The Iowa Supreme Court says the Palmer College of Chiropractic Medicine in Davenport discriminated against a blind student. Aaron Cannon requested that Palmer make some accommodations so he could complete the graduate program. Cannon was asking the school for example, to allow an assistant to read x-rays for him. The school’s disability steering committee told Cannon it could not make the accommodations without jeopardizing the accreditation of the program.
Cannon filed a complaint with the Davenport Civil Rights Commission, which found he had been discriminated against based on his disability. A district court decision overturned the commission ruling saying it would constitute a fundamental alteration of the Palmer curriculum. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled substantial evidence supports the commission’s factual findings and the commission has not erred in interpreting the relevant laws in the case.
Justice Thomas Waterman wrote a dissent to the opinion. He says the majority elevates political correctness over common sense. He says the majority ruling require Palmer to permit a student, blind since birth, to interpret X-rays based on what an untrained reader tells him and treat patients through vigorous spinal adjustments relying on that interpretation. It says Cannon failed to prove such an accommodation is reasonable.
Justice Edward Mansfield joined Waterman in the dissent.
See the full ruling here: Palmer Chiropratic ruling PDF