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Date Posted: 07:10:17 06/04/07 Mon
Author: Tennessee
Subject: SEEKING JUSTICE FOR SERVICE ANIMAL USERS



SEEKING JUSTICE FOR SERVICE ANIMAL USERS

May 31, 2007 - Nashville , Tennessee Disability Law & Advocacy Center (DLAC) and the Law Office of Dobbins & Venick announced that they have filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of their client, Joelyn Day , against Sumner Regional Health Systems, Inc. d/b/a Sumner Regional Medical Center . The lawsuit was filed as a result of Sumner Regional Medical Center ’s (Sumner Regional) policies and practices that are alleged to discriminate against Ms. Day and other people with disabilities who use service animals in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).



Joelyn Day is blind and also has mobility and seizure disabilities. Ms. Day uses her service animal, a black Labrador retriever, to assist her. On or around July 26, 2006, Ms. Day visited the Emergency Department at Sumner Regional. She had her service animal with her.

Personnel at Sumner Regional refused to allow Ms. Day’s service animal to accompany her to a treatment room. Instead of providing care to Ms. Day in a treatment room, personnel at Sumner Regional gave Ms. Day instructions and prescriptions and discharged her from the lobby.



The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and federal regulations require that hospitals permit people with disabilities who use service animals to be accompanied by those animals. The only exception is for areas that are sterile such as operating rooms and intensive care units. Current policy at Sumner Regional prohibits service animals from the Emergency Department which is not a sterile area.



The ADA also prohibits hospitals from imposing eligibility criteria that screen out people with disabilities. Sumner Regional requires people with disabilities to present a “clean bill of health” for their service animal in order to bring the animal into the hospital. This requirement is in addition to the animal licensure and rabies vaccination already required by the State of Tennessee .



Ms. Day’s lawsuit seeks for the court to order Sumner Regional to repeal these discriminatory portions of its policy and to refrain from discriminating in the future against people with disabilities who use service animals.



Ms. Day is represented by attorneys Martha M. Lafferty and Sherry A. Wilds of Disability Law & Advocacy Center (DLAC) and by attorney Irwin Venick of the Law Office of Dobbins & Venick.



People with disabilities who use service animals and have experienced similar problems can contact DLAC at 1-800-342-1660 (Voice) or 1-888-852-2852 (TTY).

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