[Nfbmo] Fw: another story of interest

[James Moynihan]

fyi

Fellow Federationists

Cordially,

Jim Moynihan
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Neuman, Dale A." <NeumanD at umkc.edu>
To: <jamesmmoynihan at gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2011 7:51 AM
Subject: another story of interest


Federal Case Over Banning a Student's Therapy Dog Illustrates Thicket of 
Disability Rules

By Sara Lipka

For denying a student permission to live in campus housing with her therapy 
dog, the federal government has 
charged<http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=11-071009308.pdf> 
the University of Nebraska at Kearney and five of its administrators with 
violations of the Fair Housing Act.

The student, who is not named in a complaint filed by the U.S. Department of 
Housing and Urban Development late last month, enrolled at the university in 
August 2010 and registered with its disability-services office, disclosing 
two conditions: depression and anxiety. She requested that campus officials 
let her therapy animal, a four-pound miniature pinscher named Butch, live 
with her in the University Heights apartments. (University policy allows 
only fish, service animals, and hall directors' cats or dogs in campus 
housing.)

The student submitted a note from her nurse and signed a release for the 
campus counseling center to obtain her medical records, but, according to 
the complaint, administrators said she did not follow the university's 
psychological-documentation guidelines, which ask for a diagnosis; a 
treatment plan, including prescribed medication; a clinical summary of 
limitations; and a rationale for each requested accommodation.

After administrators denied the student's request, she suffered physical and 
emotional distress, including anxiety attacks, and ultimately withdrew from 
the university in October of 2010, the complaint says.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development determined that the 
university had discriminated against the student by requiring "detailed 
disability information that goes beyond what is needed to review a request 
for reasonable accommodation in housing."

Administrators violated the federal Fair Housing Act by "illegally inquiring 
into the nature and severity" of the student's disability as well as by 
"refusing to make a reasonable accommodation to modify their no-pet policy," 
the department said.

Related Content

 *   These Student Requests Are a Different 
Animal<http://chronicle.com/article/These-Student-Requests-Are-a/23464/>

The university denies the allegations, said Curtis K. Carlson, vice 
chancellor for university relations. "It's a matter we will be challenging."

Service or Therapy Animals?

Colleges' decisions about whether to allow students' animals in dormitories 
have been complicated by recent changes in the legal definition of a service 
animal.

Last year the Department of Justice updated its guidance on what qualifies 
as a service animal under the Americans With Disabilities Act. The new rules 
include only dogs and miniature horses that are trained to perform tasks for 
the benefit of a disabled person; the guidelines specifically exclude 
so-called therapy animals whose mere presence provides emotional support.

Officials at the University of Nebraska at Kearney had considered the 
student's request assuming that they were governed by those rules, not by 
the Housing Department's, the complaint shows. The university's ADA 
compliance officer e-mailed a colleague: "This is not a service animal, but 
rather a pet."

Even so, the Fair Housing Act applies to campus housing at both public and 
private colleges, and it diverges from disability law with respect to 
animals. The Housing Department released a 
memo<http://www.nacua.org/documents/FHA_Memo_ServiceAnimals.PDF> in February 
emphasizing individuals' rights to keep emotional-support animals that allow 
them "equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling," so long as there is a 
relationship "between the individual's disability and the assistance the 
animal provides."

The legal status of students' service and therapy animals is shrouded in 
confusion, said Jane E. Jarrow, president of Disability Access Information 
and Support, an organization that helps colleges meet disability standards.

Under the Fair Housing Act, campus officials may respond to a student's 
request to live with a service or therapy animal by investigating the 
animal's role. But under the ADA, they may ask only two questions: if a 
service animal is required because of a disability, and what tasks it is 
trained to perform.

Colleges must carefully consider requests on a case-by-case basis, 
particularly for therapy animals, Ms. Jarrow said. "The issue becomes, Is 
there credible evidence that having the animal there is going to make a 
substantial difference for this student in terms of being able to function 
effectively?"

The Housing Department also recently pursued 
charges<http://chronicle.com/article/University-That-Objected-to/48696/> 
against Millikin University, in Decatur, Ill., after it allegedly refused to 
let a blind, epileptic student live in a dormitory with a service dog. 
There's no trend in complaints against colleges, a spokeswoman for the 
department said in an e-mail, but students are increasingly aware of their 
rights and "know that they apply to colleges and universities when it comes 
to living on campus."

The Nebraska case will now proceed to an administrative law judge or to 
federal court. If either rules for the student, the university and its 
administrators may have to pay a $16,000 fine for each violation of the 
housing law, as well as damages and legal fees to the student.
Dale A. Neuman
Director, Harry S Truman Center for Governmental Affairs
Special Projects Associate, College of Arts and Sciences
Professor Emeritus of Political Science
816-235-6108 or 816-235-2787
FAX 816-235-5191
Neumand at umkc.edu