Law Commons^™

How To Compromise On Saving The Most Lives: A Commentary On Hellman And Nicholson, “Rationing And Disability”, David Wasserman

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

Deborah Hellman and Kate Nicholson’s “Rationing Disability” is a skillfully integrated analysis of the legal and ethical challenges of avoiding disability discrimination in setting priorities for the allocation of scarce lifesaving resources. Their analysis goes beyond the important but narrow question of what it means to wrongfully discriminate against people with disabilities in this context to the broader question of how to find a principled compromise between the consequentialist goals of public health and the potentially conflicting public value of “equal concern and respect” for each person. I will focus on this broader issue.

I agree with much …

Bargaining For Integration, Shirley Lin

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires employers to restructure exclusionary environments upon the request of their employees with disabilities so that they may continue working. Under a virtually unexamined aspect of the mandate, however, the parties must negotiate in good faith over every accommodation request. This “interactive process,” while decentralized and potentially universal, occurs on a private, individualized basis.

Although the very existence of the mandate has been heavily debated, the scholarship has yet to acknowledge that the ADA is actually ambivalent to individuals’ relative power to effect organizational change through bargaining. This Article is the first to critique …

Rationing And Disability: The Civil Rights And Wrongs Of State Triage Protocols, Deborah Hellman, Kate M. Nicholson

Washington and Lee Law Review

The COVID-19 pandemic and the unprecedented natural disasters of 2020 remind us of the importance of emergency preparedness. This Article contributes to our legal and ethical readiness by examining state “Crisis Standards of Care,” which are the standards that determine how medical resources are allocated in times of scarcity. The Article identifies a flaw in the policy choice at the heart of the standards: the standards focus on saving as many lives as possible but, in so doing, will predictably disadvantage the ability of people with disabilities and racial minorities to access life-saving care.

To date, scholarly attention has focused …

One-Shotters Or Have-Nots Should Come Out Ahead In The District Of Columbia’S Private Sector Workers’ Compensation System, But Do They?, Melissa Lin Jones

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

In recognition of the humanitarian purpose of the District of Columbia Workers’ Compensation Act of 1979, D.C. Code as amended, §32-1501 et seq. and the legislative policy favoring awards even in arguable cases, a claimant is entitled to a presumption of compensability (“Presumption”) when applying for workers’ compensation benefits. By establishing a causal connection between the injured worker’s disability and a work-related event, the Presumption enables a claimant to establish entitlement to benefits more easily; however, an analysis of decisions issued by the Compensation Review Board from 2005 – 2019 reveals the Presumption frequently is misapplied. Moreover, contrary to Marc …

Why Proving A Work-Related, Psychological Injury Claim Stresses You Out, Melissa Lin Jones

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

In recognition of the humanitarian purpose of the District of Columbia Workers’ Compensation Act of 1979, D.C. Code as amended, §32-1501 et seq. and the legislative policy favoring awards even in arguable cases, a claimant is entitled to a presumption of compensability (“Presumption”) when applying for workers’ compensation benefits. By establishing a causal connection between the injured worker’s disability and a work-related event, the Presumption enables a claimant to establish entitlement to benefits more easily; however, misapplication of the Presumption makes it more difficult for claimants to prove work-related psychological injuries because they must satisfy additional requirements (including a credibility …

Disabled Perspectives On Legal Education: Reckoning And Reform, Lilith A. Siegel, Karen Tani

All Faculty Scholarship

This is an Introduction to a Journal of Legal Education symposium on "Disabled Law Students and the Future of Legal Education." The symposium's focal point is a set of first-person essays by disabled lawyers. Writing thirty years after the inclusive promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act, but also amidst powerful evidence (via the pandemic) of the devaluation of people with disabilities, contributors reflect on their experiences in law school and the legal profession. The symposium pairs these essays with commentary from some of the nation’s leading scholars of disability law. The overarching goals of the symposium are to help …

The Deliberate Indifference Standard: A Broken Promise To Protect And Serve The Mentally Ill, Katherine R. Carroll

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.