Washington Lawyer - March/April 2021 - 28

FEATURE

" If anything, my disability makes me better at my job, " Ditkowsky says.
" My disability helps me because I work with disabled clients. . . . My disability helps me have a unique perspective to lead this project. Given
that, I have a lot of respect from my employers. They really appreciate
what I have to say. "

ADVOCATING FOR ACCOMMODATIONS
When it comes to people with disabilities in the workplace, access to
reasonable accommodations is paramount. For instance, Stearns's condition limits his ability to travel. For Ditkowsky, in addition to needing
access to certain entry points in courthouses and at her workplace, she
uses dictation technology in writing legal documents.
The ADA, passed in 1990, mandates that a " covered entity " shall not discriminate against " a qualified individual with a disability. " It also states
that covered entities are required to provide reasonable accommodations to job applicants and employees with disabilities. Examples of reasonable accommodations include alternative communication formats,
service animals, accessible parking, equipment, work environment
changes, job reorganization, and reassignments.
" There are always two questions that come up in my mind: What is a
reasonable accommodation that meets my needs, and should I disclose
the need for the accommodations? " Stearns says. " That's a very individual
consideration. My answer to that [second question] is yes because if you
hide [the need for accommodations] and something goes wrong, you've
got problems. "

Courtesy of Marissa Ditkowsky

28 WASHINGTON LAWYER

But even with the ADA on
one's side, advocating for
accommodations is challenging for some. Morgan
suffered so much trauma
from being discriminated
against and sometimes
bullied that it's difficult for
him to address his accommodation needs. " Every
time I needed reasonable
accommodations I was
flat on my back, " he says.
" I avoid mentioning my
disability because people
in general just really
don't care, even people
who are quote-unquote
empathetic. "

MARISSA DITKOWSKY
Tzedek DC

MARCH/APRIL 2021

A PROBLEM THAT
PRECEDES THE
WORKPLACE
Ditkowsky argues that
discrimination against
people with disabilities
in the legal profession
doesn't originate in the
workplace. Rather, the
problem goes back to
colleges and law
schools.

Wyckoff-Tweedie Photography

Marissa Ditkowsky, a Gallogly Family Foundation Fellow at Tzedek DC,
agrees. She has muscular dystrophy, which causes physical pain and
fatigue, so much so that she can't walk up and down stairs; she also has
hearing loss. Nevertheless, she says her disability does not prevent her
from doing her job.

More than 60 percent of
students with disabilities
drop out of college,
according to a 2011
report by the Institute
BETH KARP
of Education Sciences.
National Disabled Law Students Association
" And it's not because
disabled people are not
capable of handling academic curriculums. It's because there was failure
to provide equal access, which is common across all educational institutions, " says Beth Karp, director of accommodations for the National
Disabled Law Students Association (NDLSA). " People don't see us as
valuable in terms of diversity. They don't view us as competent. So, they
don't put structures in place that properly provide access. "
Karp says that colleges and universities across the United States have
varying degrees of accommodations for students with disabilities, in part
because there is no unitary standard for those accommodations. " Some
schools have a centralized disability service office; others have someone
who's specific to the law school working on disability accommodations.
There are all kinds of formats for it, " she says.
While attending the University of Chicago Law School, Karp sought
accommodation to have course materials sent to her before class
because of vision impairment. " My school thought that it was acceptable
for the professors to give me their slides after class, " she recalls. " But
I couldn't see them during class. They said that if the professor gives
them to you within 24 hours, then you've been accommodated. So,
everyone in the class could see the slides except me. And the school
somehow thinks that's sufficient access. "
Tara Roslin, director of research for the NDLSA and a recent graduate
of Boston University School of Law, says the ADA stipulates that private
and public colleges and universities are mandated to engage in an
" interactive process, " which involves students with disabilities advocating
specifically for their accommodation needs. However, there's no governmental standard about what college administrators can ask regarding
the disability and how long the inquiries would take. " One of the things
that is particularly hard to deal with are these overbroad medical record
requests. We get really stymied by universities, " Roslin says. " Certain
law schools ask for way too much medical documentation. "
" The ADA has technical guidance and regulations stating that, actually,
medical documentation is not necessary to dispense an accommodation. But because there is this profound mistrust of people with

Washington Lawyer - March/April 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Washington Lawyer - March/April 2021