I’m not a big fan of guidances for several reasons: I find that lawyers rely on them as a crutch unnecessarily in many cases; the guidances oftentimes push an agenda and are not based on case law or regulations; as guidances they are not regulations and so therefore are subject to being ignored by the
OCR issues dear colleague letter on bullying on the basis of disability
By William Goren on
In the last quarter, my most popular blog entry was the one dealing with ADA Compliance Auditing: Higher Education Version, and so I thought I would turn to education again. In this particular blog entry, the United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights issued a Dear Colleague letter on October 21, 2014…
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…
DOJ regulations implementing title II and title III of the ADA amendments act: where’s the impact?
By William Goren on
Last week, the Department of Justice proposed rules implementing title II and title III of the ADA in light of the amendments to the ADA. I’m not going to go into depth here, but I thought I’d go over some particularly significant items in the proposed rule. Of course, what follows is not comprehensive and…
If a child has an IEP and gets a service dog, must they exhaust administrative remedies before proceeding to the court house if the school refuses the service dog?
By William Goren on
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…
IDEA, Rehab Act, and the ADA: Have to keep in mind all three
By William Goren on
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,…
If you waive one law, do you waive others? Intersection of IDEA, § 504, and the ADA
By William Goren on
In the kindergarten through grade 12 context, for students with disabilities, there are actually three laws to be aware of. Those laws are the Individual with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA), § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). IDEA is a law that demands a student with a disability…