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Disabled veteran leaves Omaha beauty school after dispute over medical appointments.Disabled veteran leaves Omaha beauty school after dispute over medical appointments Former student claims Capitol Beauty School failed to accommodate her treatment schedule under ADA law OMAHA, Neb.(WOWT) - A disabled veteran left a cosmetology program in April after she said the school would not accommodate her weekly medical appointments, raising questions about how the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to educational settings.Victoria Slaughter, a veteran who served in Qatar, planned to become a hair stylist after her military career ended with a traumatic brain injury.“You know it was something that I dreamed about when I was twelve,” Slaughter said.Slaughter takes medication for seizures, migraines and PTSD, and receives weekly treatments at the VA.When she enrolled at Capitol Beauty School in Omaha, she provided medical documentation showing her condition was stabilized and her treatment was working.Treatment schedule conflict Slaughter said she receives injections in her shoulders and head at the VA on a specific day and time due to limited capacity at the facility.She said she shared this information at orientation.“That was the first time that I was told you cannot come back to school after an appointment,” Slaughter said.Capitol’s policy does not allow students to come in early or stay late.The school also does not let students return if they clock out to go to an appointment so they stay on track with skills learned in class.Slaughter said she could not make up the hours to graduate the 10-week freshman program under that schedule.Nancy Meduna, CEO of Capitol Beauty School, denied that Slaughter mentioned needing weekly injections and said she never specified exactly what accommodations were needed in writing on a beauty school form.Slaughter said she shared a doctor’s note detailing her specific disabilities and treatments.Understanding ADA law Patrick Borchers, a Creighton University professor of law who sits on the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission, said the issue comes down to reasonable accommodations.“In most circumstances if the employer or the school, whoever it is, is making a good faith, reasonable effort to work with the person who’s got an impairment with a major life activity, which is what describes a disability, then they’re going to be in good shape,” Borchers said.He offered a hypothetical example of a reasonable accommodation.“Hypothetically let’s suppose a normal work day for somebody is 8-4, but they need an hour out of the day — out of the week to go to therapy, giving them that hour of week and maybe make it up a few minutes throughout the week — that’s perfectly reasonable,” Borchers said.Slaughter left Capitol Beauty School in April because she could not catch up to the required hours while attending medical appointments.She said the situation worsened after she fell and injured her neck while running from a snake at home and had to go to the emergency room.In a statement, Capitol said the school allows absences for medical appointments and told Slaughter her appointment would need to be after her freshman training and testing was completed.“I couldn’t drive by myself and I could barely stand.Not only was I expected to come to class to meet the hour requirement but I was also told that I had to perform at the level that was expected of me and was expected of everyone else as well,” Slaughter said.Slaughter said she still has plans to finish beauty school.“The last thing that you want to do is be put in a position where, like me, you’re injured and you didn’t get what you wanted out of it — which for me was my education,” Slaughter said.Borchers said his biggest suggestion for those seeking ADA accommodations is to act reasonably.“The vast majority of employers and the vast majority of prospective employees want to do the right thing, and so if you come in with an approach like okay let’s problem solve and let’s see how we can best address your needs — 99% of the time that’s going to work it out,” Borchers said.Slaughter said she has filed formal complaints against Capitol Beauty School with DHHS, the VA, Nebraska’s Department of Education and the local ADA office in Omaha.Copyright 2026 WOWT.All rights reserved.