Southeast ADA Center
2007
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Ms. Annette Sheely is a legally blind woman who requires the assistance of her service animal, an 80-pound guide dog. On June 7, 2005 Ms. Sheely took her minor son for a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) appointment at a diagnosis imaging facility owned and operated by MRI Radiology Network (hereinafter “MRN”). At check-in, an MRN receptionist asked if Ms. Sheely’s dog was being used as a service animal, to which Ms. Sheely replied in the affirmative. No further mention was made of the dog at that time and Ms. Sheely and her son sat in MRN’s main waiting area.
When Ms. Sheely’s son was called to the MRI suite, he asked that his mother accompany him. An MRI suite is divided into two rooms by a glass partition; the patient and metal-sensitive materials are located on one side of the partition, while the technician performs the scan remotely from the other side of the glass, in an area known as the “holding room”. Parents who wish to accompany their minor children during the MRI scans are allowed to stand in the holding room. Nevertheless, when Ms. Sheely rose to accompany her son, she was told that she would not be permitted in the holding room on account of MRN’s no-animal policy.
The receptionist explained that MRN’s policy prohibiting animals beyond the waiting room existed for the animal’s safety, for fear that metal in the animal’s harness might harm the MRI, and because of space restrictions in the holding room. According to the receptionist, this policy was unwritten and created by Mr. Steinberg, MRN’s owner. When asked if her service dog would be permitted beyond the waiting area if she, Ms. Sheely, were the patient, the receptionist noted that MRN’s no-animal policy made no exceptions for service animals. The receptionist indicated that Ms. Sheely would be treated by MRN only if she had someone with her to watch the dog in the waiting area.
Ms. Sheely’s son proceeded to the MRI suite alone, while Ms. Sheely called Mr. Stannard, MRN’s Director of Scheduling. Mr. Stannard told Ms. Sheely that she was entitled, like all parents, to accompany her minor child to the holding room and with her guide dog. Mr. Stannard then called MRN and relayed this information to the receptionist. The receptionist, nonetheless, refused Ms. Sheely’s entrance with her service animal.
https://adasoutheast.org/court-decisions/sheely-v-mri-radiology-network-p-a
Keywords: Rehabilitation Act, compensatory damages, employment, legal concepts, service animal, service animals, state & local government, voluntary cessation