Blogs

On Monday, June 15^th, the Supreme Court ruled that it is illegal for an employer to discriminate against an employee because of their sexual orientation or gender…

In a 5-4 decision, the US Supreme Court ruled today that the State of Illinois’ extraction of agency fees from non-consenting public-sector employees violates the First Amendment.

The decision, in Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, …

On Monday, Feb. 26, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Janus v. AFCSME, Council 31 regarding the constitutionality of requiring nonmember bargaining unit…

On Dec. 7, the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) released a Q&A document clarifying the scope of a free appropriate public education (FAPE) following the Supreme Court of the United States’ (SCOTUS) March 2017 decision in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District.

The SCOTUSblog provides resources…

Earlier today, the U.S. Supreme Court answered a question that it had deferred 35 years ago in its seminal opinion on education for children with disabilities—Board of Edn. of Hendrick Hudson Central School Dist. v. Rowley.

In Rowley, the court concluded that the guarantee of a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in what is now called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is met if a child’s individualized education program (IEP) sets out a program that is “reasonably calculated to enable the child to receive educational benefits.” However…

Earlier today, a unanimous United States Supreme Court issued its decision in the case of Fry v. Napoleon Community Schools.  The Court overturned the lower courts’ decisions and remanded the case to the appeals court to determine whether the plaintiffs’ suit is about a denial of a FAPE rather than discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Sec. 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.   

The Fry case involved E.F., a student with cerebral palsy, and her assistance dog, Wonder.  When E.F. was a kindergartner, her parents, Stacy and Brent Fry, asked…

On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Endrew F v.  Douglas County School District.  The case involves the legal standard the courts will apply when determining whether a school district has provided FAPE as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA). 

The question presented in this case involves IDEA’s provision that federal funds will be provided to states that make FAPE available to every eligible child with…

In a victory for Ohio schools, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously overturned the Ohio Supreme Court in Ohio v. Clark, finding that the admission of a teacher’s testimony regarding a pre-school student’s answers to her inquiries about suspicious injuries is not a violation of the Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause. OSBA’s Legal Assistance Fund joined the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and the National School Boards Association, and submitted an amicus brief arguing that the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision needed to be overturned.

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With less than a month remaining in the current term, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered an opinion on Monday that could have potential employment implications for Ohio school districts.

In EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, a clothing store declined to hire Samantha Elauf, a 17-year-old Muslim, because a religious headscarf that she wore to her interview conflicted with Abercrombie’s employee dress code policy.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed suit on…

This spring, the United States Supreme Court will hear the case of City of Ontario v. Quon, which questions whether the Fourth Amendment protects the privacy of text messages that a government employee sends by electronic device.

In 2001, the city of Ontario, California distributed pagers to a number of the employees in its police department. Jeff Quon, a member of the departments SWAT team, received one of the pagers. The city had no official policy governing…