ADA Violation

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: P.F., a minor by A.F., his parent, et al. v. Carolyn Stanford Taylor, et al.

Case No.: 17-3266

Officials: SYKES and BARRETT, Circuit Judges, and DURKIN, District Judge.

Focus: ADA Violation

Under Wisconsin’s open-enrollment program, a public-school student can apply to transfer from his resident school district to a nonresident district that has an available space for him. WIS. STAT. § 118.51. The program distinguishes between “regular education and special education spaces.” Id. § 118.51(5)(a)1. If a student with a disability requires special services, a nonresident district may deny the student’s transfer application if it lacks the services or space necessary to meet those special needs. Id. § 118.51(5)(a)4.

This suit concerns a group of disabled schoolchildren whose transfer applications were denied because nonresident districts determined that they could not meet the students’ special needs. The students’ parents, on their children’s behalf, sued the school districts and various state actors seeking injunctive, declaratory, and compensatory relief under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. § 12132; section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794(a); and the Equal Protection Clause, U.S. CONST. amend. XIV, § 1. They argued that the program unlawfully discriminates against disabled children because of their disabilities. The district judge concluded that the program did not violate federal law and entered summary judgment for the defendants.

We affirm. Differential treatment of special-needs students doesn’t make the program unlawful. Federal law “forbids discrimination based on stereotypes about a handicap, but it does not forbid decisions based on the actual attributes of the handicap.” Anderson v. Univ. of Wis., 841 F.2d 737, 740 (7th Cir. 1988). The program makes decisions based on the actual needs of disabled students, so it complies with federal law. And even if we analyze the case as a request for an accommodation, the requested change would fundamentally alter the program, and neither the ADA nor the Rehabilitation Act require fundamental alterations.

Affirmed

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Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.