ADA FHA General
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Special treatment in the name of equality – understanding the ADA and FHA reasonable accommodation provisions
One of the hardest things for ordinary people to understand about the ADA and FHA is that these statutes, which supposedly forbid discrimination, make it unlawful to treat everyone equally. To avoid “discrimination” under the disability related provisions of these laws businesses must give special treatment to those with disabilities. Continue reading
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Disparate Impact – Will it now apply to disability discrimination under the FHA?
On June 25 the Supreme Court held that FHA discrimination claims can be based on disparate impact. Texas Dep’t of Hous. & Cmty. Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc., 2015 WL 2473449, at *9 (U.S. June 25, 2015). At first blush this doesn’t seem to have much to do with accessibility claims. When we talk about the Continue reading
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Richard joins SMU Faculty
Just a brief note to let my readers know I will be joining the faculty of the SMU Dedman School of Law as an adjunct (i.e., part-time) professor teaching Disability Law beginning the fall of 2015. I would be very interested in your thoughts on the most important things young lawyers need to know about Continue reading
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Animal Crackers and Alphabet Soup — ADA, FHA, ACAA, Arghhhh
There was a flurry of comment recently among the community of disability lawyers when a legal blogger posted a story about a pig allowed on an airplane with disastrous results. The story was interesting, but what caught the attention of those who practice in the field of disability law was his error in the law that Continue reading
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ADA compliance – half right is all wrong
Two realities dominate the world of ADA compliance and defense. First, the ADA is a no-fault statute: good intentions don’t matter and innocence is no defense. Second, even when barrier removal is impossible, a business still has an obligation to try to become accessible. Two recent cases show how the failure to remember this can Continue reading
