Filing a Claim for Service Animal Discrimination
What to Do if You and Your Service Dog Have Been Denied Access
Aug 27, 2009
Did you know that there is help available to you if you are disabled and experience discrimination because you own a service dog? Even if you don't have the money to hire a lawyer, there are people and organizations available to help you. So take heart and read on.
What are Some Examples of Service Animal Discrimination?
- Receiving an eviction notice for keeping a service dog or emotional support animal
- Being refused entry to a restaurant while accompanied by your service dog
- Not being allowed on public transportation with your service animal
- Losing your job because you need to bring your service dog to work
- Being told you cannot attend a support group because the leader doesn't want a dog present or because somebody might have allergies
Fighting Back
Is this kind of discrimination worth fighting? It depends on each individual situation--and your own decision. Challenging and resolving these problems is neither simple nor easy, however, winning is more than possible. Here are some examples:
- On January 16, 2009, Walmart agreed to enact a more lawful policy regarding their approach to service animal access after being investigated by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in response to numerous complaints by disabled customers with service animals. Walmart will also be paying compensation, plus an additional $100,000 towards a public service campaign to educate people about the rights of those who use service animals.
- In 2004, some of the service animal cases that were adjudicated and resolved through the DOJ's ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Mediation Program included finding in favor of a woman with seizures whose service animal had been refused access to a medical center, and a blind man who had been refused a room at a motel because he had a guide dog. Numerous other cases regarding refusal of service dog access to hospitals, hotels, and motels were reversed for complainants by the program.
- Also in 2004, poor treatment and refusal of access to people with service animals by restaurant staff were mediated by the same ADA program. In one case, a woman with a guide dog received a donation to a guide dog program made in her honor as well as a public apology by the restaurant in a local newspaper. Cases involving denial of access for people with service animals were mediated on the federal level from New York, Texas, Ohio, California, Iowa, North Carolina, Tennessee, and more. Monetary awards ranged from $50 and up to material compensations (such as in the case above).
Ask for Help
To apply for redress against service animal discrimination you will have to do much of the work yourself, especially in the beginning. Call friends, your local librarian, information, local politician's offices to get both help and resource information. You don't need technology, although it does speed things up; a friend and/or a phone is truly enough to get started. Check out the list of resources below, too.
- Your local mayor's office, where you can get information on state and local service animal laws (while these are in effect, the federal laws of the ADA are always the ultimate authority)
- The local public advocate's office
- Legal Aid Society
- The U.S. Department of Justice (ADA homepage)
- Your state's Division of Civil Rights
- The local public library
- Your local state bar association's referral service, which can give you either a free or nominal 30-minute consultation with an attorney specializing in disability rights
- The International Association of Assistance Dog Partners (IAADP)
Above all, if you make an effort persevere and don't be discouraged. You might educate a lot of people around you along the way, and if you don't win in one circumstance, you will have become an expert on service animal law and handle the next situation that comes your way much more easily. So keep at it!
Helpful Links:
Meeting the Public with Your Service Animal
Resources:
U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. Disability Rights online News. Issues April30, 2009, April 2005, and June 2004. (accessed August 27,2009)
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