Justice Dept. decision leaves food servers more open to food allergy lawsuits

People with severe food allergies have a new tool in their attempt to find menus that fit their diet: federal disabilities law.

And that could leave schools, restaurants and anyplace else that serves food more vulnerable to legal challenges over food sensitivities.

A settlement stemming from a lack of gluten-free foods available to students at a Massachusetts university could serve as a precedent for people with other allergies or conditions, including peanut sensitivities or diabetes.

Institutions and businesses subject to the Americans With Disabilities Act could be open to lawsuits if they fail to honor requests for accommodations by people with food allergies.

Colleges and universities are especially vulnerable because they know their students and often require them to eat on campus, Eve Hill of the Justice Department?s civil rights division says.

But a restaurant also could be liable if it blatantly ignored a customer?s request for certain foods and caused that person to become ill, though that case might be harder to argue if the customer had just walked in off the street, Hill said.

The settlement with Lesley University, reached last month but drawing little attention, will require the Cambridge, Mass., institution to serve gluten-free foods and make other accommodations for students who have celiac disease. At least one student complained to the federal government after the school would not exempt the student from a meal plan even though the student couldn?t eat the food.

?All colleges should heed this settlement and take steps to make accommodations,? says Alice Bast, president and founder of the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. ?To our community this is definitely a precedent.?