February 2025
Volume 18 Issue 4
Creating a Culture of Inclusion at Camp: 8 Essential Habits for Staff
I Do Not Want Your Cookies: People with Disabilities Experiences on Advisory Committees
Protections for Students with a Stutter, IBD, Migraine, or Narcolepsy
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has released four new fact sheets that describe particular medical conditions and examples of how a school can address their needs. Check out the fact sheets for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), Migraine, Narcolepsy, and Stuttering.
Postsecondary Transportation for Students Under the ADA
This new report from the Rocky Mountain ADA Center examines whether colleges and universities are required to provide accessible transportation vehicles for students with disabilities under the ADA.
DOL Report: Direct Care Workers
The Department of Labor (DOL) has submitted a report to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees that assesses the current and projected demand for Direct Care Workers (DCW). The report examines the direct care industry, its challenges, and what entities like DOL, State Government and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are doing to address the worker shortage.
Answer: Yes. On August 9, 2024, the Federal Register published the Department of Justice’s final rule updating the regulations under Title II of the ADA. The final rule has specific requirements about accessible medical diagnostic equipment (MDE) that apply to all state and local governments, including their agencies, departments, programs, and services.
The new rule adopted the following:
Resource(s):
Learn more by visiting our ADA Frequently Asked Questions.
EEOC v. Northern Virginia Surgery Center, LLC (NVSC)
According to the lawsuit, when an older radiologic technologist requested an extension of her medical leave to recover from carpel tunnel surgery, NVSC terminated her and replaced her with two significantly younger and less qualified co-workers. The termination and replacement occurred while the employee was still on approved medical leave. In addition to paying $50,000 to the charging party, the two-year consent decree requires the company to revise its policies on the ADA and ADEA and provide training to its employees.
EEOC v. Federal Express Corporation (FedEx Express)
According to the lawsuit, a successful 30-year career dispatcher for FedEx requested to continue teleworking as an accommodation for her disabilities which, among other limitations, substantially limited the employee’s ability to walk. The employee, and other disabled dispatchers, previously performed dispatcher duties remotely for nearly three years, from approximately April 2020 until February 2023. FedEx denied continued telework based on an alleged operational need to have all its dispatchers work in the office and failed to engage with its disabled dispatchers to find alternative accommodations.
EEOC v. PACE Southeast Michigan (PACE)
According to the lawsuit, PACE maintained a policy that treated any employee unable to return to work following the expiration of Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)-allowed leave as a “voluntary resignation,” resulting in termination. Two employees requested a brief leave extension of three weeks or less to return to work following the expiration of FMLA leave and provided supporting medical documentation for the extensions. PACE refused to consider the requests and instead fired the employees. Under the consent decree, PACE will pay $60,000 in monetary damages to each of the two former employees, train human resources employees on compliance with the ADA, develop a reasonable accommodation policy, and provide a list of additional employees who were terminated at the conclusion of FMLA leave since the EEOC concluded its investigation. An additional $50,000 will be distributed among any of those individuals who would have qualified for a reasonable accommodation.
According to the lawsuit, a Sam’s Club employee sought to return to her associate position following a medical leave of absence after an automobile accident. The accident left her with post-concussion syndrome, upper back pain, muscle spasms, and chronic lower back pain. The employee sought minor, temporary adjustments to her duties as a reasonable accommodation for her disabilities. Shortly after returning to work and successfully performing one shift, the employee was informed by her supervisor that she could not work with restrictions and would instead need to take another leave of absence until she could work without any restrictions. As instructed, the employee sought additional leave, providing Sam’s Club with a date by which she would be capable of working without restriction. Sam’s Club then denied the employee’s requested leave and fired her. The store’s general manager told her Sam’s Club would not accommodate her injuries because they occurred outside of work.
DOJ v. Queens Borough Public Library (QBPL) and the City of New York (the City)
DOJ entered into a settlement agreement with QBPL and the City to resolve violations of the ADA at the Hunters Point Library Branch (the HPL Branch). The HPL Branch construction was completed in the fall of 2019. The US conducted an ADA compliance review in December 2019 of the HPL Branch shortly after it opened. That review identified approximately 95 violations of the ADA’s accessibility requirements which the City and QBPL have now agreed to remediate. Under the terms of the agreement, all remediation work will be completed within five years.
