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Sharer v. State of Oregon
Filed September 21, 2009
Cite as 08-35396

Discrimination Case Fails as OPDS does not Receive Federal Assistance

Lois Sharer (Sharer) was employed as a legal assistant for the Oregon Office of Public Defense Services (OPDS), a predecessor agency of the Oregon Public Defender Office.

Sharer claimed that she had a disability with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, depression and agoraphobia. She claimed that the State of Oregon and two of her supervisors (defendants), Peter Ozanne and Peter Gartlan, failed to provide her with reasonable accommodation. She also claimed that she was terminated for asserting her rights as a person with disability.

Consequently, Sharer filed a discrimination case alleging violations of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

The defendants moved for summary judgment. They alleged that Sharer’s claim should fail because OPDS was not a “program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance” at the time of the alleged discrimination.

The district court, in granting the summary judgment, concluded the Sharer failed to meet her burden of establishing that OPDS was a “program or activity receiving federal financial assistance”.

Sharer timely appealed.

On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for 9th Circuit ruled that the district court properly granted the summary judgment for defendants because OPDS was not a "program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance" within the meaning of Sec. 504 during the period of alleged discrimination.

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