From ABA Journal: (click for full article)
Diane Orenstein has been approved for Social Security disability benefits, and her doctor, psychologist and social worker say the 55-year-old brain-damaged woman would benefit from having a trained companion dog as a service animal.
But the board in charge of the Minneapolis condominium association in which she has been a longtime resident nonetheless questions whether she is disabled and says a companion cat, which is allowed for all residents under Calhoun-Isles Condominium Association rules, would fill the same service animal paws as the 15-pound King Cavalier King Charles spaniel she wants to get, the Star Tribune reports.
After more than a year of negotiation, Orenstein has filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court in Minneapolis seeking a declaratory judgment that the association and its property manager are violating the federal Fair Housing Act and the Minnesota Human Rights Act by refusing to accommodate her disability.
Diane Orenstein has been approved for Social Security disability benefits, and her doctor, psychologist and social worker say the 55-year-old brain-damaged woman would benefit from having a trained companion dog as a service animal.
But the board in charge of the Minneapolis condominium association in which she has been a longtime resident nonetheless questions whether she is disabled and says a companion cat, which is allowed for all residents under Calhoun-Isles Condominium Association rules, would fill the same service animal paws as the 15-pound King Cavalier King Charles spaniel she wants to get, the Star Tribune reports.
After more than a year of negotiation, Orenstein has filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court in Minneapolis seeking a declaratory judgment that the association and its property manager are violating the federal Fair Housing Act and the Minnesota Human Rights Act by refusing to accommodate her disability.
Comments