In a comment to a previous blog entry, I discussed the case of Gipson v. Popeye’s Chicken and Biscuits. In that case, the Northern District of Georgia said that considering what police have to do, it wasn’t right to impose ADA liability on the police since the police are not lawyers and have
State Cases
Is a person with a disability entitled to an attorney in a civil matter as a reasonable accommodation under title II of the ADA or under state law?
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. I also have a second blog entry following up on that blog entry.
This blog entry explores a related topic. Let’s say a person with a disability finds themselves in the court system…
If you do standardized testing, your world as you know it has ended
By William Goren on
My usual practice is to put up a blog entry on Mondays. However, Monday is Memorial Day, and so I thought I would put up a blog entry today, especially since there has been some big news this week. In particular, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing of the State of California, United States…
DOJ brings the hammer down on the State of Lousiana’s bar licensing authority
By William Goren on
I’m going to be off next week, and so I thought I would blog on this one since it is something I have talked about before.
Previously, I blogged on a South Dakota Supreme Court case and talked about the difficulty a person with MH has in passing the character and fitness gauntlet. I also…
The ADA and Bar Examiners: Uphill Climb for Wannabe Attorneys with MH
By William Goren on
Does the Americans with Disabilities Act apply to bar examiners? If it were only that simple. Taking the approach with respect to entries that I’ve developed recently, part one discusses the facts of the case. Part two discusses the court’s reasoning and my responses. Finally, part three give the reader takeaways. The reader is free…
Is indefinite medical leave a reasonable accommodation under the ADA? ? State Law? Local municipal law?
By William Goren on
Posted in State Cases, Title I
In a prior blog entry, we discussed whether indefinite medical leave was a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. In that blog entry, we discussed a case from the 10th circuit, where they held that indefinite leave was not a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. But that isn’t the end of the matter. What about…
Suing a state court system for disability discrimination: it can be done but it’s complicated
By William Goren on
What happens if a state court system discriminates against a person with a disability? That was the situation in Prakel v. State of Indiana, 2013 WL 3287691 (S.D. Ind. June 28, 2013). In this case, a deaf individual (while the court refers to him as hearing impaired, I use the term deaf because you…
Federal laws/regulations allowing for discrimination can trump the ADA (even if adopted at the state level)
By William Goren on
The United States Supreme Court and the regulations implementing title I of the ADA allow for a complete defense to discrimination against persons with disabilities when the discrimination is necessary in order to comply with other federal law or regulations. Albertsons v. Kirkingburg 527 U.S. 555, 570, 570 n.16; see also id. at 578 (J.…
Negligence/negligence per se and title III of the ADA: Opportunity for personal injury attorneys to expand their practice
By William Goren on
Posted in State Cases, Title III
A mobility impaired person uses a motel. It turns out that motel does not meet the ADA guidelines for architectural accessibility. As a result, a person suffers personal injuries as a result of that inaccessible feature. Or, a person goes to a theater and despite asking for help from theater personnel does not receive any.…
ADA and the Applicable Statute of Limitations
By William Goren on
The whole idea of the statute of limitations is to prevent stale claims. Just about everything has a statute of limitations (the only two exceptions that I can think of our claims arising under USERRA and capital murder claims). The ADA does have statute of limitations to deal with, though it is not stated in…