Civil Rights Reporter 

The Ohio Attorney General’s Office and the Ohio Civil Rights Commission have been fighting for the rights of disabled Ohioans to have assistance animals since the mid-1990s. Ohio’s efforts, along with those of other progressive states such as New York and California, have led to service animals becoming more commonplace in today’s society.

G. Michael Payton is executive director of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, which has been protecting Ohioans’ civil rights and battling discrimination since before passage of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964. A former assistant attorney general, Payton discussed civil rights issues with Stefan Schmidt, an associate assistant attorney general in the office’s Civil Rights Section. Payton started his legal career in the AG’s Civil Rights Section in 1984 and moved over to the Ohio Civil Rights Commission in 1997, becoming executive director in 2001.

Hopefully, your calendar is already marked for the fifth annual Civil Rights Hall of Fame induction ceremony at 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 3, in the Ohio Statehouse Atrium. A reception will follow in the Statehouse Rotunda.

Issue: Whether assessments by a physician and an aquatic safety consultant were sufficient to determine whether a deaf job applicant was qualified for the position of lifeguard.

Issue:  When a landlord has a no-pets policy and a tenant with an animal assistant asks for the policy to be waived, what does the Federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) require?