Some Important Court Cases Highlight Disability Rights
Two recent court cases highlighted disability rights. One has been heard by the US Supreme Court; the other is still pending in the United States District Court in the District of Columbia.
A.J.T. v. Osseo Area Schools, Independent School District No. 276
In April 2025, the Supreme Court sided 9-0 with Ava Tharpe, a student with a disability, and her family in a lawsuit filed against the Osseo Independent School District (Minneapolis, Minnesota). In the lawsuit, the Supreme Court was asked to consider “whether the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act require children with disabilities to satisfy a uniquely stringent ‘bad faith or gross misjudgment’ standard when seeking relief for discrimination relating to their education” (see page i of A.J.T v. Osseo Area Schools). That is, do children with disabilities have to satisfy a stricter legal test than other people suing under the ADA or Rehabilitation Act in order to have relief for education-related discrimination?
According to a 1982 court case, Monahan v. Nebraska, the answer was “yes”- children with disabilities seeking relief from discrimination in a school setting must prove that school officials acted with “bad faith or gross misjudgment” (see page 2 of the Court case). However, the Supreme Court disagrees with this previous ruling, stating that in general, individuals suing under the ADA and Rehabilitation Act can establish a violation and obtain relief without proving intentional disability discrimination, and that children with disabilities bringing claims against their schools should not be excluded from this statement.
You can read the entire Supreme Court case, or read more on the background of the case in Education Week.
National Association of the Deaf Sues the White House
After the Trump Administration removed American Sign Language (ASL) Interpreters from its press briefings in January 2025, the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) took action. On May 28th, 2025, the NAD filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration, hoping to require ASL interpretation at all White House press briefings and related events. In a similar lawsuit between the NAD and the Trump Administration in September 2020, the court ruled in favor of the NAD, stating that ASL interpreters must be provided for all coronavirus-related briefings. The following year, the Biden Administration ensured ASL interpretation was offered at everypress briefing (not only those concerning the coronavirus).
In the lawsuit, the NAD cite that removing ASL interpretation violated Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as well as the First and Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution. You can read more from the NAD and the lawsuit in full on the NAD website.
Photo is a stock image courtesy of the Human Development Institute at the University of Kentucky.