JD Supra
Understanding and complying with the requirements of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a challenge for even the most experienced management and human resources personnel. The challenge is even greater in states that have their own separate leave laws. The following are frequently asked questions about the FMLA that may assist in determining your level of understanding.
United States: Judge Dismisses ADA Website Lawsuit
Mondaq News Alerts
As we predicted, more and more of these lawsuits allege that a company's website and reservation system is not accessible to visually impaired customers. In his article below, Marty Orlick reports why a recent U.S. District Court decision may affect the future of ADA website litigation, and urges hoteliers to ensure their websites are accessible.
JMBM's ADA Compliance and Defense team, led by my partner Marty Orlick, continues to help hotels and other businesses achieve compliance under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), and is actively defending numerous ADA lawsuits brought against our clients.
As we predicted, more and more of these lawsuits allege that a company's website and reservation system is not accessible to visually impaired customers. In his article below, Marty Orlick reports why a recent U.S. District Court decision may affect the future of ADA website litigation, and urges hoteliers to ensure their websites are accessible.
Clarksville mother sues school board, says autistic son physically abused
Clarksville Now
A Clarksville woman has filed a lawsuit against a former Clarksville-Montgomery County School System teacher and the Clarksville-Montgomery County Board of Education, alleging physical abuse against her six-year-old son with autism.
The lawsuit was filed in the United District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee on August 1, 2017.
According to the document, the plaintiff is listed as T.S., represented by his mother, Feltona Wells. The defendants are listed as Bonnie Conn, a former kindergarten classroom teacher at St. Bethlehem Elementary School, as well as the Board of Education.
The lawsuit says Wells is bringing this action for violation of Constitutional rights, violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, violation of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, arising out of the defendants’ physical abuse of the child.
Lexology
HIGHLIGHTS:
- The Massachusetts Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (the Act), signed into law by Gov. Charlie Baker on July 27, 2017, amends the Massachusetts anti-discrimination statute to require employers to provide reasonable accommodations for an employee's pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition.
- The Act also prohibits workplace and hiring discrimination related to such reasonable accommodation requests.
- Although the Act does not take effect until April 1, 2018, Massachusetts employers should begin planning now so they are prepared to comply with the Act.
Did a gluten-allergic boy break the law taking food into Colonial Williamsburg tavern?
Williamsburg Yorktown Daily
For people with food allergies, restaurants are a potential minefield. Gluten. Peanuts. And then there’s the health code.
Can you run afoul of it if you bring food into an eating establishment, because you have a condition such as a gluten allergy?
It’s an issue with some resonance in the Historic Triangle.
In July, the parents of an 11-year-old boy with a severe gluten allergy sued Colonial Williamsburg for discrimination in federal district court. They allege the Foundation violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when the boy, identified as “J.D.” was removed from Shields Tavern after his father served him his own “safe food” during a May visit by his fifth-grade class.
49ers, Santa Clara Must Face ADA Claims In Seating Suit
Law360
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh on Tuesday said a disabled man’s wife can pursue Americans with Disabilities Act claims in a proposed class action against the San Francisco 49ers and the city of Santa Clara, California, over lack of access to the team’s stadium but trimmed other claims under California civil rights law.
Judge Koh ruled that even though Priscilla Nevarez is not herself disabled, she is entitled to bring claims alongside her husband against the team, the city and the Santa Clara Stadium Authority because of the associational discrimination provision under Title III of the ADA. The judge said Priscilla adequately alleged frustration, physical exhaustion and other difficulties related to helping her husband Abdul Nevarez, who uses a wheelchair, overcome various access barriers in and around the 49ers’ home venue of Levi’s Stadium, meaning her claim for a Title III survives the team and city’s motion to dismiss.
Judge Koh also found that even though there is no explicit associational discrimination provision for Title II of the ADA, the statute — which prohibits the exclusion of disabled individuals from activities, services or programs of a public entity — should have a broad application.
