get a chance to stand on its own for a while. That gives…
Consider: Employee/volunteer/Intern… with a disability is sexually harassing his or her coworkers. The disability is such that the employee/volunteer is unlikely to stop. The hiring authority terminates the employee/volunteer and the employee/volunteer sues the hiring authority for disability discrimination. This sounds very much like what could’ve been the case with the former Mayor of San…
In a prior blog entry, I discussed a situation where the police intentionally aggravated a person with a disability pre-existing condition eventually leading to that person’s death. The court in that case held that the police force could be liable for violating title II of the ADA. This particular blog entry will once again…
Back in 1997, I wrote an article for the Florida bar Journal discussing the relationship between the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act. I have had the good fortune to see that article cited numerous times in various law review articles. If I were to update that article today,…
In a comment to a prior blog post, I mentioned a case, Gipson v. Popeye’s Chicken and Biscuits, where a court, the Northern District of Georgia, found no ADA liability when a police officer not knowing the ADA, told a person who otherwise had a right to be in a restaurant with his service…