Opinion ID: 2995264
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure of the Village to

Text: reasonably accommodate. The Village’s next argument is that even if the Dadians were disabled, there was insufficient evidence that the Village failed to reasonably accommodate their disabilities. A violation of either act can be established by showing that the plaintiff was a qualified individual with a disability, and the defendant either failed to reasonably accommodate the plaintiff’s disability or intentionally discriminated against the plaintiff because of her disability. Washington v. Indiana High Sch. Athletic Ass’n, Inc., 181 F.3d 840, 846-48 (7th Cir. 1999). The Dadians proceeded to trial under both theories. Because we find that there was sufficient evidence to support a jury verdict under the failure to reasonably accommodate theory, we affirm the court’s entry of judgment in favor of the Dadians and denial of the Village’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. A public entity must reasonably accommodate a qualified individual with a disability by making changes in rules, policies, practices or services, when necessary. 42 U.S.C. sec. 12131(2); 42 U.S.C. sec. 3604; see Washington, 181 F.3d at 847-48. Whether a requested accommodation is reasonable is highly fact-specific, and determined on a case- by-case basis by balancing the cost to the defendant and the benefit to the plaintiff. Bronk v. Ineichen, 54 F.3d 425, 429 (7th Cir. 1995); United States v. Village of Palatine, Illinois, 37 F.3d 1230, 1234 (7th Cir. 1994). Whether the requested accommodation is necessary requires a showing that the desired accommodation will affirmatively enhance a disabled plaintiff’s quality of life by ameliorating the effects of the disability. Bronk, 54 F.3d at 429. The overall focus should be on whether waiver of the rule in the particular case at hand would be so at odds with the purposes behind the rule that it would be a fundamental and unreasonable change. Washington, 181 F.3d at 850. See also 28 C.F.R. sec. 35.130(b)(7) and (8). The jury heard testimony about the costs to the Village in granting the front driveway permit, which included zoning and land-use concerns but minor administrative costs, and about the needs of the Dadians, which included the need for Mrs. Dadian to avoid twisting and turning and walking for long distances. The jury also heard from an architect and appraiser that an attached, front garage was a better fit with the new home design than an attached, rear garage with a turnabout because of the parking lot feel and implicit loss of aesthetics and decreased home value that a turnabout would create. Because six of the sixteen homes on the block already had curb cuts (via front or side driveways), a reasonable jury could have found that the Dadians’ request was not at odds with the purpose behind the ordinance and would not cause a fundamental or unreasonable change to the ordinance. This is particularly so because the Dadians were not requesting a change to the ordinance itself, but application of the hardship exception to their case. On the other hand, a reasonable jury could have concluded that the Village’s permanent loss of property outweighed the Dadians’ needs because an attached, rear garage with a turnabout would have satisfied their needs and the Dadians should bear the burden of the resulting decreased home value, and not the Village. Thankfully, we are not a zoning court and our job is not to reweigh the evidence before the jury. Because reason able men and women could have reached different verdicts, the court was correct not to grant the Village’s motion for judgment as a matter of law, and when the evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the Dadians, the jury’s verdict should be sustained. Because we find that there was sufficient evidence for a jury to conclude that the Village failed to reasonably accommodate the Dadians, we do not consider the Village’s alternative argument that there was insufficient evidence that it intentionally discriminated against the Dadians.