Editing Herzing Issues: ADA and Disability Accommodations (section)

=== HU-197: During a severe asthma flare-up in September 2026, Herzing offered a one-time testing courtesy rather than a disability accommodation ===
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%"
! style="width:14em" | Severity
| Critical
! Status
| CONFIRMED as to the full email exchange and its content; the reporting student's characterization of the university's conduct as disability discrimination and retaliation is his own stated legal position, presented here as stated rather than as an adjudicated finding
|-
! Issue type
| Accommodation Request Characterized as a Discretionary Courtesy Rather Than an ADA Accommodation; Incomplete Grade Policy Deadline Applied During Acute Illness; Retaliation Concern Raised by Student; Resignation from Elected Office
! Date added
| 2026-09-13
|-
! Owner
| colspan="3" | Dr. Danielle Laban (Associate Vice President, Student Affairs) / Dr. Raywattie Prashad (Program Chair) / Herzing's ADA office
|}
'''Finding.''' On September 4, 2026, the reporting student notified Dr. Laban and Dr. Prashad that he needed to cancel two scheduled exams due to multiple asthma attacks in the preceding 24 hours, that his doctor had started him on a steroid that could take up to five days to take effect, and he attached supporting medical documentation. Dr. Laban responded the same day that she would work with the team to reschedule the exams in ProctorU once he was ready. On September 8, 2026, the reporting student provided an update that he had also developed a severe asthma flare-up following a cold, was using his inhaler and nebulizer daily, and asked to be dropped from an optional Scholarly Practice course to push it to a future semester given the need to make up his remaining final exams; he copied his instructors on his health update. On September 9, 2026, still recovering, moving apartments that week, and scheduled to present to new student orientation, the reporting student proposed taking his two remaining exams the following Thursday and Saturday, and asked that ProctorU be told he might have moving boxes in his testing space. Dr. Prashad responded that grades needed to be entered by the following Friday given that this involved an Incomplete, and recommended the exams be taken earlier in the week, stating this was not intended to discount his illness. The reporting student replied that he works during the week, that these were the first available days he had, that he did not think it fair to be rushed while recovering from technical issues Herzing had caused with four of his exams over the prior two classes, and that asthma is a documented disability; he questioned whether a proctor would object to him being close to the screen while also not permitting a nebulizer. On September 11, 2026, Dr. Laban responded that Herzing would add a one-time note to his ProctorU account permitting moving boxes in his testing environment and use of his prescribed inhaled asthma medication during testing, but stated explicitly that this was a one-time courtesy and not considered an ADA accommodation, and that any accommodation would need to go through the university's formal ADA process. She then explained that under Herzing's Incomplete Grade Policy, because NSG 523 and NSG 524 are both prerequisites for all three of his fall semester courses, he had two options: complete the outstanding exams by Friday, September 18, 2026, or request an extension, which would place him on an Approved Break until the incomplete was resolved, delaying his return to coursework requiring those prerequisites until the spring term. The reporting student responded that he would proceed with the proposed Thursday and Friday schedule under protest, stated he would file a third complaint with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, and stated he was bcc'ing the Department of Education on that email. He stated the university had documented his asthma as a disability since August 2025, that he could barely breathe and had been unable to get out of bed from coughing, that he had only asked for a 24-hour extension, and that he had confirmed asthma is a covered disability under the ADA. He stated he would use his nebulizer during testing and would set up a separate camera recording the room in case the proctor raised any objection. In the same email, the reporting student told Dr. Prashad he would not present to new student orientation that day and resigned his position as President of the Student Nursing Association, stating he did not believe he could freely speak his mind while serving in a leadership role and intended to remain a member and continue serving at the national level.

'''Evidence.''' Email, the reporting student, September 4, 2026, subject "Sick," with attached medical documentation. Email, Dr. Laban, same date: agreement to reschedule the exams in ProctorU. Email, the reporting student, September 8, 2026, subject "Update": description of the asthma flare-up, daily inhaler and nebulizer use, and request to drop the optional Scholarly Practice course. Email, the reporting student, September 9, 2026, subject "Exams": proposed Thursday/Saturday exam schedule and request to document possible moving boxes. Email, Dr. Prashad, September 9, 2026: recommendation to take exams earlier in the week given the Friday grade-entry deadline, with a statement that this did not discount his illness. Email, the reporting student, September 9, 2026: description of his work schedule, the technical issues affecting four prior exams, and reference to asthma as a documented disability. Email, Dr. Laban, September 11, 2026: the one-time courtesy regarding moving boxes and inhaled medication, express statement that this is not an ADA accommodation, a citation to Herzing's disability services page, a citation to the Incomplete Grade Policy in the online catalog, and the two stated options, complete by September 18, 2026 or take an Approved Break until spring. Email, the reporting student, September 11, 2026: agreement to the Thursday/Friday schedule under protest, statement of intent to file a third OCR complaint with a bcc to the Department of Education, his account of the severity of his symptoms, his position that the university failed to engage in required interactive collaboration, his plan to use a nebulizer and a second recording camera during testing, and his resignation as Student Nursing Association President. (Source Group: email, the reporting student to Dr. Danielle Laban and Dr. Raywattie Prashad, subject "Sick," September 4, 2026; email, the reporting student to Dr. Laban, Emilie Thompson, ADA, cc Dr. Prashad and others, subject "Update," September 8, 2026; email thread, subject "Exams," between the reporting student, Dr. Laban, and Dr. Prashad, cc ADA and Emilie Thompson, September 9 through 11, 2026.)

