06-18-2025
Alisha Strife asked a Texas school district if she could bring her service dog to work. An Army veteran, she needed the dog to manage her PTSD and traumatic brain injury symptoms. Her symptoms included issues with balance, standing, and gait. She provided supporting documentation from her doctors and an independent assessment from the VA. The school district found these documents inadequate and delayed acting on her request for six months, insisting on an independent medical examination. Strife continued to work. The district did not approve her accommodation request until she filed a lawsuit. The trial court dismissed Strife’s case because she worked without interruption and thus did not suffer any concrete harm.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals revived her accommodation claim. The Court found that the delay was unreasonable and may have reflected a lack of good faith in the ADA’s mandated interactive process. That lack of good faith could violate the statutory requirements to provide reasonable accommodation. Employees should not be forced to “work under suboptimal conditions” while employers stall without a reasonable basis. Strife’s request was straightforward: she wanted to bring her service dog to work and did not ask for any other modifications from the employer.
The Fifth Circuit decision aligns with similar holdings in the 4th, 7th, and 10th Circuits, where a failure to accommodate gives rise to claims, even if the employee did not suffer job loss, reduced pay, or other adverse actions. The 1st, 2nd, 8th, 9th, 11th, and D.C. Circuits require tangible harm to bring a failure to accommodate claim. The EEOC submitted an amicus brief supporting Strife, arguing that an unexplained delay, particularly where the employer adds additional barriers like unnecessary medical exams, may violate the ADA.