Sorority Sister Sues University For Making Her, And Her Service Dog, Move Out Of The House Because Another Sister Had Doggie Allergies
CNN- One sorority sister uses a service dog to control her panic attacks. Another suffers from dog allergies that exacerbate other medical conditions. Both live in the Chi Omega sorority house at The Ohio State University.
Now a judge has to decide who gets to stay and who has to go.
Madeleine Entine, a sophomore, sued the school’s ADA coordinator for forcing her and her service dog to move. She says the school violated the Americans with Disability Act and the Fair Housing Act in making its decision.
“The panic attacks restrict her breathing ability and cause her to hyperventilate. They also cause her muscles to lock up and prevent her from walking on her own,” court documents said.
So Entine gets relief from Cory, a service dog. Cory is trained to climb on her stomach and apply pressure. That helps bring her relief so she can restore her ability to breathe and move, court documents say. He also helps her have less frequent attacks.
Court documents say Cory exacerbates the other sister’s “allergies and asthma, which, in turn, causes a flare-up of Housemate’s Crohn’s disease.”
Can you imagine how intense the debates must have been between these two sorority sisters? I’ll bet these two ladies were doing all kinds of terrible things to each other’s toothbrushes, creams, etc. In the far corner… weighing in at 115 pounds (“Fuck you! I’m 95!”) with a severe allergy to dog hair and a professional record of 5 homes wrecked and 3 professors seduced… Tiffanyyyyyy Kramer! And in the other corner, weighing in at 200 pounds combined, with a tendency towards severe panic attacks, which we all saw when she was being hazed during initiation… Madeleine Entine and her dog!
I don’t know how the university sided with the sniffler on this one. Yeah, allergies are no fun, but crippling panic attacks are much worse. I’ll be interested to see how the case pans out but I’m pretty sure the legislation for service dog accommodation is very clear. If a person has a defined, medical need for a service dog, you can’t fuck with them. I learned this when I went to see K9s for Warriors with Chaps, but these dogs are not pets–they’re workers. The partnership between the dog and owner is much more intense than a regular pet-owner relationship, and these people rely on the dogs the way that anyone else relies on life-saving medicine. As such, I’m totally with Madeleine on this one.
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You know what drives me nuts? When you’re on an airplane and somebody asks the flight attendant to turn up the heat because he/she is cold. I’m always hot because I grew up in a cold state and because my blood works the way it’s supposed to, so I get very angry when this happens. If you’re cold, you can put on layers to get warmer. If you’re hot, you can only take off so many things before you’re naked. Given that cold people have more options, they should not be able to dictate the temperature of a shared space. This lesson holds for these two sorority sisters–allergy girl has more options when it comes to dealing with her problem. She can take Benadryl, plug her nose with cotton balls, or leave. Meanwhile, Madeleine can only leave.
Boo the other girl. Three cheers for Madeleine and the dog. People with allergies are weak.