The Law School Admission Council – a nonprofit that administers the Law School Aptitude Test or LSAT – has settled a dispute with the Department of Justice and California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing over accommodations for disabled test-takers.
As we discussed here, California enacted Education Code section 99161.5 in 2013 to:
- require that LSAC accommodate disabled test-takers (which it was already doing);
- dictate a public procedure, including a right to appeal, for handling accommodation requests; and
- prevent LSAC from telling schools which students received accommodation.
LSAC tried to argue that legislation imposing requirements on it but not similar businesses violated its equal protection rights. But as we reported here, they lost that argument.
Today, as Jeff Sistrunk reports in Law360 (subscription), LSAC agreed to pay $8.7 million in damages and penalties and to stop “flagging” scores of test-takers who received accommodation. While few organizations will get to experience legislation specifically telling them how to run their business, all employers are required to accommodate disabled applicants and employees. They would therefore be well-advised to familiarize themselves with these requirements, which they can do here.