Disability Law

Clash of Rights over an Allergy-Detecting Dog Leads to EEOC Complaint

The rights of an employee who uses an allergy-detection dog are at odds with those of another worker with asthma in a complaint pending with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Emily Kysel brought her specially trained, $10,000 golden-retriever to work at the city of Indianapolis until a co-worker reacted to…

May 14, 2010 11:15 AM CDT

Parents of Woman Disabled in Childbirth Can Help Her Sue to Visit Triplets, Judge Says

The parents of a woman who was severely disabled as a result of giving birth to triplets can help her sue to win the right to visit her children, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge has ruled. Abbie Dorn, 34, who now lives with her parents in South Carolina, communicates…

Apr 22, 2010 12:06 AM CDT

Woman Severely Disabled After Childbirth Seeks Visitation With Her Triplets

A disastrous series of childbirth issues that left Abbie Dorn in what some describe as a vegetative state with no possibility of recovery has now moved on, legally, from the $33 million malpractice settlement with which her parents are funding a $33,000-a-month rehabilitation program that they say has achieved significant…

Apr 12, 2010 11:28 PM CDT

Now Practicing Law, 2 Ex-NFL Players Have Won Some $100M in Football-Related Worker’s Comp Awards

An unusually liberal worker’s compensation system in California, as far as professional athletes are concerned, made the New York Times this week when the wife of former National Football League player Ralph Wenzel filed an apparently unique test case over early-onset dementia that she contends is related to her 67-year-old…

Apr 8, 2010 12:07 AM CDT

No Food Stamps for Service Dog, But His Disabled Owner May Now Have a Lawyer

A service dog doesn’t qualify for food stamps, a Pennsylvania court has ruled, because he isn’t human. But the animal’s disabled owner, James Douris, may not have to argue the legal issue on his own much longer. Although he lost a pro se Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court case arguing that the…

Apr 7, 2010 7:24 PM CDT

Who Let the Dogs In?

Non-visually impaired kids are bringing their aide dogs to class

Apr 1, 2010 7:30 AM CDT

Service Animals Now Welcome at Office of Lawyer Sued for Banning Dog

A Colorado lawyer will pay $50,000 and his law firm will post a “Service Animals Welcome” sign to settle a Justice Department complaint that he refused to allow a brain-damaged woman to bring her service dog to a deposition at his offices. Attorney Patric LeHouillier of Colorado Springs will also…

Mar 31, 2010 12:08 PM CDT

Suit Claims School Didn’t Prevent Bullying That Drove Autistic Youth to Suicide

The parents of a 17-year-old autistic youth who committed suicide last October claim in a lawsuit that his Georgia school district and its principal failed to prevent the bullying that led to his depression. The federal lawsuit filed by the parents of Tyler Lee Long claims the school violated the…

Mar 22, 2010 1:23 PM CDT

Judge Strikes ‘Scandalous’ Allegations in Associate’s Suit Against Sedgwick

An associate who claimed in a lawsuit that he suffered a breakdown partly because of “abusive conduct” by a partner at Sedgwick Detert Moran & Arnold included “scandalous” and irrelevant details in his complaint for disability discrimination, a Manhattan judge has ruled. Judge James Yates struck as prejudicial claims that…

Mar 22, 2010 11:00 AM CDT

Detroit to Tell Workers to Tone Down Scented Products Under ADA Settlement

The scent of litigation success isn’t a sweet smell for at least one plaintiff who recently won a $100,000 settlement in a federal Americans with Disabilities Act discrimination case. As part of the pact in the federal lawsuit filed by planner Susan McBride, the city of Detroit has agreed to…

Mar 16, 2010 5:16 PM CDT

Real Estate Realities

Steven Seidenberg’s “The Pain Spreads,” January, is an excellent statement of the problemsconfronting the refinancing of commercial real estate loans. Seidenberg states that bankruptcy is an option. It is questionable how viable an option a voluntary bankruptcy is for many loans because of the “bad boy” carve-out liability in many…

Mar 1, 2010 11:10 AM CST

Employment Lawyers Cringe at Proposal to Add Gambling, Binge Eating to Mental Disorder List

In a development that is drawing fire from management-side employment lawyers, the American Psychiatric Association wants binge eating and excess gambling to be considered psychiatric disorders. The APA has asked that the problems be listed in the Diagnosis and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a fifth edition of which is…

Feb 12, 2010 1:58 PM CST

Blind Student’s Bar Exam Battle Isn’t Over: Test Firm Seeks Emergency 9th Cir. Software Ban

A federal judge’s ruling last month that Stephanie Enyart must be allowed to use screen-reader software when taking the Multistate Bar Examination might not be the final answer for the blind law graduate. In a filing yesterday, the National Conference of Bar Examiners seeks an emergency ruling from the San…

Feb 10, 2010 10:31 PM CST

Judge, 68, Abruptly Retires; Former Court Reporter May Have Helped with Cases

When veteran court reporter Don Rymer was indicted (and eventually agreed to a plea bargain) over a missing trial transcript, it wasn’t just his own career that was adversely affected. A 68-year-old Texas judge who abruptly resigned this week after, observers say, experiencing problems with dementia, may have relied on…

Feb 4, 2010 9:59 PM CST

Would-Be Law Student Files Suit Claiming ADHD Merits More Time for LSAT

A Texas man has filed a federal lawsuit claiming he needs twice the time to take the Law School Admission Test because of his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Matthew Scott Jones of Austin says in the suit that he skipped the LSAT in September 2009 because the Law School Admissions…

Feb 4, 2010 1:59 PM CST