Cases & Developments

Opinion affirming Summary Judgment in favor of the Defendant. Plaintiff, a nursing student at the University of Michigan-Flint and clinical intern during Fall 2020 at the Hurley Medical Center who had a history of panic attacks, brought disability discrimination claims against the Center because it withdrew permission for her to have her service dog accompany her on clinical rotations on patient floors after patients and staff had allergic reactions caused by his presence. In affirming summary judgment in favor of the Center, the Sixth Circuit held that plaintiff’s intentional discrimination claim failed because she did not show that the hospital’s decision was motivated by anything other than the allergic reactions, which posed a direct threat to the health and safety of patients. Turning to her failure to accommodate claim, the court found that (1) accommodations necessary to permit the dog’s presence on patient floors, such as screening all patients for allergies, moving patients to other non-specialized floors, and reassigning staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, were not reasonable and (2) the Center repeatedly consulted with medical experts on the feasibility of each of plaintiff’s suggested accommodations and reasonably offered to permit the dog to be present in a crate on a separate floor, and was willing to consider permitting the dog to accompany plaintiff wearing a Shed Defender but plaintiff failed to follow up on procuring the garment for Pistol.