Supreme Court rules deaf student can sue Michigan school district for failing to provide qualified interpreters
March 21 (UPI) — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in favor of a deaf student in Michigan who is suing the Sturgis school system for inadequate education without providing needed interpreters.
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Miguel Luna Perez can sue the school district under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
According to his complaint, 27-year-old Luna Perez was not given access to a qualified specialist. interpreter and instead they gave an assistant who did not know sign language.
In addition, the school artificially inflated Luna Perez’s grades and placed him in an honorary role, even though he could neither read nor write.
Luna Perez’s family didn’t realize they had been scammed until months before graduation.
In 2018, Luna Perez won a settlement under the Disability Education Act, causing the school district to pay to send him to the Michigan School for the Deaf when he was 20 years old.
Roman Martínez, an attorney who spoke on behalf of Luna Perez in the Supreme Court, said: “The court ruling upholds the right of students with disabilities to receive full assistance when they suffer discrimination. Miguel and his family are looking forward to the prosecution. ”
Tuesday’s ruling resolves a dispute over whether Luna Perez must exhaust all legal avenues under the Persons with Disabilities Education Act before he can claim damages under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The lower court ruled that Luna Perez was barred from suing under the ADA under the IDEA provision, but in a decision written by Judge Neil Gorsuch, the Supreme Court stated, “We make clear that nothing in this provision prevents him from doing so.”
Luna Perez wants to sue the county for the irreversible damage they have caused to his learning ability.
Mitchell Seacon, one of the lawyers representing Luna Perez, told reporters. Detroit Free Press“He will have injuries and limitations for the rest of his life. It can catch up, and it has, but the kind of opportunities you have as you grow up to acquire a language are kind of limited by time windows.”
News Press Ohio – Latest News:
Columbus Local News || Cleveland Local News || Ohio State News || National News || Money and Economy News || Entertainment News || Tech News || Environment News