Resources
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Type 1 Diabetes is a qualified disability. The following information and resources are free for you to download and use to help and guide you through common discrimination issues that people with T1D often face. If the following does not help you to resolve an issue, we also have a vast network of local attorneys around the United States that we can connect you to so that you may obtain legal representation if necessary. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or need any assistance.
Forms
The following templates are free to download and fill-in or modify so that they may be tailored to your specific needs. The school forms are exhaustive and are able to be tailored to assist children of any age and in any grade.
504 Plan
Diabetes Medical Management Plan
Employer Accommodation Request Form
Schools
Students with Type 1 Diabetes are entitled to a wide array of protections while at school, including reasonable accommodations so that the student may properly manage their T1D while receiving all aspects of the educational experience. Some common accommodations that students with T1D are entitled to are, inter alia (i) being permitted to use the bathroom and water fountains at all times without limitation; (ii) being permitted to have food and drink with them at all times without limitation; (iii) having access to all supplies, including their cell phone during the school day, including during testing within reason; (iv) being permitted to use the nurses office whenever necessary and without limitation to manage their diabetes; (v) being permitted to remain in the classroom, if they wish, to perform all diabetes management tasks; and (vi) being provided with stoppage time on exams so that blood sugar may be corrected without an exhaustion of allowable time. Please note that this is not an exhaustive list. Please also note that with regard to stoppage time on exams vs extra time on exams that stoppage time will provide the student with the best test-taking environment as the clock can be stopped whenever the student needs to manage their T1D, whereas extra time will eventually run out.
Students with Type 1 Diabetes are entitled to reasonable accommodations during all school sponsored activities, includes during the regular school day, during all school trips and during all school extracurricular activities such as sports, arts and music.
If your child is being discriminated against at school, including not receiving reasonable accommodations, you are protected by both Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The link below to the United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is a good place to start to file a complaint, which may be filed by anyone who believes that an education institution that receives financial assistance from the federal government has discriminated against someone on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability or age. This typically includes all public schools and most public and private colleges, as well as some other entities, such as vocational rehabilitation agencies and libraries (for private schools that do not accept financial assistance from the federal government see “OTHER” below about filing an ADA complaint with the United States Department of Justice). For claims of disability discrimination (including disability-related retaliation), covered entities also include all state and local government entities, even if they do not receive Federal funds. The person or organization filing the complaint need not be a victim of the alleged discrimination, but may complain on behalf of another person or group as well.
Discrimination complaints, by law, must ordinarily be filed with the Office for Civil Rights within 180 days of the last act of discrimination. If your discrimination complaint involves matters that occurred outside this 180 day period, you will be required to obtain a waiver by showing good cause why you did not file your complaint within the 180 day period.
It is completely free to file a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights, and all complaints will be investigated by the United States Department of Education. If they determine that discrimination did occur or is occurring, they will then help to resolve the issue through various means including mediation.
Please note that as it stands, you must exhaust multiple levels of administrative remedies prior to being permitted to file a complaint in court under the Americans with Disabilities Act or the Rehabilitation Act. While having Type 1 Diabetes on its own doesn’t qualify a student for protections under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA), courts have consistently held that students with Type 1 Diabetes must exhaust all of the administrative remedies under IDEA prior to being permitted to filing a case under the ADA or the Rehabilitation Act. These multiple levels of administrative remedies include (1) a hearing at the district level; and (2) a hearing at the state level. Once those two hearings are complete, assuming that the issues have not been resolved, you are permitted to proceed with filing a complaint in court under the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act. If you do not exhaust these administrative remedies you will be barred from filing in court except in extremely limited circumstances.
The following links are to (1) the website for the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights; (2) a PDF with directions on how to file a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights; and (3) a link to where you may file a discrimination complaint.
Employment
Employees with Type 1 Diabetes are entitled to a wide array of protections while at work as well, including reasonable accommodations so that the employee may safely and properly manage their T1D while at work. Every job and company is different so reasonable accommodations are relative to the particular employees circumstances, however, some common accommodations that employees with T1D are entitled to are, inter alia (i) being given breaks to eat, drink and use the bathroom or water fountain whenever necessary; (ii) being permitted to have food and drink with them at all times without limitation; (iii) having access to all diabetes supplies, including their cell phone during work; (iv) being permitted to take breaks whenever necessary in order to test blood sugar and otherwise manage their diabetes; (v) within reason, being given the necessary time off work to see doctors; and (vi) within reason, not being penalized for being late to work or calling in sick as a result of diabetes related issues.
