Palmer Coll. of Chiropractic v. Davenport Civil Rights Comm'n

• Decision Date: 27 June 2014
• Docket Number: No. 12–0924.,12–0924.
• Citation: 850 N.W.2d 326
• Parties: PALMER COLLEGE OF CHIROPRACTIC, Appellee, v. DAVENPORT CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION and Aaron Cannon, Appellants.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

850 N.W.2d 326

PALMER COLLEGE OF CHIROPRACTIC, Appellee,

v.DAVENPORT CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION and Aaron Cannon, Appellants.

No. 12–0924.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

June 27, 2014.

Judith J. Morrell, Davenport, for appellant Davenport Civil Rights Commission.

Scott C. LaBarre and Susan Rockwood Kern of LaBarre Law Offices, P.C., Denver, Colorado, and Alan O. Olson of Olson Law Office, P.C., Des Moines, for appellant Aaron Cannon.

Robert D. Lambert of Stanley, Lande & Hunter, P.C., Davenport, for appellee.

Mary Kay Klimesh and Karen L. Stephenson of Seyfarth Shaw LLP, Chicago, Illinois, and Amanda G. Jansen of Ahlers & Cooney, P.C., Des Moines, for amicus curiae National University of Health Sciences.

Debra L. Hulett and Katie L. Graham of Nyemaster Goode, P.C., Des Moines, for amicus curiae Logan College of Chiropractic.

Meghan Sidhu, Baltimore, Maryland, and Alan O. Olson of Olson Law Office, Des Moines, for amicus curiae National Federation of the Blind.

Thomas G. Abram of Vedder Price, P.C., Chicago, Illinois, and Mark E. Weinhardt, William B. Ortman, and Danielle M. Shelton of Weinhardt & Logan, P.C., Des Moines, for amicus curiae National Board of Chiropractic Examiners.

HECHT, Justice.

A student requested a chiropractic school make accommodations for his visual disability. When the school denied the requested accommodations, the student filed a complaint with the civil rights commission in the community where the school is located. The commission found the school failed to comply with applicable federal and state disability laws and granted the student relief. The school sought judicial review, and the district court reversed the commission's ruling. Upon appellate review, we reverse the district court's ruling and remand to the district court for reinstatement of the commission's final agency action.

I. Background Facts and Proceedings.

Palmer College of Chiropractic (Palmer) is a chiropractic school with campuses located in Iowa, Florida, and California. At its Davenport, Iowa location, Palmer administers bachelor of science and doctor of chiropractic programs. Aaron Cannon applied to Palmer's bachelor of science programat its Davenport, Iowa location, in the early spring of 2004.

Cannon had informed Palmer he was blind early in the application process. Palmer directed him to its contact person for students with disabilities, and Cannon met with the representative that spring. At that meeting, Cannon explained he had sometimes taken examinations with the assistance of a sighted reader in the past, he planned on completing the graduate program's undergraduate prerequisites and matriculating in the graduate program in March 2005, and he was in the process of registering and exploring additional accommodations for his blindness with the Iowa Department for the Blind (IDOB). The Palmer representative told Cannon she would discuss this information further with key representatives of Palmer. She also revealed to Cannon, however, that Palmer had in the summer of 2002 adopted certain technical standards for admission to and graduation from its degree programs.

The technical standards adopted for each of Palmer's three campuses across the country require that degree candidates have “sufficient use of vision, hearing, and somatic sensation necessary to perform chiropractic and general physical examination, including the procedures of inspection, palpation, auscultations, and the review of radiographs as taught in the curriculum.” Based on these standards, the Palmer representative explained, Cannon would find it difficult, if not impossible, to enter and complete Palmer's graduate program.

Despite the caution Palmer's representative expressed in the spring 2004 meeting, Cannon was admitted to Palmer's undergraduate program a few months later. He was also provisionally admitted to the graduate program, contingent on his successful completion of the required undergraduate coursework—without, apparently, any further inquiry as to if or how Cannon might satisfy Palmer's technical standards. Cannon enrolled in July 2004 and began coursework in the undergraduate program.

