D. v. Arab City Board of Education, et al.

On September 26, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama granted summary judgment in favor of the Arab City Board of Education and school officials. The plaintiff, D., an elementary student with autism, endured persistent physical and verbal bullying by classmates at Arab Primary School. His parents sued under Title II of the ADA and Section 504, arguing that the school knew of the abuse but failed to take effective action, amounting to disability-based harassment. The defendants maintained they had responded reasonably to each reported incident. Judge Abdul K. Kallon ruled that, while the bullying was deeply troubling, the plaintiffs failed to show the school acted with deliberate indifference; its responses were not clearly unreasonable. Consequently, all federal claims were dismissed.

The court granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment and dismissed all federal claims.

Whether the school district's response to the peer harassment of a student with a disability rose to the level of deliberate indifference in violation of Title II of the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

The ruling clarified the demanding deliberate indifference standard required to hold schools liable for disability-based peer bullying, reinforcing that a plaintiff must prove the school's response was clearly unreasonable. It set a high evidentiary bar for similar future litigation and spurred debate over the adequacy of federal protections for students with disabilities facing harassment.