As we start 2015, the recent activity and interest surrounding the issue of service animals under Title III of the ADA show no signs of abating.  Customers and patrons of retailers and other public accommodations continue to test the boundaries of the federal statute and the applicable regulations, as well as those of state statutes, by bringing service animals (some legitimate and some decidedly not) into places of public accommodation.  There appears to be a great deal of ongoing misinformation and misunderstanding about the these issues, which continue to present legal and practical headaches and minefields for places of public accommodation, as well as for employers under Title I of the ADA and analogous state statutes. Generally, the service animals topic continues to resonate within not only the legal community, but also in popular culture.

In December, the Society for Human Resources Management, the leading national Human Resources professional organization, published an article about service animals under Titles III and Title I of the ADA after obtaining insights from various sources, including one of our own ADA Title III team partners in California, Andrew M. McNaught. That article also cited to a widely-read, and very amusing and informative piece on the topic published by the New Yorker Magazine in October 2014.

In this space, we have previously reported on the myriad of issues surrounding service animals in places of public accommodation under Title III of the ADA.   You can be sure we will continue to keep our readers updated on relevant developments in this area as we move forward in 2015.

Edited by Minh N. Vu and Kristina M. Launey