In August, shortly after enrolling, Cannon met again with Palmer's disability representative to discuss possible accommodations. The Palmer representative indicated she would arrange a meeting with Palmer's Disability Steering Committee in the next two weeks to further discuss possibilities. While waiting for that meeting to materialize, Cannon sent the Palmer representative an email detailing his skills and capabilities for dealing with certain visual challenges. He noted in the email his familiarity with various adaptive technologies, including technologies for note taking and producing tactile versions of images and diagrams, and his history of success in previous classes having significant visual components. Two trimesters later, Cannon had successfully completed the graduate program's required undergraduate coursework, achieving a cumulative grade point average of 3.44 on a 4.0–point scale.¹

As he neared completion of the undergraduate coursework, a meeting with Palmer's Disability Steering Committee was finally arranged in February 2005. Cannon reiterated his interest in preparing for and enrolling in the graduate program at the meeting. The steering committee again expressed doubt Cannon would be able to complete the program because Palmer's technical standards requiredsufficient use of vision. Cannon suggested several possible accommodations for the visual components of the curriculum, including a sighted reader and modifications of certain practical examinations, while acknowledging he could not yet anticipate each challenge that might present itself in the graduate program. The steering committee suggested these could not constitute acceptable accommodations for certain diagnostic portions of the curriculum and explained Cannon would therefore reach a “stoppage point,” after which he would no longer be able to meet Palmer's requirements for advancement in the program. That point, the steering committee advised, would occur at the beginning of the fifth semester—the point at which students were slated to begin radiology and other diagnostic coursework. Cannon proposed that a sighted assistant might communicate to him the pertinent visual information in these courses enabling him to analyze it and to learn to make diagnoses accordingly.

The steering committee expressed doubt as to the feasibility of Cannon's proposed accommodation, suggesting it would place too much responsibility on the assistant. The committee thus repeated its position that the beginning of the fifth semester would constitute the stoppage point, but Cannon proposed they cross that bridge later after further investigation. Given the committee's apparent reliance on the recently adopted technical standards in concluding Cannon's proposed accommodations were unacceptable, Cannon asked about the purpose of the standards and whether they might be modifiable. The committee explained modification would compromise Palmer's compliance with standards promulgated by the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE), the national accreditation body. The CCE standards, the committee explained, were “not negotiable.”

Cannon was undeterred and enrolled in the graduate program, apparently without objection from Palmer, a few days later. Cannon believed with further investigation, he and Palmer could find an accommodation that would allow him to continue in the program and eventually graduate. Two weeks after his meeting with the steering committee, Cannon sent a letter to Palmer's president, expressing his frustration with the trajectory the meeting had taken. In the letter, Cannon noted he was aware of numerous blind individuals who had become successful chiropractors in the past, including at least two who had graduated from Palmer. In addition, Cannon explained IDOB had at its disposal “a wealth of information about strategies and techniques” for coping with some of the challenges Palmer foresaw and suggested Palmer should consult with IDOB before rejecting out of hand his requests and suggestions for accommodation.

Palmer responded to Cannon's letter a month and a half later in mid-April. Palmer explained its adoption of technical standards was consistent with the purposes of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 and the earlier-existing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Rehabilitation Act). Those laws proscribed discrimination on the basis of disability, Palmer explained, but they did not require an institution to provide accommodations or curricular modifications if they would fundamentally alter the institution's educational program. The curricular modifications Palmer had granted to blind students in the past, Palmer explained, would not satisfy its current technical standards, and thus any similar modification now would constitute a fundamental alteration of its new program as defined by the technical standards. Nevertheless, Palmer explained,it would contact IDOB to inquire about other possible accommodations.

A month later, two Palmer representatives met with a representative from IDOB. Notes from the meeting indicate “no new information” was presented—Palmer explained its technical standards were necessary for accreditation and the accommodations proposed by Cannon would not satisfy these standards. The IDOB representative pointed out a blind individual had recently graduated from medical school in Wisconsin and the school had maintained its accreditation, but the Palmer representatives declined to explore further the investigation and accommodations the school had made. Instead, they stressed the importance of their own technical standards and their concern about the time, effort, and money Cannon had already expended and would continue to expend despite their indications he would be unable to complete the program. Although the IDOB representative noted...