A.J.T. v. Osseo Area Schools, Independent School District No. 279, No. 23-1399 (8th Cir. 2024)
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In this case, a minor student known as A.J.T., who suffers from epilepsy, sued her school district, Osseo Area Schools, alleging disability discrimination for not providing her evening instruction sessions. A.J.T.'s epilepsy is severe in the mornings, preventing her from attending school until noon. The child's parents requested evening instruction so that she could have a school day closer in length to her peers. However, the school district denied these requests.
A.J.T., through her parents, filed a lawsuit alleging violations of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The district court granted Osseo Area Schools' motion for summary judgment, finding that the school district could not be held liable as it did not act with bad faith or gross misjudgment.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's decision. The court stated that while A.J.T. might have established a genuine dispute about whether the district was negligent or even deliberately indifferent, she failed to prove that school officials acted with "either bad faith or gross misjudgment." The court found that the school district did not ignore A.J.T.'s needs or delay its efforts to address them. It further held that in cases involving educational services for disabled children, mere noncompliance with applicable federal statutes or failure to provide a reasonable accommodation is not enough to trigger liability. The plaintiff must prove that the school officials acted with bad faith or gross misjudgment. In this case, A.J.T. failed to identify conduct that cleared that high bar, and as such, the court held that summary judgment was proper.
Court Description: [Kobes, Author, with Gruender and Stras, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. See the court's opinion of March 21, 2024 in Osseo Area Schools v. AJT, etc., No. 22-3137. The circumstances are the same as those described in that case, but here plaintiff sued the district for disability discrimination under Section 504 and the ADA; the district court granted summary judgment to the school district, and plaintiff appeals. When the alleged ADA and Section 504 violations are based on educational services for disabled children, a school district's simple failure to provide a reasonable accommodation is not enough to trigger liability; rather, a plaintiff must prove the school officials acted with either bad faith or gross misjudgment - see Monahan v. Nebraska, 687 F.2d 1164, 1171 (8th Cir. 1982); plaintiff has failed to identify conduct clearing the bar set by Monahan, and the district court did not err in granting defendants summary judgment.
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