Biography

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Teresa L. Jakubowski is a partner in Barnes & Thornburg LLP's Washington, D.C., office where she practices labor and employment law and chairs the firm’s accessibility and disability law practice. Her practice includes providing legal counsel and representing clients in litigation and administrative proceedings in the areas of accessibility for individuals with disabilities; employment law, particularly discrimination/equal employment matters; the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA); wrongful discharge; state employment laws; and fair housing. Ms. Jakubowski’s accessibility and disability practice focuses on all facets of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, and analogous state and local laws. She advises and counsels owners/operators of a wide array of places of public accommodation, including hospitality and lodging, retail, sports and entertainment facilities, amusement parks, institutions of higher education, transportation, and healthcare facilities; housing; commercial facilities; and state and local government facilities subject to Title II of the ADA. Her practice includes advising and representing clients with respect to issues pertaining to accessibility of physical facilities, digital accessibility (e.g., websites, mobile sites, mobile apps and other technology), effective communication, auxiliary aids and services, testing accommodations, and non-discrimination in operating policies, practices and procedures. Ms. Jakubowski also has represented, advised and prepared regulatory comments for several national industry and trade associations with respect to federal rulemakings concerning the 2004 ADA/ABA Accessibility Guidelines, the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design, the 2010 revisions to the U.S. Department of Justice’s regulations implementing Title III of the ADA, proposed website accessibility guidelines, and proposed passenger vessel accessibility guidelines. In her employment practice, Ms. Jakubowski advises and assists employers with respect to the employment relationship generally, including personnel decisions, drafting employment and severance agreements, preparing and reviewing personnel policies and procedures, reasonable accommodation decisions, leave issues, and harassment. She also has authored several amicus briefs to the United States Supreme Court on issues pertaining to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Ms. Jakubowski has represented clients in litigation in various courts throughout the United States and before the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and state/local human rights and fair employment agencies. Ms. Jakubowski has lectured and taught seminars on accessibility and disability issues, discrimination/equal employment law, the FMLA, ERISA and privacy issues. She has prepared a toolkit on the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design for a national trade association, assisted in the preparation of an employment guide, "The Americans with Disabilities Act: Next Steps for Employers," produced for the National Organization on Disability and BusinessWeek, and has co-authored a Title III ADA staff training manual for a Fortune 500 company. Ms. Jakubowski earned her J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center in 1993 and a B.A., summa cum laude, in economics from Drake University in 1989. She is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia, Virginia and Pennsylvania.