The U.S. Supreme Court
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The Supreme Court on Thursday, in a narrow ruling, made it easier for students with disabilities to sue to enforce their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws enacted to ensure that disabled children get appropriate schooling.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the unanimous opinion. Justices Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotomayor wrote separate, concurring opinions — joined, respectively, by Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
At the center of Thursday’s opinion was Ava Tharpe, a teenage girl who suffers from serious disabilities caused by a rare form of epilepsy. Tharpe needs assistance with everyday tasks like walking and using the toilet. And she has so many seizures, mostly during the morning hours, that her public school in Kentucky arranged her schedule to be in the afternoon only, including a teacher giving her instruction at home in the early evening.
But when Tharpe’s family moved to Minnesota for her father’s job, her new school in the Twin Cities refused to accommodate her late day schedule. As a result, her school class time was just 65% of what her peers received.
Tharpe and her parents sued the Osseo Area Schools under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and the Rehabilitation Act. The three laws mandate that schools receiving federal funds provide reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities.
A state administrative law judge sided with the Tharpes, finding that the school district violated Tharpe’s rights and needed to make up for her missed class time with 495 additional instruction hours. After years of litigation, the school district relented.
The Tharpe family then sued for compensatory damages to make up for the money they spent on outside specialists and teachers prior to the school district’s compliance. The money damages are not available under IDEA, but they are under the other two federal statutes protecting people with disabilities.
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Tharpes’ claims, ultimately blocking Tharpe’s family from financial compensation. The court said that Tharpe’s family would need to show that school officials acted either in “bad faith” or with “gross misjudgment” in order to get damages under the ADA and Rehabilitation Act.
That is a higher standard than required for other discrimination claims. And on Thursday, the Supreme Court sided with Tharpe and her parents in lowering the burden for the school children to meet when seeking to vindicate their rights in court.