Iraq Veteran Sues After PTSD Service Dog Not Allowed on Job

UPDATE

Jury awards Iraq vet $28,600 in service-dog case

Veteran sues Schlumberger for refusing service dog
SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
By Patrick Danner
March 15, 2015

Alonzo-Miranda served two tours of duty in Iraq as a Marine and one with the Texas National Guard. He was honored for fighting insurgents in some of the war's fiercest combat.

Wanting his service dog, Goldie, by his side at work to help him cope with his post-traumatic stress disorder, decorated Iraq War veteran Juan Alonzo-Miranda asked for the accommodation from his now-former employer - a subsidiary of Houston oil-field services giant Schlumberger Ltd.

Juan Alonzo-Miranda's therapist recommended he have a service dog to relieve his post-traumatic stress disorder. In 2012, Alonzo-Miranda asked Schlumberger to let him bring the dog, Goldie, to work after he had a panic attack and suicidal ideation while on the job.
Photo by Robin Jerstad

It took Schlumberger Technology Corp. more than six months to grant part of Alonzo-Miranda's request, leading the two sides to square off Monday in a San Antonio courtroom over whether the company failed to follow federal law dealing with such requests.

It's believed to be the first trial in the country in which a person with post-traumatic stress disorder or similar war-time injuries alleges that a company refused a service dog as a "reasonable accommodation" under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Alonzo-Miranda, 33, has sued Schlumberger Technology for back pay, compensatory damages for mental anguish, and unspecified punitive damages. Compensatory damages are capped at $300,000 by law.

Schlumberger spokeswoman Blake Nicole Herbert said in an email the company, which has its main offices in Houston, Paris and The Hague, does not comment on pending litigation. In a court filing, it denies violating the ADA.

John W. Griffin Jr., a Victoria lawyer representing Alonzo-Miranda, acknowledged it's not a seven-figure case but said there's a larger issue at stake.
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