Disability Discrimination in Higher Education: Symposium on Higher Education and the Courts

Major developments occurred in 1999 and in early 2000 in the law of disability discrimination as it relates to higher education. The Supreme Court decided a trilogy of cases on whether persons whose impairments are ameliorated by medication, appliances and other mitigating measures are individuals with disabilities covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Other courts handed down decisions concerning the definition of a qualified person with a disability; accommodation, and undue hardship; the proof of intentional discrimination, harassment, and retaliation; Eleventh Amendment questions; various remedial issues; and government benefits matters. This article will discuss the assorted disability discrimination cases from 1999 and from early 2000. The federal laws at issue in nearly all of the controversies are the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (504).