Governors across the country abruptly closed schools with little or no notice last spring.  Educators responded heroically: creating programs for regular and special education students on the fly.  Those in leadership positions reacted predictably: avoiding controversy by declining to waive special education procedural and substantive requirement that were impossible to meet under the circumstances.  The […]

Late last month, the Sixth Circuit issued a split 2‑1 decision in Doe v Oberlin College.  The case involved a student (Doe) who was expelled for allegedly sexually assaulting a female student (Roe).  After Doe was expelled, he claimed that the college had discriminated against him on the basis of sex.  In a nutshell, Doe […]

In 2019, we summarized a Michigan Court of Appeals case in which a student was injured at her bus stop when she was struck by a private vehicle.  The case revolved around whether the bus driver and the School District (Montague Area Public Schools) could be held liable under the theory that the bus driver […]

The Court of Appeals recently released its decision in Davis v Jackson Pub Sch, an unpublished case pertaining to the Whistleblowers’ Protection Act (WPA).  Davis was a veteran teacher who “had received exemplary evaluations for her performance, and she had received an evaluation rating of ‘highly effective’ for the [2014‑2015] school year.”  But, in 2015, […]

On June 30, 2020, the United States Supreme Court struck down a broadly-worded and strictly-enforced “no-aid” provision of Montana’s constitution, interpreted to prohibit aid to religious schools. Espinoza v Montana Dept of Revenue, 591 US ___ (2020). Espinoza arose from a Montana statute that provided tuition assistance to parents who chose to send their children […]

On June 30, 2020, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in B.L. v Mahanoy Area Sch Dist, a case originating in Pennsylvania.  There, a disgruntled cheerleader, who had tried out for the varsity squad but was kept on the junior varsity squad, posted a “snap” on Snapchat containing the caption “fuck cheer.”  […]

On June 15, 2020, the United States Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in Bostock v Clayton County, Georgia.  Bostock involved three cases from different parts of the country: in the first case, an employee was terminated after he joined a gay recreational softball league; in the second case, an employee was terminated after he […]

The Michigan Court of Appeals recently released its decision in Jewett v Mesick Consol Sch Dist, ___ Mich App ___ (2020), which involved a claim of employment discrimination under Michigan’s Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act (PWDCRA).  The relevant facts are as follows:  Plaintiff, Randy Jewett, was hired as a custodian for the Defendant School […]