U.S. Supreme Court backs deaf student who sued Michigan school district

[March 22, 2023]  By Andrew Chung
 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed a deaf student in Michigan to sue his public school district for allegedly failing to provide him adequate classroom instruction, a ruling that bolsters the ability of students with disabilities to remedy shortcomings in their education.

A man rides a scooter past the front of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, U.S. September 30, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

The 9-0 ruling authored by conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch revived student Miguel Luna Perez's lawsuit seeking monetary damages from the school system in Sturgis, Michigan, as the justices overturned a lower court's decision to dismiss the case.

The justices ruled that Perez could sue for alleged disability discrimination under a U.S. law called the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) without completing certain dispute-resolution procedures available under a different law aimed at protecting the educational needs of children with disabilities, known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Gorsuch wrote that the case "holds consequences not just for Mr. Perez but for a great many children with disabilities and their parents."

Roman Martinez, Perez's attorney, said, "The court's ruling vindicates the rights of students with disabilities to obtain full relief when they suffer discrimination. Miguel and his family look forward to pursuing their legal claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act."

The district's superintendent, Art Ebert, said that through this experience "we will gain knowledge, insight and understanding that will help us maximize every student's true potential."

Perez has said the school district assigned him an unqualified classroom aide who did not know sign language, and then misled his parents as to how much progress he was making. The family learned only months before graduation that he would not qualify for a high-school diploma.

After settling an administrative complaint under IDEA with the district promising additional schooling at the Michigan School for the Deaf, Perez filed his lawsuit in federal court under the ADA, seeking compensatory damages.

The Cincinnati, Ohio-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2021 dismissed the case, agreeing with the school district that Perez could not bring his lawsuit before first exhausting the administrative procedures under IDEA.

In his ruling, Gorsuch said that Perez's suit may proceed because it "seeks only compensatory damages, a remedy everyone before us agrees IDEA cannot supply."

(Reporting by Andrew Chung in Washington; Editing by Will Dunham)

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