DOJ v. Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO), IL
DOJ entered into an agreement with SCSO to resolve an investigation of race and disability discrimination in the provision of policing and dispatch services. The department launched its investigation based on complaints and reports about an SCSO deputy’s fatal shooting of Sonya Massey, a Black woman experiencing a mental health crisis, while responding to Ms. Massey’s 911 call for help. Under the agreement, the entities will review and update policies, rules, and procedures and provide training on a variety of topics, including non-discriminatory policing and interactions with individuals with behavioral health disabilities. The agreement requires the development and implementation of a mobile crisis team program, which will include trained behavioral health staff who timely respond to individuals needing urgent behavioral health assistance. The agreement also provides for the development of a Community Engagement Plan to ensure collaborative problem-solving and nondiscrimination in policing, as well as to increase transparency and community confidence.
DOJ v. City of Minneapolis and Minneapolis Police Department (MPD)
DOJ entered into a settlement agreement with the City of Minneapolis and MPD to resolve the Department’s findings that the city and MPD engage in a pattern or practice of conduct that violates the First, Fourth, and 14th Amendments of the Constitution as well as the ADA and other federal anti-discrimination laws. The consent decree filed requirements focus on preventing excessive force, stopping racially discriminatory policing, improving officers’ interactions with youth, protecting the public’s First Amendment rights, preventing discrimination against people with behavioral health disabilities, promoting well-being of officers and employees, and enhancing officers’ supervision and accountability.
DOJ v. Fulton County and Fulton County Sheriff’s Office
DOJ entered into an agreement to resolve the Department’s findings that conditions of confinement at the Fulton County Jail in Georgia violate the 8th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, ADA, and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clark said: “If fully implemented, this consent decree and its comprehensive remedies should reduce violence and unnecessary force; increase the quality of medical and mental health care; reduce the use of unnecessary isolation, particularly for people with mental illness and 17-year-old children; and afford children with disabilities the education to which they are entitled.”
Also, check out, DOJ v. San Luis Obispos County another county jail lawsuit with a settlement agreement.
DOJ v. QptumServe Health Services, Inc. (OptumServe)
DOJ has entered into a settlement agreement with OptumServe, which provides medical services to veterans with disabilities, to resolve allegations that OptumServe refused to see a veteran at the time of a scheduled appointment because he was accompanied by a service animal. As a result, the veteran left the office without receiving any medical care. Under the agreement, OptumServe will make changes to its policies and procedures and provide additional training to its staff. Additionally, OptumServe will pay the veteran $85,000 in compensatory damages.
DOJ v. Mandan Parks and Recreation
DOJ entered into a settlement agreement with Mandan Parks and Recreation to resolve allegations that elements of the Starion Sports Complex (“Starion”) violate the ADA and were not fully accessible to individuals with disabilities. The Starion opened in 2017 and is an 84,000-square-foot facility with two ice rinks, a gymnastics center, parks maintenance shop, rubberized track and jumping facilities, practice field and track and field throwing facilities, and a synthetic turf football and soccer field. During its investigation, DOJ found that Starion did not provide an accessible path to visitor seating in the football field, the accessible seating provided in the competition ice rink was not an integrated part of the seating plan, the Starion lacked adequate accessible seating in other areas of the complex, and that elements of the toilet rooms, concourse, skate rental counter, outdoor picnic area, and assistive listening systems did not comply with the ADA’s requirements.
U.S. Attorney’s Office has entered into a settlement agreement with Stamford Marriott to resolve an ADA complaint filed by an individual with a disability alleging that the Stamford Marriott was not accessible for individuals with physical disabilities, and requires the hotel to make a suite accessible for individuals with mobility disabilities, make 14 additional rooms accessible for individuals with hearing disabilities, make numerous changes in other accessible rooms, add accessible dining surfaces, make changes in non-suite restrooms and the parking garage to improve accessibility. The Stamford Marriott is in the process of making the changes required by the settlement agreement and will continue to make improvements over the next 30 months.
State of Alabama – DOJ Letter of Findings
DOJ has concluded its investigation into Alabama’s long-term care system for children with physical disabilities and found that the State is unnecessarily segregating children with physical disabilities in nursing facilities and hospitals, while placing other children at serious risk of admission, in violation of the ADA. With appropriate community-based services, children with physical disabilities can live in family homes. However, Alabama restricts access to the services children with physical disabilities need to live at home and be part of their communities. As a result, children are being unnecessarily institutionalized in nursing facilities and hospitals, while other children are at serious risk of admission.
Also, check out DOJ Finds that Idaho Violates the ADA by Unnecessarily Segregating People with Physical Disabilities.
