What to know about calling out sick for mental health reasons
This is what you need to know about legal protections, talking with your boss, and the future of mental health protection at work.
Everything Restaurants Need to Know About ADA Compliance
When it comes to the Americans with Disabilities Act, an operator’s best practice is to play it safe.
US Supreme Court denies petition to intervene in ADA case out of Trinidad
The Supreme Court of the United States has declined to intervene on the behalf of the City of Trinidad in a lawsuit brought by a disabled man who complained for years about non-compliant sidewalks and sought relief with a lawsuit.
The high court denied the petition for a writ of certiorari, an order from a higher court to a lower court to force the review of a case for any irregularities.
Earlier this year, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Stephen Hamer who sued the city over Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) compliance in regards to curbs and sidewalks.
Title II of AD A deals with prohibiting discrimination in programs, activities, and services of public entities, to include state and local governments.
Hamer, who is disabled and uses a power wheelchair, argued he complained to the city for more than two years about sidewalk violations. His complaints included claims he twice fell out of his wheelchair when forced to drive his chair on the street.
Uhl and Bose: Domino’s effect: SCOTUS skips clarifying ADA web access
Businesses are increasingly facing lawsuits under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regarding whether their websites are accessible to persons with disabilities. According to a report in the National Law Review, more than 2,000 such lawsuits were filed in 2018, and plaintiffs are on track to file more than 3,000 lawsuits in 2019. The law that has developed throughout the country on web accessibility is not consistent, primarily with respect to two issues. First, does there need to be a nexus between the website and a physical location in order for the ADA’s accessibility requirements to apply? Second, what standards will be used to judge whether a website is accessible? Recently, the United States Supreme Court declined an opportunity to address the law applicable to such claims, leaving businesses with little clarity as to what potential exposure they face.
Arizona man ‘registers’ swarm of bees as emotional support animals — to prove a point
You wouldn’t bee-lieve what one man’s emotional support animal is.
According to Arizona resident David Keller, registering for an emotional support animal is too easy — so he decided to make a point of showing just how easy it is.
He took to a website called USA Service Dog Registration and registered a hive of bees as his support animal. Lo and behold, his application was accepted.
Can Support Kangaroos Fly With You? Westchester Airport Awaits Federal Answer
Dogs, cats, squirrels, pigs, miniature horses, ducks, peacocks and, yes, even boa constrictors and spiders. All of these creatures have achieved their 15 minutes of fame as emotional support animals brought—or attempted to be brought—on airplanes. Is it a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act to deny them in the main cabin? Are they really service animals or pets in disguise?
Those are the questions Airlines for America (A4A), a trade association, and over 80 other organizations—including animal experts, veterans groups, disability groups, flight attendant representatives and airline representatives—want the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to decide once and for all.
The DOT issued a “final guidance" in August stating that airlines will not be "subject to enforcement action if they deny transport to snakes, other reptiles, ferrets, rodents, and spiders." The coalition led by industry and animal groups, however, wants it definitively spelled out: They want one, national definition of "service animal" that aligns with the ADA to limit the harm caused by untrained emotional support animals on planes.
That rule could come any day now.
“These incidents have ranged from mauling and biting to urinating and defecating.”
>From 2016 to 2018, the number of emotional support animals flying in the main airplane cabin almost doubled to more than a million, per A4A. The more animals, unfortunately the more incidents.
“These incidents have ranged from mauling and biting to urinating and defecating—all unacceptable behaviors on an airplane,” the coalition wrote to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. “This misbehavior not only threatens the health and safety of our passengers and crew, but also passengers with disabilities traveling with legitimate service animals.”
To be clear, the coalition very much wants the right of passengers to travel with service animals, as per the ADA, protected.
Your support kangaroo (go ahead, google it), however, might not be a permissible travel companion under the new rule.
“Any Tom, Dick or Harry can start a service dog association.”
There are some 500,000 service animals, mostly dogs—but cats and miniature horses are recognized as such by the ADA—in use in the United States.
The ADA distinguishes between service and emotional support, therapy, comfort, or companion animals: “These terms are used to describe animals that provide comfort just by being with a person. Because they have not been trained to perform a specific job or task, they do not qualify as service animals under the ADA.”
Supreme Court Orders Review Of Michigan Service Dog Case
The U.S. Supreme Court today unanimously ruled that the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals should reconsider whether Ehlena Fry and her family can sue a Jackson County school district for its decision years ago to tell Ehlena, who has cerebral palsy, that she couldn’t bring her service dog to school.
Businesses struggle to comply with unclear ADA website requirements
With a number of new landmark laws going into effect January 1, California’s businesses face heavier burdens than ever before. Businesses, both small and large, are struggling to comply with policies such as the California Consumer Privacy Act and Assembly Bill 5, the codification of the California Supreme Court’s Dynamex decision.
Yet another issue looming large for business owners is a resurgence of shakedown lawsuits under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) lawsuits – this time over website violations.
The ADA was enacted in 1990 to prohibit discrimination against accommodations for people with physical or mental disabilities – a laudable goal. Unfortunately, it has too frequently been used by profit-seeking plaintiffs’ lawyers to shake businesses down with money demands under threat of lawsuits over minor technical violations, such as a disabled parking sign that has faded to the wrong shade of blue, or a door sign hanging slightly too high or low.
Now we are seeing a similar abusive litigation dynamic for businesses with an online presence. The absence of clear rules on website accessibility is open season for plaintiffs’ lawyers to exploit the ambiguities with lawsuits alleging violations of an amorphous standard. Between 2017 and 2018, website lawsuits filed in federal court under the ADA increased by 177%.