Csutoras v. Paradise High School, No. 19-17373 (9th Cir. 2021)
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The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the high school and school district in an action brought by plaintiff under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Plaintiff, a student with attention deficit disorder, sought damages after he was assaulted and seriously injured by another student at a high school football game. Petitioner argues that guidance issued by the DOE in various Dear Colleague Letters should be binding, and that the school's failure to adopt all of the Letters' suggestions for preventing harassment of disabled students amounts to disability discrimination.
The panel concluded that guidance issued by the DOE in the Letters was not binding and that plaintiff may not use the Letters to leapfrog over the statutory requirements to assert a cognizable claim under the ADA or the Rehabilitation Act. The panel explained that the Letters do not adjust the legal framework governing private party lawsuits brought under the ADA or Rehabilitation Act. Therefore, plaintiff's claims—which rely entirely on the enforceability of the Letters as distinct legal obligations—fail. In this case, the Letters did not make plaintiff's need for social accommodation "obvious," such that failure to enact their recommendations constituted a denial of a reasonable accommodation with deliberate indifference. Furthermore, no request for a social-related accommodation was ever made and no prior incidents of bullying or harassment involving plaintiff were observed or reported by the school prior to the assault during the football game.
Court Description: Americans with Disabilities Act / Rehabilitation Act. The panel affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Paradise High School and Paradise Unified School District in an action brought under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act by Cyrus Csutoras. Csutoras, a student with attention deficit disorder, sought damages after he was assaulted and seriously injured by another student at a high school football game. The panel held that guidance issued by the Department of Education in Dear Colleague Letters was not binding, and the school’s failure to adopt all of the Letters’ suggestions did not amount to disability discrimination. The panel held that to assert a cognizable claim for damages under the ADA or the Rehabilitation Act, Csutoras was required to establish intentional discrimination or deliberate indifference by defendants. The panel held that Csutoras did not meet the high bar of deliberate indifference because the Dear Colleague Letters did not make his need for social accommodations “obvious,” such that failure to enact the Letters’ recommendations constituted a denial of a reasonable accommodation with deliberate indifference. Further, no request for a social-related accommodation was ever made, and no prior incidents of bullying or harassment CSUTORAS V. PARADISE HIGH SCHOOL 3 involving Csoturas were observed or reported to the school prior to the assault during the football game.
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