The last week of the baseball season went down to the final day. Somehow or another, I wound up with three teams in the baseball playoffs, and in no particular order: Braves; White Sox; and Cubs. Braves and the Cubs can’t meet unless they are playing for the National League pennant. Good luck to all
failure to accommodate
This Case Illustrates Why You Always Need to Read the Footnotes
By William Goren on
Before getting started on the blog entry of the week, I do want to recognize the passing of Dolly Parton. I grew up on her music. She will probably go down as one of the greatest songwriters of all time not to mention one of the greatest recording artists of all time, an actress (who…
Qualified/Otherwise Qualified and Failure to Accommodate: Lots of Easy to Understand Thoughts Emanating from the Eighth Circuit
By William Goren on
Before getting started on the blog entry of the week, I wanted to pass along that the Federal Bar Association has announced its award recipients for this year. I am quite honored to be the recipient of the Sarah T. Hughes Civil Rights Award (the history of that award can be found here). 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…
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…
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…
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.…
ADA and 504 as an Alternative to §1983 in Excessive Force Cases
By William Goren on
When the Federal Bar Association national convention was held in Kansas City Missouri, I was part of a panel that explored outside the box uses of the ADA. One of the panelist, Jamie Strawbridge, talked about how the ADA/504 can be an alterative to excessive force §1983 cases. The case of the week explores exactly…
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…
Kluge Latest Decision and it’s Potentially Huge Impact on ADA Failure to Accommodate Cases
By William Goren on