Chris Edmunds Law Office has filed suit against Mount Carmel Academy, a large all-girls Catholic high school in New Orleans. We represent a 13 year old girl with cerebral palsy who uses a wheelchair for mobility. After inquiring with the admissions office about attending the school, the girl’s mother (who is a Mount Carmel alumnus) received a voicemail from the school’s President, Sister Camille Anne Campbell. The message stated that “we do not have the accommodations” for a child in a wheelchair, because of the “number of buildings” and “number of floors in the buildings.” This is false: Mount Carmel has elevators in their buildings and can easily accommodate a student in a wheelchair. Worse, Sister Camille Anne told the girl’s mother that the Mount Carmel’s “academic program would be substantially difficult for her,” even though Mount Carmel never saw (or asked for) the child’s grades. In other words, the school assumed that, because the child has a physical disability, the child would struggle academically. This is an offensive assumption, and it’s contradicted by the child’s grades, which are excellent.
WWL TV covered the story, which you can read here:
One unfortunate aspect of WWL’s story is that it gives the impression that Mount Carmel is exempt from federal law. Not so. Though the Americans with Disabilities Act does exempt “religious organizations,” Mount Carmel is not off the hook. Schools that receive federal funds must comply with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. And wouldn’t you know it? Mount Carmel received between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000 from the Paycheck Protection Program, also known as a “PPP loan.” A federal loan is a contract, with terms and conditions. And one of those conditions is that Mount Carmel cannot discriminate on the basis of disability until it pays off the loan in full. Mount Carmel will be held legally accountable for their actions.
Fortunately, two other news stations, WDSU and WGNO, cleared it up, explaining that Mount Carmel is a recipient of federal funds and therefore cannot discriminate against people with disabilities. You can watch WGNO’s report here and watch WDSU’s report here:
Our client wants all children to have the same opportunities. That’s why we are demanding that Mount Carmel change its policies and undergo remedial training on disability discrimination. Part of the Catholic teaching is that we are all God’s children and that we should protect the most vulnerable people among us. Obviously, Mount Carmel has strayed from that teaching. We’ll see them in court.
Listen to the voicemail below:
