ADA Exception for Religious Schools and Defamation Against Parents

A recent decision in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey analyzes the religious organizations exception under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. Section 12182, as it applies to private schools and also evaluates whether a school has any claims against a parent for defamation. In Sky R. v. Haddonfield Friends School, U.S.D.C., N.J., Civil Action No. 14-5730, U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez of the District of New Jersey provides a thorough analysis of both concepts and shows that the court can giveth and taketh away.

The lawsuit was initiated against Haddonfield Friends School (HFS) by the mother of a 10-year-old boy, Sky, who was expelled from the school on Feb. 13, 2014. Sky was diagnosed with attention dysfunction and dyslexia and his mother claims that HFS discriminated against Sky by failing to allow appropriate and reasonable modifications for his disabilities and by shaming and humiliating him due to his disabilities. The mother asserted claims for discrimination and retaliation under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. Section 794, Title III of the ADA and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, N.J. Stat. Ann. Section 10:5-1 (NJLAD). HFS moved for partial summary judgment with regard to the ADA and the NJLAD claims arguing that the ADA exemption based upon control by a religious organization applies. The ADA provides, “No individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any person who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation.” However, Title III of the ADA contains an exemption for “religious organizations or entities controlled by ­religious organizations.” More ­specifically, the exemption states that “if a church itself operates a day care center, a nursing home, a private school or a diocesan school system, the operations of the center, home, school, or schools would not be subject to the requirements of the ADA.”