'''Reported statement.'''
<blockquote>Please note this is a one time courtesy, and is not considered an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Any accommodation to that extent will need to be requested and reviewed through the University's formal ADA accommodation process. [Dr. Laban, Sep 11, 2026] ... Please take notice that I will be submitting this to the Department of Education for a third Office of Civil Rights complaint given the fact that the university is forcing me to take two exams in one week when you know that I am sick due to a disability that I have documented with the university since August of 2025. [The reporting student, Sep 11, 2026]</blockquote>

'''Standards.''' Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. §794, and Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §12181 et seq., together with 34 C.F.R. §104.44 (academic adjustments), require an interactive process and individualized consideration when a student raises a disability-related barrier, rather than resolution solely through a general institutional policy deadline. Herzing's own framing draws a sharp line between the informal testing accommodations it granted, which it expressly stated were not ADA accommodations, and the formal ADA process it directed the reporting student to use instead; whether that formal process was engaged during this acute episode, given the compressed timeline, is not established in this entry and should be confirmed. Asthma is a recognized disability under the ADA when it substantially limits a major life activity such as breathing, consistent with the reporting student's own cited understanding. The ADA's anti-retaliation provision, 42 U.S.C. §12203, is potentially implicated by the reporting student's own characterization of the university's posture as retaliatory; that characterization is his stated position and is not independently verified in this entry. His resignation from an elected student leadership role, citing an inability to freely speak his mind while serving in that capacity, is documented as his stated reason and should be read as evidence of the effect these events had on him, not as an institutional action taken against him.

'''Impact.''' The reporting student faced a choice between testing while acutely ill, by his account barely able to breathe and unable to get out of bed, or accepting an Approved Break that would delay his return to required coursework until the spring term, given that NSG 523 and NSG 524 are prerequisites for his entire fall course load. This is a materially different and higher-stakes consequence than the grade appeals and rescheduling disputes documented elsewhere in this tracker, because the standard institutional remedy for an unresolved Incomplete, an Approved Break, itself operates as a significant academic and financial aid consequence for a student citing an acute disability-related barrier. The reporting student's resignation from the Student Nursing Association presidency is a direct, documented personal and professional consequence of this dispute.

'''Notes.''' IMPORTANT: this entry references a stated third OCR complaint. The two OCR complaints already drafted in this project cover the ProctorU/Elsevier testing accommodation failures and the Fall 2026 Intensive II location dispute; this asthma-related episode is a third, distinct factual basis and would need its own complaint or a supplemental filing rather than being folded into the existing two. It is recommended that the reporting student confirm whether this third complaint was in fact filed, and if so, that the same OCR Electronic Complaint Submission confirmation documentation used for the first two be obtained. It is also recommended that written confirmation of the outcome of the September 11 through 18, 2026 exam window be requested, and whether the Incomplete was resolved within the standard policy timeframe or whether an Approved Break was ultimately taken. Given the June 22, 2026 reference to an updated psychological evaluation prepared for an OCR investigator, a separate entry or review may be warranted to determine whether that evaluation and this asthma-related episode should be cross-referenced in any future filing. Cross-References: {{HU|HU-175}} and {{HU|HU-195}} (the ongoing, unresolved zoom and text reader accessibility failure the reporting student cites as the underlying cause of his compressed exam schedule; his September 9, 2026 email states the issue still does not work), {{HU|HU-187}} and {{HU|HU-192}} (the same compressed scheduling and materials-access pattern from August 2026), the June 22, 2026 correspondence in which the reporting student informed Dr. Laban of an updated psychological evaluation obtained in anticipation of an OCR investigator's request, which should be reviewed and reconciled with this entry and with the two already drafted OCR complaints.

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