As of October 17, 2026. Times are Eastern.
On September 22, 2026 John J. Shiptenko told me to keep sending accommodation requests. On October 7 I sent one: confirm in writing that the State Bar of Georgia received my letter. On October 8 Shiptenko ruled it was not an accommodation request at all, and closed it.
Send your requests here, the Bar’s ADA Coordinator told me. I sent one. It was closed the next day. That is the habit.
On September 19, 2026 I asked John J. Shiptenko one question: “ARE YOU STILL MY ADA COORDINATOR AT THE STATE BAR OF GEORGIA?” I wrote: “I cannot find an ADA Coordinator named anywhere on the State Bar’s website.”
At 8:07 AM on September 22, 2026, Shiptenko answered: “I am the State Bar’s ADA Coordinator, and you may continue to send your accommodation requests to me.”
So I did. At 3:35 PM on October 7, 2026, I quoted that sentence back and wrote: “Here is one.” My request, in my words: “confirm in writing, by Friday, October 9, 2026, 5:00 PM Eastern, that the State Bar of Georgia received this letter and its exhibits, and tell me who will answer it.” I cited the reasonable modification rule, 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(b)(7).
At 5:33 PM on October 8, 2026, the State Bar’s ADA Coordinator ruled on it: “none of what you have included in your correspondence is a request for an accommodation from the State Bar to enable you to participate in its services due to your disability. As such, with regard to your October 7, 2026, correspondence to me, I am closing this matter, as you have made no request that can properly be classified as a request for an accommodation.”
Sixteen days from “send your accommodation requests to me” to “no request that can properly be classified as a request for an accommodation.”
It was not the first time. The count, as of 2026-10-17, from Shiptenko’s own emails:
| Date | Shiptenko’s words |
|---|---|
| May 7, 2026, 10:01 AM | “Many of your questions/requests are not disability-related in nature but are questions about the grievance/reconsideration process more generally.” |
| May 26, 2026, 3:42 PM | “Questions 1 through 5 and 10 through 15 are not related to addressing discriminatory treatment of you by the State Bar due to your disability or an accommodation request due to your disability.” |
| May 29, 2026, 3:15 PM | “your correspondence does not appear to present a request for a specific reasonable accommodation under the ADA that requires further discussion of the interactive process.” |
| June 2, 2026, 2:08 PM | “I do not read anything in either of your emails as containing a request for additional accommodations.” |
| October 8, 2026, 5:33 PM | “you have made no request that can properly be classified as a request for an accommodation.” |
Five times. That is a pattern.
On October 7 I asked for one word: the word Shiptenko gave me on June 18, “Received.” I wrote: “If no acknowledgment comes, the record will show that a disabled man asked the State Bar’s ADA Coordinator for one word, and he would not write it.” The October 8 reply said my letter had been “reviewed.” It did not say who would answer it.
What I Allege:
- The title. I allege that on September 22, 2026, at 8:07 AM, John J. Shiptenko wrote, “I am the State Bar’s ADA Coordinator, and you may continue to send your accommodation requests to me.”
- The request. I allege that on October 7, 2026, at 3:35 PM, I asked Shiptenko, as a reasonable modification under 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(b)(7), to confirm in writing that the Bar received my letter and to tell me who would answer it.
- The closure. I allege that on October 8, 2026, at 5:33 PM, Shiptenko wrote, “I am closing this matter, as you have made no request that can properly be classified as a request for an accommodation.”
- A pattern. I allege that on May 7, May 26, May 29, June 2 and October 8, 2026, five times as of 2026-10-17, Shiptenko wrote in substance that what I had sent was not an accommodation request.
- Reviewed, not answered. I allege that the October 8 email opened, “I have reviewed your October 7, 2026, correspondence to me,” and named no one who would answer the letter, and that as of 2026-10-17 no one at the Bar has told me who will.
- It appears to me that the Bar’s ADA Coordinator decides what counts as a request, and that a request to confirm receipt, from a disabled man who asked in writing, does not count.
What It Did to Me:
The Bar’s own website named no ADA Coordinator when I looked. I had to ask. I used the answer exactly as it told me to. The request was closed in a day.
Is this how they would treat their own family or friends that were disabled?
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