The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday sided with students with disabilities, overturning a lower-court ruling that had required them to meet a more stringent standard of liability when suing their schools under two key federal disability-discrimination laws.
The unanimous decision in A.J.T. v. Osseo Area Schools makes it easier for students and families to seek monetary damages for alleged discrimination under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
“We hold today that ADA and Rehabilitation Act claims based on educational services should be subject to the same standards that apply in other disability discrimination contexts,” and not a “distinct, more demanding analysis,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote for the court.
Page 5 of the decision states: “Congress was not naive to the insidious nature of disability discrimination when it enacted the ADA and Rehabilitation Act. It understood full well that discrimination against those with disabilities derives principally from “apathetic attitudes rather than affirmative animus.”
Texas School Procedures has a comprehensive guidelines and documents to stay in compliance that we are regularly updating with court cases and state and federal laws.
