Access Board to Hold Information Meeting on Assembly Areas September 6
On September 6 the Access Board will hold a public forum on accessibility and assembly areas. The day-long event will focus on accessibility issues related to the design of such facilities, including movie theaters, dinner theaters, performing arts centers, lecture halls, grand stands, stadiums, arenas, and other assembly venues. It will offer an open dialogue to review design challenges and identify potential solutions.
"Our goal is to bring everyone together to find ways of resolving accessibility issues that are unique to different types of assembly spaces," states Board Executive Director David Capozzi. "The Board will use this information to enhance the technical assistance and training it provides to the public."
Persons with disabilities, advocacy groups, designers and architects, trade groups, codes organizations, industry, and other interested parties are welcome to attend. Registration is not required. Additional details, including the agenda, will be posted in coming weeks. This event will be in-person only and will not be streamed online.
'Layperson understanding' of medical info in doctor's note insufficient to justify ending interactive process
A jury will decide whether PetSmart failed to reasonably accommodate a discharged employee who, after suffering an on-the-job back injury, submitted FMLA paperwork indicating she could return to work if allowed to sit intermittently, but subsequently provided a letter from another medical professional stating that she had additional medical restrictions. Denying both parties' motions for summary judgment, a federal court in Illinois found the company's "layperson understanding" of medical information contained in the second letter was not sufficient to justify its instant termination of the interactive process. However, her disability discrimination claim was tossed since there was no indication she was fired because of her disability, as opposed to an alleged "mistaken belief" that she was not qualified under the ADA. ( Kottke v PetSmart, Inc, NDIll, July 6, 2018, Hart, W.)
Long lunch break wasn't required ADA accommodation, 6th Cir. says
HR Dive
- A receptionist failed to show that her employer violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it did not immediately grant her time to exercise during the work day as a reasonable accommodation, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled (McDonald v. UAW-GM Center for Human Resources, No. 17-1875 (6th Cir., June 21, 2018)).
- Shannan McDonald, who was born with a genetic disorder, asked for an extended lunch break to exercise. After her request was denied, she provided a doctor's note supporting her request but still did not link the need to a disability or explain why the exercise could not occur outside of work hours. Before receiving an answer, she began taking longer lunches. McDonald then quit during a short work suspension for insubordination while the second request was under consideration. McDonald sued and a trial court dismissed her claims.
- On appeal, the 6th Circuit upheld the lower court's finding. McDonald's disability discrimination claim failed because she did not show that the requested accommodation was necessary; the doctor's letter was too vague, it said. The court also noted that the evidence showed that her work suspension stemmed from insubordination and not the lunch break request and that, with no underlying ADA violation upon which to base a constructive discharge claim, the claim failed.
United States Supreme Court to Consider whether the Americans with Disabilities Act Allows the State of Tennessee to Continue to Overtly Discriminate Against Disabled Persons Addicted to Opioids,...
Markets Insider
On May 31, 2018, James A. Dunlap Jr. & Associates LLC and the Higgins Firm PLLC filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the United States Supreme Court, on behalf of their clients, asking the Supreme Court of the United States to find that the State of Tennessee’s facially discriminatory rules, and the City of Johnson City, TN’s forcing disabled persons into “disabled ghettos” for treatment for opioid addiction, violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and .” Tri-Cities Holdings, LLC v. Tenn. Admin. Proc. Division, Nos. 17-5628/17-6046, 2018 WL 1100316 (6th Cir. Feb. 28, 2018), U.S. Supreme Court Case No. 17-1635.
Animals can provide emotional support and service, but the two jobs are distinct
MinnPost
In recent years, the use of emotional support animals (ESA) has gained popularity among people living with mental illness, and, to some degree, acceptance from lawmakers in many states, including Minnesota, where legislation has been to allow ESAs to accompany their owners to school, stores and even on airplanes. But with acceptance of the real benefit that an ESA can bring to a person disabled by mental illness comes the reality that some people will try to bend the rules to fit their own needs, labeling a range of untrained household pets as ESAs and trying to bring them into places where animals aren’t usually allowed.
The Americans with Disabilities Act: Why It's Not Enough
Rivard Report
It’s probably fair to say that most Americans don’t frequently praise the U.S. Congress for a job well done. That’s likely because it’s not often that Congress bands together to do something that genuinely changes Americans’ day-to-day lives for the better. Congress’ work mostly goes unnoticed, unless you’re a nerd like me who watches C-SPAN.