@Kachina624 wrote:
@Yardlie If you read the link I posted, you'll see the ADA doesn't not recognize emotional support animals. Every animal has the capacity to be one. They are not trained and are just there to pet, talk to or whatever. There's no certification for them. The airlines are not obligated to allow them on planes, and from your experience, it sounds like they're cracking down. As is often the case, people have taken advantage of the uncertainty of the provisions of the ADA to get their pets on flights.
@Kachina ... When I talked to the United agent the day my friend was to travel, they told me that they had to crack down and verify the psychiatrist's license number, as so many people were writing their own letters on fake letterhead and trying to get their animals to fly free. They said that they have been enforcing this for the past 5 years.
Here is a snippet on how the court has ruled regarding the ADA. This is on the ADA site: https://www.ada.gov/regs2010/titleII_2010/titleII_2010_regulations.htm#a35136.
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This revised title II regulation integrates the Department's new regulatory provisions with the text of the existing title II regulation that was unchanged by the 2010 revisions.
Part 35 Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in State and Local Government Services
(as amended by the final rule published on September 15, 2010)
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 28 U.S.C. 509, 510; 42 U.S.C. 12134.
Subpart A—General
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Relationship to Other Laws
The Department of Justice regulation implementing title II, 28 CFR 35.103, provides the following:
(a) Rule of interpretation. Except as otherwise provided in this part, this part shall not be construed to apply a lesser standard than the standards applied under title V of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 791) or the regulations issued by Federal agencies pursuant to that title.
(b) Other laws. This part does not invalidate or limit the remedies, rights, and procedures of any other Federal, State, or local laws (including State common law) that provide greater or equal protection for the rights of individuals with disabilities or individuals associated with them.
These provisions remain unchanged by the final rule. The Department recognizes that public entities subject to title II of the ADA may also be subject to title I of the ADA, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment; section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and other Federal statutes that prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability in the programs and activities of recipients of Federal financial assistance; and other Federal statutes such as the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA), 49 U.S.C. 41705 et seq., and the Fair Housing Act (FHAct), 42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq. Compliance with the Department's title II and title III regulations does not necessarily ensure compliance with other Federal statutes.
Public entities that are subject to the ADA as well as other Federal disability discrimination laws must be aware of the requirements of all applicable laws and must comply with these laws and their implementing regulations. Although in many cases similar provisions of different statutes are interpreted to impose similar requirements, there are circumstances in which similar provisions are applied differently because of the nature of the covered entity or activity or because of distinctions between the statutes. For example, emotional support animals that do not qualify as service animals under the Department's title II regulation may nevertheless qualify as permitted reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities under the FHAct and the ACAA. See, e.g., Overlook Mutual Homes, Inc. v. Spencer, 666 F. Supp. 2d 850 (S.D. Ohio 2009). Public entities that operate housing facilities must ensure that they apply the reasonable accommodation requirements of the FHAct in determining whether to allow a particular animal needed by a person with a disability into housing and may not use the ADA definition as a justification for reducing their FHAct obligations. In addition, nothing in the ADA prevents a covered entity subject to one statute from modifying its policies and providing greater access in order to assist individuals with disabilities in achieving access to entities subject to other Federal statutes.
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Disability means, with respect to an individual, a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual; a record of such an impairment; or being regarded as having such an impairment.
- (1)
- (i) The phrase physical or mental impairment means—
- (A) Any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more of the following body systems: neurological, musculoskeletal, special sense organs, respiratory (including speech organs), cardiovascular, reproductive, digestive, genitourinary, hemic and lymphatic, skin, and endocrine;
- (B) Any mental or psychological disorder such as mental retardation, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, and specific learning disabilities.
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The Department's position is based on the fact that the title II and title III regulations govern a wider range of public settings than the housing and transportation settings for which the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and DOT regulations allow emotional support animals or comfort animals. The Department recognizes that there are situations not governed by the title II and title III regulations, particularly in the context of residential settings and transportation, where there may be a legal obligation to permit the use of animals that do not qualify as service animals under the ADA, but whose presence nonetheless provides necessary emotional support to persons with disabilities.
A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal. ~~ Steve Maraboli
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