Facts

Abigayil Tamara sued El Camino Hospital and David Digant after the hospital refused to allow her service dog to accompany her during a 2001 stay in a locked psychiatric ward. Tamara was a qualified disabled person who used a service dog for independence and mobility. The hospital's current service animal policy prohibited all service animals at its behavioral health units, including the locked psychiatric ward where Tamara stayed.

Tamara sought a preliminary injunction requiring the hospital to admit service dogs. The hospital opposed the motion, arguing that service animals posed a danger that it could not mitigate.

Result

U.S. District Judge Ronald M. Whyte granted Tamara's motion for preliminary injunction. The hospital was therefore precluded from automatically excluding service animals from it's Behavioral Health Units.