Reasonable Accommodations for People with Disabilities in Employment and Housing: Key Disability Laws, ADA, FHA, and Compliance Risks

Jaime Strawbridge | Brown Goldstein & Levy

Jamie Strawbridge represents individuals in cases involving civil rights, disability rights, police misconduct, and housing discrimination. Jamie also represents companies in high-stakes commercial litigation, including ownership disputes and breach-of-contract claims. Since joining Brown, Goldstein & Levy in 2020, Jamie has litigated cases in state and federal court and in arbitrations. He has successfully resolved cases involving discrimination against individuals with disabilities in the healthcare sector, voting, and the criminal justice system. His commercial experience includes representing Maryland-based companies in multi-million-dollar disputes in state court and in arbitration proceedings.

Jamie also has significant appellate experience, including drafting appeals in federal and state court, briefs in opposition to petitions for certiorari before the U.S. Supreme Court, and arguing before the Appellate Court of Maryland. Reflecting that experience, he has been appointed an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law to teach a semester-long seminar on appellate litigation.

Prior to joining the firm, Jamie worked for Covington & Burling in Washington, DC and clerked for the Honorable Diana Gribbon Motz on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and for the Honorable Catherine C. Blake on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

Before law school, Jamie worked for seven years as an investigative reporter in Washington, D.C. He traveled the world and wrote extensively on topics related to public health, labor and environmental rights, and international trade.

Lauren A. DiMartino | Brown Goldstein & Levy

Lauren DiMartino joined Brown, Goldstein & Levy to represent clients across various areas of civil rights law, including fair housing, education and disability rights, LGBTQ+ rights, police misconduct, and workplace discrimination. Her practice also includes appeals, and commercial litigation.

Lauren’s client-centered practice is focused on ensuring diverse communities can thrive, whether it’s through challenging various types of discrimination in housing, employment, or education, holding government actors accountable, or advocating for local businesses embroiled in dispute. She has a robust practice involving the Fair Housing Act, utilizing it to assist individuals and non-profits impacted by discriminatory conduct and to challenge systems perpetuating segregation, with a particular interest in the intersection of housing and public education. She works with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title IX, Title VII, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to advocate for equity in education, healthcare, the workplace, and professional licensing. Lauren also advocates for organizations that provide support and services to individuals with disabilities as well as community-based mental health providers—providing advice and counsel on their business needs and the successful provision of their services, negotiating solutions, and litigating where necessary.

Lauren clerked for Judge Martha Craig Daughtry on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. She was previously the Legal Fellow at the University of Colorado School of Law’s Byron White Center for the Study of American Constitutional Law where she researched the potential for new civil rights legislation, analyzed trends in national injunctions, and helped develop new initiatives around voting and civic engagement. Lauren graduated from the City University of New York School of Law, a public-interest program, with a concentration in Social Justice, Equality, and Civil Rights. At CUNY Law, she served as the Student Authorship Editor of the Law Review and a research assistant on fair housing and issues surrounding college and professional access for undocumented students. In the Equality and Justice Clinic, Lauren worked primarily on cases involving police misconduct and employment law.

Prior to becoming an attorney, Lauren worked in marketing before transitioning to work in New York City community colleges because of her commitment to racial and economic justice. She worked as an academic counselor and the Assistant Director of ASAP, an accelerated education program aimed at removing systemic barriers to obtaining a degree. She was inspired by her students to attend law school as a tool to better advocate for marginalized communities. She remains active in community work and is on the Advisory Boards of the Urban Studies Program at Guttman Community College (CUNY) and of Baltimore Youth Arts, teaches Appellate Advocacy at the University of Maryland Carey School of Law, and serves on the Baltimore City Office of Inspector General Citizen Advisory Board.

Lauren is admitted to the bar of the states of New York, Maryland, and New Jersey.

Laura M. Fant | Proskauer

Laura Fant is a special employment law counsel in the Labor & Employment Law Department and co-administrative leader of the Counseling, Training & Pay Equity Practice Group. Her practice provides clients with practical solutions to common (and uncommon) employment concerns, with a focus on legal compliance, risk management and mitigation strategies, and workplace culture considerations.

Laura regularly counsels’ clients across numerous industries on a wide variety of employment matters involving recruitment and hiring, employee leave and reasonable accommodation issues, performance management, and termination of employment. She also advises on preparing, implementing and enforcing employment and separation agreements, employee handbooks and company policies, as well as providing training on topics including discrimination and harassment in the workplace. Laura is a frequent contributor to Proskauer’s Law and the Workplace blog and The Proskauer Brief podcast.

J. Courtney Cunningham | J. Courtney Cunningham, PLLC

Courtney Cunningham is a seasoned civil rights attorney based in Miami, Florida, with over 35 years of legal experience advocating for justice and equity under the law. As the President of the Federal Bar Association (FBA) South Florida Chapter, he leads initiatives to support the legal community, promote judicial diversity, and advance civil rights litigation. He is proudly married to an immigrant.

Courtney is the founder and principal attorney of J. Courtney Cunningham PLLC, a firm dedicated to private enforcement of the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). His practice focuses on fighting housing discrimination, ensuring accessibility for individuals with disabilities, and challenging systemic injustices in both public and private spaces. He likes taking on big cases that change the status quo. He has created a new law at the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals dealing with standing and the rights of people with disabilities to participate in their governments.

A passionate advocate for fair housing rights, Courtney represents individuals and families who have suffered discrimination based on disability, national origin, or source of income. His litigation experience spans federal courts across Florida, where he has successfully challenged discriminatory policies implemented by homeowners’ associations, landlords, and property management companies. He is currently challenging a Florida law that prohibits people from certain excluded countries from purchasing housing.

Beyond his legal practice, Courtney is committed to mentoring young lawyers and law students, particularly through the FBA South Florida Chapter’s initiatives. Under his leadership, the chapter has expanded outreach to law school communities, championed wellness programs for attorneys and judges, and streamlined committee structures to enhance efficiency and collaboration. An active voice in public policy and community engagement, Courtney regularly speaks on civil rights enforcement, legal ethics, and the evolving landscape of disability law.

Session I – Understanding Key Disability Laws: ADA, FHA, and the Rehabilitation Act | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

• Key legal framework
  • Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Employment accommodations (Title I), public bodies (Title II) & public accommodations (Title III)
  • Rehabilitation Act (Section 504): Disability rights in federally funded programs
  • Fair Housing Act (FHA): Reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities in housing
• Defining disability under the ADA and FHA
• Key legal distinctions between workplace and housing accommodations
  • Public Bodies (ADA): Ensuring people with disabilities have access to state/local programs
  • Workplace (ADA): Focuses on enabling an individual to perform job functions
  • Housing (FHA): Focuses on ensuring equal enjoyment of housing
  • Public Accommodations (ADA Title III): When ADA applies to businesses and places of public accommodation

Break | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

Session II – Workplace Accommodations Under the ADA (Rights, Responsibilities, Case Law) | 2:10pm – 3:10pm

• Employer obligations under the ADA
• Types of accommodations in the workplace
• Key ADA workplace accommodation cases

Break | 3:10pm – 3:20pm

Session III – Housing Accommodations for People with Disabilities (HOAs, Condos, Fair Housing, Support Animals) | 3:20pm – 3:50pm

• HOA & landlord responsibilities under the FHA
• Common accommodation requests in housing
• Legal risks for HOAs and property owners