Two federal laws-the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and one New Hampshire law, RSA 354-A, the Law Against Discrimination, protect persons with disabilities from discrimination in the workplace, by public accommodations, and public services, and by federal, state and local government. In addition, the Family and Medical Leave Act gives family members and people with severe health conditions time off from their jobs to seek medical care or provide assistance to a family member who needs medical care.

Some of Sheila's litigated cases involving these laws include Bryson v. Shumway, a class action lawsuit to allow young adults with brain injuries and neurological conditions like MS who had been languishing in nursing homes to move into community-based settings, EEOC v. Olive Garden, a case of disability harassment of a restaurant worker with mental retardation that Sheila brought to the EEOC, and that was one of a small percentage of cases brought to the EEOC that the EEOC litigates in its own name, Purdy v. City of Nashua, in which a woman with depression asserted that she was fired from her job because she asked for time off to care for herself and for her sister, who was dying of cancer.

In addition, Sheila has represented individuals whose cases settled prior to litigation, including a man with a brain injury whose health club rescinded his paid membership because of his disability, and a blind woman who wanted her local library to provide a CCTV (large screen computer monitor and reader) so she could access the card catalog.

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