The Southern Poverty Law Center filed a federal lawsuit against Georgia’s Walton County School District for unlawfully denying E.C., a minor, the public education to which he is entitled under federal law.
Instead of providing E.C. with necessary individualized services and accommodations for his disability, the complaint states that defendants did the opposite — squeezing E.C. into existing programs and practices while refusing to modify those programs and practices to allow E.C. to benefit from his education.
The complaint details how E.C. struggled in school for years while the district refused to accommodate and serve his disabilities. The district then moved E.C. into an entirely virtual alternative education program where E.C. fell further behind because of his neurological differences. When E.C. challenged the district’s discriminatory conduct, the lawsuit states that the district retaliated, changing E.C.’s schedule, placing him on an alternative graduation track and impeding his ability to fulfill his dream of going to college and becoming a veterinarian. According to the complaint, the district attempts to avoid its obligations and shield itself from liability at the expense of certain students like E.C. But E.C. and his family refuse to accept defendants’ violations, refuse to yield to defendants’ retaliation and refuse to give up on E.C.’s education.
The lawsuit seeks damages, injunctive relief, and compensatory education for E.C., and a declaration that the district violates the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
The case was filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, Athens Division.
