The Iowa Supreme Court says a former Drake University student can’t sue the school for preventing her from training a service dogs on campus.
Nicole Shumate filed suit saying she was denied access to law school classes at Drake in 2009 because she was accompanied by a service dog she was training.
The school was issued a misdemeanor citation for not allowing Shumate to bring the dog on campus, but argued Shumate did not have the right to sue. The district court threw out the suit, but it was reinstated by the appeals court. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled the legislature did not intend the misdemeanor to create a cause for a civil action in the case — but intended the opposite.
The court says the legislature could reasonably believe the misdemeanor would be enough to deter the action, and arguments that a misdemeanor is inappropriate to prevent violations regarding the service dogs is a policy issue that should be directed to the legislature.
Here’s the complete ruling: Service dogs ruling PDF