Supreme Court Seems in Favor of Deaf Student’s Right to Sue School District Under the ADA

The U.S. Supreme Court appeared inclined to rule in favor of a deaf Michigan student on a key legal question in his lawsuit alleging that his school district failed to provide him adequate educational assistance for 12 years in violation of federal disability law.

Justice Elena Kagan said during the arguments Wednesday that it appeared that the student, Miguel Luna Perez, “did everything right” by accepting a settlement from his school district on his educational claims under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and then filing a lawsuit seeking monetary damages under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“What should Miguel have done differently from what he did do in this case?” Kagan asked the lawyer representing the 3,000-student Sturgis school district in Sturgis, Mich.

The justices heard 90 minutes of arguments in Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools (Case No. 21-887) involving Luna Perez, who is now 27 and was in the courtroom along with several sign-language interpreters to help him comprehend. His underlying lawsuit contends that the Sturgis district failed to provide him with trained sign-language interpreters for years and that he has suffered emotional distress and economic harms from his diminished abilities to communicate...

Supreme Court Seems in Favor of Deaf Student's Right to Sue School District Under the ADA (edweek.org)