American Disability Act helps food allergic
individuals especially students.
The new law has helped a great number of food
allergic students and their families. It has
become easier in many USA schools for children
with severe peanut allergy to find foods they
can eat in the cafeterias.
The new law also has helped many college
students. If a student decides to live in the
college dorms they are no longer required to pay
for the meal plans unless they can
accommodate the individual's
allergy, such as serving peanut free, egg free, or
gluten-free food choices.
How severe does the food or edible
ingredient allergy have to be before the
person is considered to have a disability that
qualifies under the Americans with Disabilities
Act?
Has to be severe which means that you could
have major organ failure or exposure to the food
allergens could put your life at risk. A mild food
allergy such as "lactose intolerance" is not
considered a disability under the law.
Disability applies to those severely allergic to
gluten, peanuts, shell fish, corn, wheat, and
other food allergens.
Does the decision leave meal-plan type and
public eateries more exposed to customer
legal challenges?
The concern is that now schools, restaurants
and other places that serve food are more
exposed to legal challenges and already many
are putting signs and clearly stating that they
don't have the capabilities for special
accommodations.
Private schools are not obligated to accept
individuals with disabilities.
The most vulnerable to law suits will be public
schools, colleges, and universities places
serving food on campus.
Background:
The law suit started when at least one student
had complained to the federal government after
the school would not exempt that student from
a meal plan even though the student couldn't
eat the food. The issue of the original complaint
was that the university in question didn't allow
the student to eat off campus, and the student
had to follow the school's meal plan, even
though the student was allergic to the food
served to the other students.
The settlement was won by the student. The
point of the new law is that students at any
college need to be allowed to bring their own
food to campus to eat in a place they're allowed
to sit in comfort where it's warm and clean and
shouldn't be compelled to pay for only the food
the school provides.In the student's case, the
student had to pay for the meal plan for food
served on campus whether the student ate the
food or not. The settlement resulted in the
student not having to pay for the food the
student couldn't eat for health reasons.
For more information visit Americans with
Disabilities Act - United States Department of
Labor.
individuals especially students.
The new law has helped a great number of food
allergic students and their families. It has
become easier in many USA schools for children
with severe peanut allergy to find foods they
can eat in the cafeterias.
The new law also has helped many college
students. If a student decides to live in the
college dorms they are no longer required to pay
for the meal plans unless they can
accommodate the individual's
allergy, such as serving peanut free, egg free, or
gluten-free food choices.
How severe does the food or edible
ingredient allergy have to be before the
person is considered to have a disability that
qualifies under the Americans with Disabilities
Act?
Has to be severe which means that you could
have major organ failure or exposure to the food
allergens could put your life at risk. A mild food
allergy such as "lactose intolerance" is not
considered a disability under the law.
Disability applies to those severely allergic to
gluten, peanuts, shell fish, corn, wheat, and
other food allergens.
Does the decision leave meal-plan type and
public eateries more exposed to customer
legal challenges?
The concern is that now schools, restaurants
and other places that serve food are more
exposed to legal challenges and already many
are putting signs and clearly stating that they
don't have the capabilities for special
accommodations.
Private schools are not obligated to accept
individuals with disabilities.
The most vulnerable to law suits will be public
schools, colleges, and universities places
serving food on campus.
Background:
The law suit started when at least one student
had complained to the federal government after
the school would not exempt that student from
a meal plan even though the student couldn't
eat the food. The issue of the original complaint
was that the university in question didn't allow
the student to eat off campus, and the student
had to follow the school's meal plan, even
though the student was allergic to the food
served to the other students.
The settlement was won by the student. The
point of the new law is that students at any
college need to be allowed to bring their own
food to campus to eat in a place they're allowed
to sit in comfort where it's warm and clean and
shouldn't be compelled to pay for only the food
the school provides.In the student's case, the
student had to pay for the meal plan for food
served on campus whether the student ate the
food or not. The settlement resulted in the
student not having to pay for the food the
student couldn't eat for health reasons.
For more information visit Americans with
Disabilities Act - United States Department of
Labor.
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