An eating disorder clinic, The Emily Program P.C. (TEP), has agreed to take steps to better serve clients with disabilities after a complaint sparked a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). In a push to adhere to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), TEP has vowed to implement a series of changes, such as conducting employee training, appointing a designated ADA Dietary Designee at each clinic, and keeping logs of dietary modification requests, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The settlement was struck after a former client, who is disabled, filed a complaint claiming discriminatory treatment by the clinic. While The Emily Program admits no wrongdoing and is choosing to voluntarily settle to avoid potentially drawn-out litigation, it has agreed to quickly start to make allowances for dietary exceptions within its established program rules. This acknowledgment of the requirement for reasonable modifications is aimed at preventing the penalization or discouragement of patients from requesting necessary changes to their dietary plans. “We are pleased that The Emily Program is making important changes to its procedures to ensure it respects the rights and needs of disabled clients,” said U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman, as reported by the DOJ.
Under the settlement terms, TEP is now tasked with maintaining a variety of food items catering to common dietary restrictions among people with disabilities, including the avoidance of sugar, caffeine, nuts, lactose, gluten, eggs, soy, and fish/shellfish. Each clinic's ADA Dietary Designee will receive thorough training to better assess and accommodate diet requests and will maintain a record of all such petitions. Anyone with disabilities such as diabetes, epilepsy, autism, or food allergies should now find their dietary needs more readily addressed by the staff.
The DOJ will keep an eye on the implementation through biannual compliance reports from TEP and will evaluate the employee training modules. If TEP happens to receive any new complaints or gets served with lawsuits alleging ADA violations, it will quickly alert the DOJ. The terms of the settlement will remain effective for 18 months from the date of signing. Meanwhile, the former client whose complaint initiated this change has been offered $15,000 by The Emily Program. This outcome is a result of work by Assistant United States Attorney Susan Kas, the Civil Rights Coordinator for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington.
