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The State University of New York at Potsdam (the
University) agreed to resolve a complaint alleging that the University violated
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities
Act. The complainant alleged that the University charged her client (the
Student ) a surcharge for a dormitory room after she requested a single room
to accommodate her disability. OCR investigated the complaint and determined
that although the University approved a single room for the complainant as
an accommodation for her disability, it charged her the amount it would have
charged a non-disabled student who wanted to live alone for personal reasons,
rather than the amount the Student would have paid had she lived with a roommate
in a standard double room. Further, OCR determined that the University
regularly charged disabled students who requested a “medical single” room more
that it would have charged the students for living with a roommate in a standard
double room. The University agreed to reimburse the Student for the overcharge,
and to change its room rate policy to reflect that students requiring a “medical
single” or other type of dormitory room designated as an accommodation are
not charged at a higher rate than the rate they would pay for their portion
of a double room of the same type.
Read the Resolution Letter. PDF (68K) | Read the Resolution Agreement. PDF (23K)
Read the Resolution Letter. PDF (68K) | Read the Resolution Agreement. PDF (23K)