News From the Federal Agencies

| News | Docket | Question | Focus | Calendar |

U.S. Access Board

U.S. Access Board Holds Public Briefing on Study on the Feasibility of Wheelchair Securement Systems in Passenger Aircraft

The U.S. Access Board held a public briefing on the results of a Board-sponsored study on the feasibility of installing wheelchair securement systems on passenger aircraft conducted by the Transportation Research Board (TRB). The event featured presentations by the TRB Study Committee Members. Presenters discussed the findings and recommendations from their two-year research study and final report, “Technical Feasibility of a Wheelchair Securement Concept for Airline Travel: A Preliminary Assessment.”

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Updated to Incorporate Revised 508 Standards

On August 11, 2021, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council issued a final rule updating the federal government’s procurement regulations to incorporate the U.S. Access Board’s revised Section 508 Standards.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

EEOC Sues Fluor Federal Global Projects, Inc. for Disability Discrimination

Fluor Federal Global Projects, Inc., Fluor Corporation, and Fluor Enterprises, Inc. (collectively “Fluor unlawfully terminated an employee because of his disability, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed. According to the EEOC’s suit, in August 2019, Dave Hall submitted documentation to Fluor from his doctor detailing that a successful surgery rendered him cancer-free and fit for duty and re-deployment to Afghanistan. Upon receipt, however, Fluor immediately deemed Hall medically disqualified and released him from the project.

EEOC Sues Geisinger Health and Affiliates for Disability Discrimination and Retaliation

Geisinger Health, Geisinger Health System Foundation doing business as Geisinger Health System, Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center, and affiliates (collectively, “Geisinger”), violated federal law when they discriminated against a registered nurse and a class of employees because of their disabilities, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it announced . According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Geisinger requires employees with disabilities to compete for reassignment to a new position even when reassignment is needed as a reasonable accommodation for an employee’s disability. Geisinger also misrepresents and manipulates employment opportunities to prevent employees with disabilities from obtaining accommodations, retaliates against employees who ask for accommodations or complain about discrimination, and otherwise interferes with employee rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the EEOC said.

EEOC Sues Rover’s Place for Harassing an Opioid Addict in Recovery

A dog kennel company in suburban Chicago, Rover’s Place, violated civil rights law when it subjected an employee to a hostile work environment, inquired into his medical history, and forced him to quit his job because of his opioid addiction disability, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed in Illinois . According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the employee worked without incident at the kennel company until one of the owner’s learned of his past drug use. The owner then confronted the employee and in an abusive manner inquired about his history of addiction and treatment even though the employee was not currently using drugs and had not presented any issue in the workplace because of his former drug use.

EEOC Sues TrueBlue, Inc., for Disability Discrimination

TrueBlue, Inc., a Tacoma, Washington.-based staffing company with branch offices nationwide, violated federal law by discriminating against an employee based on her disability at the Manassas, Virginia, office of its subsidiary, PeopleReady, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed . According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the employee worked as a marketing coordinator and needed to take leave due to a psychiatric disability. TrueBlue denied the employee’s request and fired her when she was medically cleared to return to work after a hospitalization.

Hospital Housekeeping Services Sued by EEOC for Disability Discrimination

Hospital Housekeeping Services (HHS) violated federal law when it terminated employees who failed its Essential Functions Test (EFT) because of their disabilities, despite their ability to perform their job, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charged in a lawsuit it filed. The lawsuit alleges the EFT screened out individuals with disabilities. According to the EEOC’s suit, around 2015, HHS began requiring its employees to take the EFT at hire, annually, and upon the return from a medical leave of absence. When the employees failed any portion of the EFT, HHS terminated their employment.

U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)

Justice Department Files Statement of Interest in Case Preventing School from Requiring Face Masks

The Justice Department filed a statement of interest in a case involving disabled students in Texas who say they are at a heightened risk of catching COVID-19 because of the state’s ban on mask mandates in public schools. The Justice Department filed a new statement of interest in a case involving disabled students in Texas who say they are at a heightened risk of catching COVID-19 because of the state’s ban on mask mandates in public schools.

“The serious adverse consequences on students with certain disabilities is readily foreseeable. Some parents of children at heightened COVID-19 risk will likely keep their children at home—even though the children could safely attend school if mask protocols could be put in place,” the department said in the filing.

Justice Department Finds that Conditions at the San Luis Obispo County Jail Violate the ADA

The Justice Department concluded that there is reason to believe that the practices at the jail violate the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Specifically, the department concluded that there is reasonable cause to believe that the jail fails to provide constitutionally adequate medical and mental health care to prisoners; that the jail violates the constitutional rights of prisoners with serious mental illness through its prolonged use of restrictive housing; that the jail violates the constitutional rights of prisoners through the use of excessive force; and that the jail violates the ADA by denying prisoners with mental health disabilities access to services, programs and activities because of their disabilities.

Settlement Agreement between the United States and Lyft, Inc.

The Department of Justice has reached a settlement agreement with Lyft to resolve complaints that it discriminated against passengers with disabilities. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California (“USAO”) conducted an investigation under the authority granted by the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). The United States and Lyft have reached an agreement that is in the parties’ best interests, and that the United States believes is in the public interest, to resolve this matter on mutually agreeable terms.

The Docket

| News | Docket | Question | Focus | Calendar |

Judge Rules in Favor of New York Prisoner Suing for Methadone Access

BY DANIEL MORITZ-RABSON

A District Court judge has issued a preliminary injunction to ensure that a 35-year-old Watertown, New York, resident can continue accessing his medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) while detained in Jefferson County Jail. It’s the first such ruling in the Second Circuit, the Court of Appeals that includes New York state.

