Filed: March 5, 2025

Court: U.S. Supreme Court

Overview: Amicus brief explaining that Section 504 and ADA claims in the education context should not be held to a higher standard of proof, and that plaintiffs need not show that a school district acted in “bad faith” or with “gross misjudgment” to prevail on their disability discrimination claims.

Excerpt: “In this brief, amici review case examples in which, time and again, the bad-faith-or-gross-misjudgment standard is deployed to the detriment of children with disabilities in K-12 schools. As indicated, a defendant’s bad faith or gross misjudgment is exceedingly difficult to prove. So, even schoolchildren who experience severe discrimination based on their disabilities are frequently denied much-needed compensatory damages. Our case review shows that, on the other hand, under the appropriate standard-the standard applicable to everyone outside the K-12 school setting-these schoolchildren would have been compensated for the harms caused by the discrimination that Section 504 and the ADA seek to remedy.”

Case Documents:

• AJT Amicus Brief

Press Release

• National Disability Rights Organizations Urge U.S. Supreme Court to Protect Rights of Youth with Disabilities in Key Education Case