Posted on 10/17/2013 12:05:06 PM PDT by jazusamo
In one of the more outrageous moves by the Justice Department’s bloated civil rights division, a private college was strong armed into a legal settlement in which it agreed that food allergies are a disability under federal law.
The story got little coverage as the Department of Justice (DOJ) quietly persuaded the Massachusetts College, Lesley University, to change its campus menu and serve certain foods to accommodate students with allergies. The preposterous case was brought to Judicial Watch’s attention by Robert Popper, who at the time was a Deputy Chief at the DOJ’s Voting Section. Popper, an esteemed attorney, currently helps lead JW’s Election Integrity Project.
The allergy drama was brought to the DOJ by students who complained that Lesley University didn’t provide enough gluten-free food alternatives and therefore the college failed to accommodate the needs of those with gluten-free diets. The worker bees in the DOJ’s civil rights division, always quick to play the discrimination card, found that the students could not “fully and equally enjoy the privileges, advantages and accommodations of its food service and meal plan system.” This includes the benefits of eating with other students and faculty on campus.
So the feds got to work, pressuring the small college that specializes in education, writing and fine arts programs into changing its menu. How? By accusing the school of violating Title III of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA). “Food allergies may constitute a disability under the ADA,” according to the settlement between the college and the feds. “Individuals with food allergies may have an autoimmune response to certain foods, the symptoms of which may include difficulty swallowing and breathing, asthma and anaphylaxis.”
Sounds pretty dramatic, but the food industry is now fearful of the widespread consequences of this decree. In fact, it leaves all facilities that serve food—schools and restaurants—exposed to legal challenges if they don’t accommodate people with food allergies. Thomas Perez, the Obama appointee who headed the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division at the time, confirmed this in a statement after the settlement. “The agreement ensures that Lesley’s meal program is attentive to the schedules and demands of college students with food allergies, an issue colleges and universities across the country need to consider.”
Reading between the lines this means the federal government will make sure colleges and universities across the country cater to students with food allergies. A food research group wrote on its online publication that the “quiet DOJ ruling may have a big impact on the restaurant industry” as well. A national law firm that specializes in healthcare and employment litigation confirms it will have “far-reaching implications for virtually every facility serving food.” The law firm also points out that “accommodation of each type of allergy to the extent set forth in this consent decree may be extraordinarily difficult to achieve in a community dining environment.”
I allergice to bees so I demand a fee paid by each and every bee keeper. I’m also develop reactions to snake venom. So next time all those government employees are taking a paid vacation, make them clear out the snakes. Ban ragweed while you’re at it and animal dander starting with those creatures on the Hill.
And an entirely new avenue for lawyers to get rich by suing pretty much any business in sight.
The ADA was one of the worst laws every passed. Left unchecked, it will lead to control of every aspect of your life worse than Obamacare. Boards of faceless bureaucrats issuing reams of regulations will dictate what you wear, what you eat, what vehicle you can drive, the colors you can use, everything. I am serious and I have first hand experience how it’s affecting art and design. Imagine closed captioning onscreen at every movie theater. Not being allowed to use certain colors in your home because it might confuse color blind people. It’s coming.
The local Gannett generipaper ran a (somewhat shocking!) series of articles about a young guy who was starting up a donut baking company.
He had been a baker and decided to go off on his own.
This was entirely wholesale and delivery, no customers on site at all.
He rented a cheap building, the first thing that happened was OSHA came in and made him spend 15 grand on handicap accessible male/female rest rooms.
His total staff was two other young guys...
I don’t seem to be allergic to much of anything. I feel left out. That is a disability. I would like my check please.
I have no doubt at all you’re right, big brother will control every facet of Americans lives before many years.
WHY should the University have any kind of food service???
Op[en up all those facilities to private operators & let them deal with the DOJ.
or,a food allergy is a defect.
So the goal is obviously to keep entrepeneurs from entrepeneuring.
I don't force my problems on my food suppliers. The suppliers that provide what I like without making me sick get repeat business. The others lose out.
Obviously way too many fat asses and AA hires (the groups overlap) sitting around with nothing to do in the DOJ Civil Right Division so they sic them on Lesley College for the gluten eaters...or is it the non gluten eaters?
I am not going to bother you about your gluten but how the heck was European civilization built on bread as “the staff of life”? How did our ancestors eat bread without any ill effect for a few thousand years? My theory is certain people have a problem with wheat and gluten not due to gluten but due to other things going on that our ancestors did not have. And that we don’t have either if we do certain things
My ancestry is 50% Irish. Gluten intolerance is common. Undetected it leads to infant deaths labeled “failure to thrive”. My milk intolerance was spotted quickly as an infant. Soy based formula solved the problem. That is still what I drink at age 57. My father had no gluten issues and echoed your “staff of life” remark. The increased incidence
may be due to changes in farming practices.
Thanks. I cannot prove causality but I think junk food eating and processed food eating in general can lead to gluten intolerance. It messes up their system and makes their system “sensitive” and “allergic” to things they never were.IOW they are not exactly victims of gluten intolerance. They made themselves this way
Not in all people but in some. And it can be undone. Lactose intolerance is different because huge groups of people are born with it in varying degrees with certain orientals being known for it. But the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans are scarfing down pizza pies these days. The oriental (NE Asian) lactose intolerance varies from person to person.
The tips of the cilia in the small intestine make lactase. In the gluten intolerant, the cilia tips are damaged first. That presents as lactose intolerance...my specific issue with fresh milk. Avoiding gluten long enough can permit recovery of the cilia and resolution of the lactose intolerance. If you have casein problems, the cleavage of casein to beta casomorphin can pass through a leaky gut and bind to receptors in the brain. That presents as narcotic intoxication. My project manager’s wife has that complication to her gluten intolerance.
There’s no bread; let them eat (gluten-free) cake
There’s no end to what they’ll take
The ADA has officially jumped the shark. Time to get rid of it.
Nanny State PING!
Am I going to be accommodated?
Jeepers ... thanks for the ping!
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