The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) told Filter that the man receiving methadone, referred to as P.G. in court documents, was arrested shortly before courts closed for Labor Day weekend. In April, Filter reported that the NYCLU and American Civil Liberties Union had begun litigation on P.G.’s behalf in anticipation of his arrest. (P.G’s probation officer had warned him in December 2020 that he could face rearrest due to an alleged probation violation).

The civil rights groups sued the Jefferson County sheriff and undersheriff, as well as the jail administrator, alleging that the county was violating the New York State Civil Rights Law, the US Constitution and the Americans with Disabilities Act by preventing people from accessing MOUD while detained.

On September 7, District Judge David M. Hurd granted an emergency order for the duration of P.G.’s time at Jefferson County Jail. P.G. had been arrested for the alleged probation violation a few days prior.

Hurd also wrote that the lawsuit on P.G.’s behalf is likely to succeed—that Jefferson County Jail’s denial of methadone access violates both the Americans with Disabilities Act and 14th Amendment. Such a ruling would also be a first in the Second Circuit.

“Upon review, P.G. has made a ‘clear’ showing that he could suffer irreparable harm if his treatment were interrupted,” Hurd wrote. “The uncontested evidence established that withdrawal from methadone treatment is excruciatingly painful, will cause a number of severe physical and mental symptoms, and will place plaintiff at a significantly heightened risk of relapse and death.”

The day after P.G.’s arrest, he was only taken to his methadone clinic after it had already closed for the day.

Jefferson County maintains that it has no official ban on methadone. “The jail is never going to deny appropriate medical treatments to an inmate,” Jefferson County Sheriff Colleen O’Neill told WWNY-TV after P.G.’s arrest.

Yet, as Hurd wrote in his September 7 ruling, “the actual evidence in the record … establishes that the County does not provide methadone to non-pregnant people.”

In a preliminary court hearing on July 8, an attorney for the county stated that if P.G. entered the jail, the county would offer daily transportation to the Watertown-based Credo Community Center, where P.G. was receiving methadone prior to his arrest.

Credo had offered to provide him with a take-home dose for Sundays, when the center is closed. Jefferson County opposed this arrangement, and objected to staff providing P.G. with methadone to take while he was inside the jail.

Caryn White, the director of Credo’s outpatient services, said in a declaration to the court that jail staff had previously administered methadone to pregnant prisoners from inside the facility. The Sheriff’s Department did not respond to Filter’s request for comment. It is not clear how pregnant prisoners received their methadone on Sundays and holidays.

On September 4, the day after P.G. was arrested, he was only taken to Credo after the facility had already closed for the day.

“I was able to reach out to contacts there and essentially ask them to stay open just for P.G., but that’s obviously not a sustainable solution,” NYCLU Senior Staff Attorney Antony Gemmel told Filter. “And potentially had it not been for that lucky turn of events, P.G. would have begun withdrawing from methadone that day.”

Gemmell said he hoped Hurd’s ruling would force jails around the state to ensure they’re facilitating MOUD access.

“County jails around the state should be taking a good hard look at this preliminary injunction decision,” Gemmell continued, “and deciding whether they think it is worth being taken to federal court just to continue someone’s treatment when the Constitution already requires it.”

Both chambers of the New York legislature have passed a bill that would require the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision and Commission of Corrections to create an MOUD program “for state correctional facilities and local jails.”

The bill has not yet been sent to Governor Kathy Hochul’s desk, but is expected to arrive soon. “We’re reviewing the legislation and don’t have further comment at this time,” Hochul’s office told Filter.

Question

| News | Docket | Question | Focus | Calendar |

Q. Does the ADA require that service animals be certified as service animals?

A. No. Covered entities may not require documentation, such as proof that the animal has been certified, trained, or licensed as a service animal, as a condition for entry.

There are individuals and organizations that sell service animal certification or registration documents online. These documents do not convey any rights under the ADA and the Department of Justice does not recognize them as proof that the dog is a service animal.

Resources

Frequently Asked Questions about Service Animals and the ADA

Service Animal Resource Hub

In Focus

| News | Docket | Question | Focus | Calendar |

October National Disability Employment Awareness Month: “America’s Recovery: Powered by Inclusion”

Held each October, the annual commemoration raises awareness about disability employment issues, and celebrates the many and varied contributions of America’s workers with disabilities.

“America’s Recovery: Powered by Inclusion” is a theme that reflects our commitment to an inclusive recovery, one in which those of us with disabilities have full access to economic opportunity and – if needed – the accommodations and supports that allow us to contribute our skills and talents,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Disability Employment Policy Jennifer Sheehy.

The history of National Disability Employment Awareness Month can be traced back to 1945 when Congress declared the first week of October to be “National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week.” “Physically” was dropped in 1962 to include people with all types of disabilities. In 1988, Congress made the commemoration a month-long event.

Resources

2021 Poster | U.S. Department of Labor

Ideas for Employers and Employees

Ideas for Educators and Youth Service Professionals

Ideas for State Governors, Legislators, and Other Policymakers

Ideas for Associations and Unions

Ideas for Disability-Related Organizations

Ideas for Federal Agencies

Trainings and Events

| News | Docket | Question | Focus | Calendar |

Register for session

Register for session

Register for session

Register for session

Register for session

Register for session