On March 21, 2023, the United States Supreme Court in Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools unanimously decided that individuals who have entered into a settlement resolving their claims under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), can also pursue claims for money damages against school districts under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) without exhausting the administrative process under IDEA. This decision reverses a decision made by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Our guest is Ellen Saideman, a Rhode Island attorney who focuses much of her practice on the educational rights of students with disabilities and their families. In Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools, Ms. Saideman represented Mr. Miguel Luna Perez, a Deaf student, in his 6th Circuit Court of Appeals case against the Sturgis Public School system in Michigan. Our host for this podcast is Dr. Peter Blanck, Chairman of the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University.
Ms. Saideman and Dr. Blanck discuss how the Court’s decision in Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools will affect the rights of students with disabilities under the ADA and IDEA. They will also explain how a similar U.S. Supreme Court case in 2017, Fry v. Napoleon Community Schools, paved the way for the Perez v. Sturgis decision.
- LISTEN: Soundcloud Perez v Sturgis Public Schools
Web: soundcloud.com/adalive/disability-rights-today-episode-8-perez-v-sturgis-public-schools - READ: Captions (CC) by interactive transcript for Episode 8: Perez v Sturgis Public Schools
- TRANSCRIPT: Transcript Episode 8: Perez v Sturgis Public Schools(PDF)
- RESOURCES: Episode 8: Perez v Sturgis Public Schools
Guests
Assistant United States Attorney for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee
Civil Rights Enforcement Coordinator and Assistant United States Attorney for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
About Disability Rights Today
The podcast series, Disability Rights Today, is your source for in-depth discussion of the facts, issues and arguments of important court cases that shape the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and that may impact the legal rights and the lives of people with disabilities. You will hear from the plaintiffs, attorneys, and subject matter experts involved in the highlighted case. The host for “Disability Rights Today” is Dr. Peter Blanck, an American academic, psychologist, and lawyer who holds the titles of University Professor and Chairman of the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University. The podcast will appeal to disability rights advocates, attorneys, and others wanting to keep current on the latest legal developments involving the ADA. Tune-in at: disabilityrightstoday.org
Let’s Get to Work: Reimagining Disability-Inclusive Employment Policy
The Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University, in collaboration with leading economic and social policy researchers at Rutgers and Harvard Universities, invite you to listen to the podcast series: Let’s Get to Work: Reimagining Disability-Inclusive Employment Policy.
Each episode features guests with unique knowledge and insights sharing their perspective on public policies that are moving the momentum forward and holding progress back. Guests from government and the business and disability communities share their perspectives on ways to translate the latest trends and thinking to advance workforce development and employment policy that produces sustainable economic opportunity for individuals with disabilities. Researchers from the three universities also share what they are learning about employment policies as part of the work of the NIDILRR grant-funded Center on Disability Inclusive Employment Policy. Tune-in at: disabilityinclusiveemployment.org/podcast-series/
The ADA Live! and Disability Rights Today podcasts are a cross-collaboration with the NIDILRR-funded Southeast ADA Center (#90DPAD0005-01-00), the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) of Syracuse University, and the NIDILRR grant-funded Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) – Disability Inclusive Employment Practices (#90RTEM0006-01-00).
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About the Southeast ADA Center
The Southeast ADA Center is a leader in providing information, training, and guidance on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and disability access tailored to the needs of business, government, and individuals at local, state, and regional levels. It also conducts research to reduce and eliminate barriers to employment and economic self-sufficiency and to increase the civic and social participation of Americans with disabilities. Located in Lexington, Kentucky, we are a project of the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) of Syracuse University and one of 10 regional ADA centers in the ADA National Network, funded since 1991 by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. Web: adasoutheast.org
About BBI
The Burton Blatt Institute (“BBI”) at Syracuse University reaches around the globe in its efforts to advance the civic, economic, and social participation of people with disabilities. Through program development, research, and public policy guidance, BBI advances the full inclusion of people with disabilities. BBI builds on the legacy of Burton Blatt, a pioneering disability rights scholar. BBI has offices in Syracuse, NY; Washington, DC; New York City, NY; and Lexington, KY. Web: bbi.syr.edu
DISCLAIMER: The contents of this post were developed by the Southeast ADA Center, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University and the ADA National Network, under a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant #90DPAD0005-01-00). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this podcast and email do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.