For community associations, few issues require more careful balancing of the individual rights of owners and the collective community interests than accommodation requests for emotional support animals (“ESA”). Under the...more
A Maryland employer recently found itself in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) doghouse when it allegedly summarily rejected an employee’s accommodation request to have his service animal come to work with...more
In general, as long as such restrictions are drafted clearly, the North Carolina Courts will uphold their enforcement; however, there are several factors community associations should consider when establishing and enforcing...more
New York City employees may soon be entitled to take sick leave to care for their pets if a newly introduced bill is passed by the city council....more
Many employees consider their pets to be family members and rely on them for emotional support and mental health wellbeing. Two New York City legislators recently took this a step further, introducing a measure that would...more
Dogs seem to be everywhere you go these days: whether it’s an outdoor restaurant, the hardware store, or your local brewery. While many may wish it were true, employers are not obligated to allow employees to bring an...more
Co-op and condo boards have a legal obligation to provide reasonable accommodations to residents with disabilities. Residents often request permission to live with their so-called emotional support or therapy animals (“ESAs”)...more
This newsletter explores the emerging legal topics and issues affecting the condominium and cooperative services industry. Thought-leading attorneys from Moritt Hock & Hamroff’s Condominium and Cooperative Services Practice...more
Requests by a resident to have an emotional support animal that would violate a housing unit’s occupancy agreement must be analyzed under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, the New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled. As...more
Tennessee restaurant owners have likely experienced patrons bringing emotional support animals (ESAs) into their restaurants. Those owners have also likely wondered what restrictions exist under current law on allowing ESAs...more
A right to an emotional support animal has been a heavily discussed topic for years, especially for certain extreme requests involving the use of an exotic animal for emotional support purposes, or when there is a claim that...more
Emotional support animals (ESAs) are pets prescribed by a licensed mental health professional for those with disabling mental illness. While emotional support animals are commonly cats and dogs, any animal can serve in this...more
Occasionally we see a story in the news that we can’t resist blogging about, and this one is no exception: Last week, an emotional support alligator named “Wally” was denied access to Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia to...more
If you’re on a co-op board of a building that doesn’t allow pets, what questions can board members ask tenants regarding pet requests, and what “reasonable accommodations” are you required to make?...more
In the employment context, employers are required to consider whether an employee’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) request to bring a service animal or an emotional support animal (ESA) to work qualifies as a...more
The Federal Fair Housing Act (FHA), as well as the substantially similar Florida Fair Housing Act (FFHA), prohibits discrimination in housing based on a person’s disability. As “housing providers,” homeowners associations and...more
This is the second blog post in our new series on Assistance Animals, Service Animals, and Emotional Support Animals. See the first post here. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for blog posts addressing unique questions and...more
Can you have a no pets at work policy? What if an employee has a service dog? What if it is an emotional support dog? As with all things legal (and ADA), it depends, and you should give some thought and engage in an...more
As private employers push for remote workers to return to the office, they have faced an increasingly common dilemma—are emotional support animals permitted in the workplace as a reasonable accommodation for a disability?...more
In the last few years, employers, education institutions, and places of public accommodation (e.g., airports, grocery stores, and hotels) have seen an increase in individuals who want to bring their Assistance Animal, Service...more
In your most recent Netflix search, you may have paused to preview “Gunther’s Millions,” a mini-series about the $500 million dog. The series tells the story of Gunther, a German Shepard regarded as the world’s richest dog...more
Fall has arrived and the academic year has kicked off for a majority of institutions of higher education (IHEs). In addition to the normal considerations for onboarding new students and faculty, IHEs will likely...more
Imagine you are in charge of a facility that is open to the public—perhaps a church, a restaurant, a hardware store, or an apartment building. A woman enters with a dog on a leash. She says the dog is a service dog or...more
We have all seen it. The unruly lap dog brought into a restaurant, yipping away, or the big dog running through a store dragging along its owner who, of course, claims it is a “service animal,” even though it clearly is not....more
What is the difference between a service animal and an emotional support animal? A service animal is a dog which has been trained to perform a specific task or to do work directly related to a person’s disability. Service...more