“Indeed, given the statutory text of Title II and implementing regulations, district courts in the Ninth Circuit, in addition to other circuit courts, have repeatedly held that Title II allows nondisabled individuals to bring associational discrimination claims,” Judge Koh said.
But she also ruled Monday that Priscilla Nevarez could not move forward with a most of her claim against Santa Clara and the Santa Clara Stadium Authority under California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act. The judge said even though her claim contained sufficient allegations of discrimination stemming from four trips to Levi’s Stadium, her failure to submit a claim for damages to Santa Clara within six months of their first three visits was grounds for dismissal.
Additionally, Judge Koh dismissed the Unruh Act claim brought by another plaintiff in the case, Sebastian DeFrancesco, who is quadriplegic and accused the stadium and the team of discrimination after discovering the 49ers season tickets he purchased were not wheelchair accessible. Judge Koh found that DeFrancesco did not state in the complaint that he filed a timely claim with Santa Clara, and dismissed his allegation without prejudice in order for him to amend the pleadings.
In their initial complaint in December, the Nevarezes named the team and related entities, the National Football League, Santa Clara and its stadium authority, and Ticketmaster LLC. The proposed class action alleged that the ticket policies and configuration at Levi’s Stadium do not provide full and equal access to those with disabilities.
They voluntarily dismissed the NFL from their complaint in March, while adding DeFrancesco as a plaintiff, along with Forty Niners Stadium Management Co. LLC and Live Nation Entertainment Inc. as defendants.
The 49ers entities, Santa Clara and the stadium authority filed their motion to dismiss Priscilla’s claims and DeFrancesco’s Unruh Civil Rights Act claim in May. In its response, the customers argued in part that a nondisabled person has standing to bring claims for injuries suffered while helping a disabled person.
Around the same time, Ticketmaster and Live Nation asked Judge Koh to move their dispute with the customers to arbitration, saying they had agreed to a set of terms in a “clickwrap” agreement that included provisions to waive class claims and arbitrate any disputes. Judge Koh said Monday she would address this portion of the dispute in a separate order.
Counsel for the parties did not respond Wednesday to requests for comment.
The customers are represented by Catherine Cabalo and Adam Wolf of Peiffer Rosca Wolf Abdullah Carr & Kane LLP, Linda Dardarian and Andrew Lee of Goldstein Borgen Dardarian & Ho and Guy Wallace, Sarah Colby and Jennifer Uhrowczik of Schneider Wallace Cottrell Konecky Wotkyns LLP.
The 49ers, Santa Clara and the Santa Clara Stadium Authority are represented by Matthew S. Conant, Maria M. Lampasona and Alexei N. Offill-Klein of Lombardi Loper & Conant LLP.
Ticketmaster and Live Nation are represented by Gregory F. Hurley of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP.
The case is Abdul Nevarez v. Forty Niners Football Co. LLC, case number 5:16-cv-07013, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
How the Americans With Disabilities Act Helps People Every Day
Advocate.com
I am a transgender woman who lives with two largely invisible disabilities. Most people who interact with me have no idea I live with both bipolar disorder and severe gastroesophageal issues, both of which can be debilitating. While being transgender is not a disability, I have faced many struggles accessing transition-related care, and I have undergone gender-confirming surgeries, which have left me unable to work for extended periods.
Iowa man says he is suing after being evicted for emotional support pet
The Daily Citizen
An Iowa man has found himself at odds with his landlord over a pet that his medical provider says is necessary to his mental health.
Nurse practitioner Cynthia Barinsky Wurr wrote a letter this month to the apartments where her patient, 28-year-old Chaz Denham lives, asking that he be allowed to keep a pet for medical reasons. Shortly after, Denham was asked to vacate his apartment for having a cat that was not approved by the landlord.
Denham has been diagnosed with anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, mood disorder and attention deficit disorder, said Wurr in a letter to the landlord.