Introduction
Although the use of assistance animals is not a new phenomenon, use has increased since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law in 1990.[1](link is external) The ADA statute does not specifically address the rights of individuals with disabilities to bring their animals to programs or services covered by the ADA. However, several years after the ADA was adopted, regulations addressing assistance animals were issued by both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Transportation (DOT), including the definition of a service animal and the rights of individuals with disabilities.
This ADAKT Legal Brief provides an overview of the service animal guidelines under the ADA and then discusses issues that have been a focus in the federal courts. The first concerns an employer's duty to accommodate the request for an assistance animal in the workplace under Title I of the ADA. The second involves the rights of students with disabilities who also receive special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to bring service animals to public schools, generally considered a right under Title II of the ADA. Finally, the litigation regarding the rights of individuals with service animals seeking to use Uber, Lyft, or other private transportation network company (TNC), an issue under Title III of the ADA, is reviewed.
It should be noted that the legal definition of a service animal under the federal ADA regulations may be different from the definition of an assistance animal or a service animal under a state law or other federal law. For more information on other federal laws that address the rights of individuals with disabilities and their assistance animals that often must be considered in tandem with the ADA obligations, a publication is available on the ADAKT website at https://adata.org/publication/assistance-animals-FHA-Section-504-ACAA. A practice matrix that summarizes how the ADA and other federal laws address assistance animals is also available at https://adata.org/publication/assis...lities-under-federal-laws-matrix-and-practice.
