A Conversation with Paul Grossman – Resources

Guest: Paul Grossman, Retired, Chief Regional Civil Rights Attorney, U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and Member of West Coast Advisory Board, Disability Rights Advocates (DRA)
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/paul-grossman-715b6633
Host: Barry Whaley, M.S., Director of the Southeast ADA Center, Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University
Recording Date: October 20, 2023
Archive: A Conversation with Paul Grossman

Contents

About the 504@50 Podcast Series

504@50 is a special interview series created in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. In the series, we speak with leaders of the disability rights movement who advance the cause of equal rights through their tireless work.

The 504@50 Series is produced by the Southeast ADA Center, the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University and in collaboration with the Disability Inclusive Employment Policy Rehabilitation Research and Training Center. Check out the Section 504@50 website at section504at50.org/

About This Episode

Professor Macfarlane is a leading expert on civil procedure, civil rights litigation, and disability law. She has also served as the Special Counsel to the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights, working on the overhaul of regulations implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, focusing on the regulations’ higher education provisions. Professor Macfarlane will also talk about her experiences as a child with a disability and how they shaped her life and work as a disability rights advocate, student, lawyer, author, professor, and policymaker.
h2 id=”504″>Section 504, the ADA, and Other Civil Rights Cases Discussed in This Episode

  • Morgan v. Hennigan [Boston School Desegregation Case]
    1:72-cv-00911 | U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
    Filed Date: March 15, 1972
    Closed Date: May 31, 1990
    Key Issues: Race discrimination, classification/placement, education, racial segregation, school/university facilities, school/university policies, staff (number, training, qualifications, wages), disparate impact, disparate treatment.
    Source: Civil Rights Clearinghouse
    Link: clearinghouse.net/case/12240
  • Legal Definitions of the Terms “Disparate Impact” and “Disparate Treatment”
    Source: Cornell University Law School Legal Information Institute
    Link: bit.ly/3QPj1pp
  • Payan v. Los Angeles Community College District (LCCD) (2021)
    This was a case brought by blind students who wanted the textbooks, handouts, websites, and other technology they used at school to be accessible to them. They sued in federal court under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
    Source: Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF)
    Link: dredf.org/2021/12/16/payan-v-laccd-explainer
  • Lau v. Nichols (1973)
    Lau and other students of Chinese descent who did not speak English and received no supplemental English courses brought a class action suit against the San Francisco Unified School District. The students claimed that the failure to provide supplemental English classes constituted an unequal educational opportunity in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
    Source: Oyez (U.S. Supreme Court)
    Link: oyez.org/cases/1973/72-6520
  • Doe v. CVS Pharmacy (2020)
    Issue in this case: Whether Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 – and by extension Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which incorporates the “enforcement mechanisms” of other federal antidiscrimination statutes – provides a disparate-impact cause of action for plaintiffs alleging disability discrimination.
    Source: Cornell University Law School Legal Information Institute
    Link: law.cornell.edu/supct/cert/20-1374
  • Court Decision: Doe v. CVS Pharmacy, Inc. (2020)
    Source: Southeast ADA Center
    Link: adasoutheast.org/court/doe-v-cvs-pharmacy

Proposed Changes to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act

Paul Grossman’s Life and Work

Section 504, Disability and Civil Rights History

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Visit the Section 504@50 website at: section504at50.org/
The 504@50 Series is produced by the Southeast ADA Center, the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University, and in collaboration with the Disability Inclusive Employment Policy Rehabilitation Research and Training Center.