NEW YORK, Dec 1 (Reuters) - A woman who was granted extra
time to take the law-school entrance exam in 1992 after she
sustained a gunshot wound is suing exam administrators for
refusing to give her another extension -- this time to
accommodate a cognitive disability -- when she re-takes the
exam this week.
Lisa Rousso of Fort Salonga, New York, filed a 20-page
complaint in Brooklyn federal court on Monday against the Law
School Admissions Council, which administers the Law School
Admissions Test, or LSAT.
Rousso first took the LSAT during the 1989-1990 school year
and attended Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles from 1990
to 1991, after which she left her studies, according to the
complaint. The following year Rousso sat for the LSAT again,
and was given extra time to complete the exam after she
presented a doctor's note regarding "a gunshot wound to the
arm," the complaint said.
She did not return to law school following the second
exam.
In the suit filed Monday, Rousso, 41, claims that she
suffers from a cognitive disorder stemming from the removal of
a brain lesion in 2005, which causes her to read and write more
slowly.
In denying her extra time to take the LSAT, the admissions
council is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and
the New York State Human Rights Law, the lawsuit says.
"I'm frustrated and I'm angry," Rousso said in an
interview. "I did my end of what was required, and I feel like
they're not doing theirs."
LSAC spokeswoman Wendy Margolis said the council does not
comment on lawsuits.
'OPEN TO TALKING'
Rousso seeks a court order ensuring that she be given six
hours to take the exam, which is normally administered in three
hours. She is also requesting additional time for rest breaks
between each of the test's five sections.
"These accommodations are necessary in order to make the
[examination] accessible to Plaintiff because of her
disability," the complaint said.
Rousso also seeks compensation for her legal fees and the
cost of taking the LSAT.
Jo Anne Simon, Rousso's lawyer, said she is in contact with
LSAC's attorneys, who she said are "are open to talking about
it."
Simon said it has become harder to get accommodations for a
disability than it was when Rousso was granted extra time in
1992. "At that time, she provided the doctor's note and it was
no big deal," she said. "The demands have gotten greater."
According to the LSAC website, prospective test-takers
seeking accommodations for a cognitive or psychological
impairment must include the results of
"psychoeducational/neuropsychological testing" and a "full
diagnostic report."
After Rousso submitted her application for an accommodation
in early October, LSAC informed her that her neuropsychological
evaluation "did not meet the requirements" of the guidelines,
and later demanded that she undergo "additional
neuropsychological testing," according to the complaint.
"My client submitted everything she had to [LSAC} and met
their requirements," Simon said in an interview.
Margolis declined to comment on LSAC's policy for
accommodating disabilities.
OTHER LITIGATION
LSAC has been sued before by candidates seeking
accommodations for disabilities.
In 2009, the National Federation for the Blind sued the
council for allegedly discriminating against blind law-school
applicants by failing to make its website and LSAT-preparation
materials accessible to the blind. Last April, LSAC settled
that case, agreeing to make its website more accessible to the
visually impaired.
In June, a Wesleyan University senior with attention
deficit disorder sued LSAC for denying her double the usual
time to complete the LSAT. That case is pending in federal
court in the Southern District of New York.
(Reporting by Moira Herbst)
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