If you are being discriminated against at work, including not receiving reasonable accommodations, a charge of employment discrimination MUST be filed with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) prior to being able to go to court. If you do not file a charge of employment discrimination with the EEOC you will be barred from bringing any case in court. These charges are also time sensitive and must typically be filed within 180 calendar days, although some states extend this 180 calendar day filing deadline to 300 calendar days if a state or local agency enforces a law that prohibits employment discrimination on the same basis. Please note that federal employees have a different complaint process, and generally must contact an agency counselor within 45 days.
If more than one discriminatory event took place, this deadline usually applies to each event. For example, let's say you were demoted and then fired a year later, both because of your Type 1 Diabetes. If you only file a charge the day after your discharge, your claim of discriminatory discharge is timely, however, the discriminatory demotion is not and the EEOC would only investigate your discriminatory discharge. There is one exception to this general rule and that is if you are alleging ongoing discrimination. Please be aware that the time limits for filing a charge with EEOC usually will not be extended while you attempt to resolve a dispute through another forum such as an internal grievance procedure, a union grievance, arbitration or mediation, before filing a charge with EEOC, so make sure that you file a charge with the EEOC even if you are seeking other forums for resolution.
It is extremely important to remember that you must first file an “inquiry” with the EEOC (THIS IS NOT A CHARGE). You then must set up an in-person or phone “intake interview” with an EEOC investigator and, only after these first two steps are complete, may you file your formal charge. During the first two steps the time limit is not stopped and continues to run until you formally file your charge.
Once a charge of employment discrimination is filed, the EEOC will then fully investigate the allegations and issue their determination, typically within 180 days of filing the charge. If the EEOC determines that discrimination did occur or is occurring, they will then issue you a “right to sue letter” which permits you to file a complaint in court, or continue to use the EEOC’s resources to help resolve the issue or issues through various means including mediation.
The following links are to (1) the website for the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; (2) a PDF with information on the time limits for filing a charge; (3) a PDF with directions on how to file a charge with the EEOC; and (4) a link to the EEOC website page where you may begin the process of filing a charge. To begin the process of filing a charge you must create create an account and log into the EEOC Public Portal where you will then be able to submit an inquiry online, schedule your intake interview, and eventually file your charge of employment discrimination.
Other (Camps, Businesses open to the public, Private Schools, etc.)
If you have experienced discrimination because of your T1D by a State or local government, or a place of public accommodation (including private schools that do not accept federal funds, restaurants, doctors offices, camps, retail stores, hotels, etc.) you are still protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you believe that you or another person has been discriminated against by an entity covered by the ADA, you may file an Americans with Disabilities Act complaint with the United States Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. This is a great resource since filing an ADA complaint with the DOJ is completely free, and all complaints are investigated by attorneys and investigators in the Unites States Attorney’s Office, who, as with all of the agencies listed above, have much greater resources at their disposal.
Once a complaint is filed, the DOJ will do one of the following: (1) contact you for additional information or copies of relevant documents; (2) refer your complaint for possible resolution through the ADA Mediation Program; (3) refer your complaint to the United States Attorney's Office in your area for investigation; (4) refer your complaint to another federal agency with responsibility for the types of issues you have raised; (5) investigate your complaint; or (6) consider your complaint for possible litigation by the DOJ.
If your matter is referred to the ADA Mediation Program, professional ADA-trained mediators throughout the United States will help resolve your ADA complaint fairly and quickly. The most common types of complaints referred to the ADA Mediation Program include barrier removal, program accessibility, effective communication, and modification of policies, practices, and procedures. If an investigation revels that there is an apparent pattern or practice of discrimination or the complaint raises an issue of general public importance, the DOJ may attempt to negotiate a formal settlement of the matter, or may file a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of the Unites States. Please remember though that the United States Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division does not act as an attorney for, or representative of, the complainant.
The following links are to (1) the website for the US DOJ’s Civil Rights Division; (2) a PDF with directions on how to file a complaint with the US DOJ Civil Rights Division; and (3) a link to where you may file a discrimination complaint.