The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a special education case involving a 12-year-old Michigan girl with cerebral palsy who sought to bring her service dog – which was prescribed by a physician as a full time support – to school. The dog is certified and trained as a service animal, and is able to retrieve dropped items, open and close doors, switch lights off and on, and perform other tasks.
At issue is whether her family can sue for damages from a school district that refused to allow the service dog in the classroom.
The legal action first began in the 2009 school year, when the district refused to allow the dog in school. After lawyers intervened, the district agreed to a “test period”, but quickly barred the dog again. At that time, the family opted to home school their daughter and filed a successful complaint with the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Education, accusing the school district of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). After the ruling, the district agreed to permit the dog at school, but the family, citing “serious concerns” that school leaders would resent the girl, decided to enroll their daughter in another school district where the dog was welcomed.
The case, brought under the ADA, has support from the American Civil Liberties Union, which argued that school officials denied the girl equal access to programs and ultimately, the chance to interact with other students.
At the heart of the case is a complex legal question: whether the family was required to exhaust options under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) — which calls for an administrative hearing and doesn’t allow for cash damages to be awarded — before bringing a claim for damages under the ADA. The family has requested unspecified damages and attorney fees, but U.S. District Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled against them.
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