Under
the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), businesses and
organizations that serve the public must allow people with
disabilities to bring their service animals into all areas of the
facility where customers are normally allowed to go. This federal law
applies to all businesses open to the public.
Service
animals are animals that are individually trained to perform tasks
for people with disabilities. Service animals are working
animals, not pets.
Businesses
may ask if an animal is a service animal or ask what tasks the animal
has been trained to perform, but cannot ask about the person’s
disability.
People
with disabilities who use service animals cannot be charged extra
fees, isolated from other patrons, or treated less favorably than
other patrons.
A
person with a disability cannot be asked to remove his service animal
from the premises unless: (1) the animal is out of control and the
animal’s owner does not take effective action to control it (for
example, a dog that barks repeatedly during a movie) or (2) the
animal poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others.
In these cases, the business should give the person with the
disability the option to obtain goods and services without having the
animal on the premises.
Businesses
that sell or prepare food must allow service animals in public areas
even if state or local health codes prohibit animals on the premises.
• Allergies
and fear of animals are generally not valid reasons for denying
access or refusing service to people with service animals.
• Violators
of the ADA can be required to pay money damages and penalties.
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Back of Badge:
Under
the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), businesses and
organizations that serve the public must allow people with
disabilities to bring their service animals into all areas of the
facility where customers are normally allowed to go. This federal law
applies to all businesses open to the public.
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When it is not obvious what service an animal provides, only limited
inquiries are allowed. Staff may ask two questions: (1) is the dog a
service animal required because of a disability, and (2) what work or
task has the dog been trained to perform. Staff cannot ask about the
person’s disability, require medical documentation, require a
special identification card or training documentation for the dog, or
ask that the dog demonstrate its ability to perform the work or task.
People
with disabilities who use service animals cannot be isolated from
other patrons, treated less favorably than other patrons, or charged
fees that are not charged to other patrons without animals. In
addition, if a business requires a deposit or fee to be paid by
patrons with pets, it must waive the charge for service animals.
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Establishments
that sell or prepare food must allow service animals in public areas
even if state or local health codes prohibit animals on the premises.
3.
Who qualifies as a person with a disability under the Act?
The
Act defines a person with a disability to include (1) individuals
with a physical or
mental
impairment that substantially limits one or more major life
activities; (2) individuals who
are
regarded as having such an impairment; and (3) individuals with a
record of such an
impairment.
The
term "physical or mental impairment" includes, but is not
limited to, such diseases
and
conditions as orthopedic, visual, speech and hearing impairments,
cerebral palsy, autism,
epilepsy,
muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, cancer, heart disease,
diabetes, Human
Immunodeficiency
Virus infection, mental retardation, emotional illness, drug
addiction (other
than
addiction caused by current, illegal use of a controlled substance)
and alcoholism.
The
term "substantially limits" suggests that the limitation is
"significant" or "to a large
degree."
The
term “major life activity” means those activities that are of
central importance to
daily
life, such as seeing, hearing, walking, breathing, performing manual
tasks, caring for one’s
self,
learning, and speaking.8 This
list of major life activities is not exhaustive. See
e.g., Bragdon
v.
Abbott, 524 U.S. 624, 691-92 (1998)(holding that for certain
individuals reproduction is a
major
life activity).
6.
What is a "reasonable accommodation" for purposes of the
Act?
A
“reasonable accommodation” is a change, exception, or adjustment
to a rule, policy,
practice,
or service that may be necessary for a person with a disability to
have an equal
opportunity
to use and enjoy a dwelling, including public and common use spaces.
Since rules,
policies,
practices, and services may have a different effect on persons with
disabilities than on
other
persons, treating persons with disabilities exactly the same as
others will sometimes deny
them
an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling. The Act makes it
unlawful to refuse to
make
reasonable accommodations to rules, policies, practices, or services
when such
accommodations
may be necessary to afford persons with disabilities an equal
opportunity to use
and
enjoy a dwelling.
11.
May a housing provider charge an extra fee or require an additional
deposit
from
applicants or residents with disabilities as a condition of granting
a reasonable
accommodation?
No.
Housing providers may not require persons with disabilities to pay
extra fees or
deposits
as a condition of receiving a reasonable accommodation.
Persons
who meet the definition of disability for purposes of receiving
Supplemental
Security
Income ("SSI") or Social Security Disability Insurance
("SSDI") benefits in most cases
meet
the definition of disability under the Fair Housing Act, although the
converse may not be
true.
See
e.g.,
Cleveland v. Policy Management Systems Corp., 526 U.S. 795, 797
(1999)
