California Business Litigation Blog

A spokesperson for the Milton Hershey School in Hershey, Pennsylvania announced that the school is the subject of a lawsuit by the family of a 13-year-old honor student who was denied admittance because he is HIV-positive. A spokesperson for the school characterized the action by the child's parents "adversarial."

According to the spokesperson, Connie McNamara, the school refused to admit the boy over concerns about the safety of other students. "In order to protect our children in this unique environment, we cannot accommodate the needs of students with chronic communicable diseases that pose a direct threat to the health and safety of others," said McNamara. "The reason is simple. We are serving children, and no child can be assumed to always make responsible decisions that protect the well being of others."

Federal law, as well as Pennsylvania state law, prohibits schools from refusing to enroll students because they are HIV positive. Officials at the school, which was founded by the late chocolate magnate, assert that, because their school is a boarding school, they are not bound by these rules. "...Children live in homes with 10 to 12 other students...24 hours a day, 7 days a week," said McNamara.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the school's concerns are unfounded. HIV cannot be spread through casual contact, and other household members cannot contract HIV from toilet seats, silverware, dishes or by touching surfaces an infected person has touched.

Attorneys at the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, a non-profit organization, drew parallels between the current case and the Ryan White case. White, a middle-school student in Kokomo, Indiana, was initially denied the right to attend school because of his diagnosis. In that case, the school also cited the safety of other students as the reason for their actions. White went on to become a celebrated AIDS activist before his death in 1990.

"Like Ryan White, this young man is a motivated, intelligent kid who poses no health risk to other students, but is being denied an educational opportunity because of ignorance and fear about HIV and AIDS," said Ronda B. Goldfein of the AIDS Law Project.

A civil lawsuit brought against the Los Angeles County Office of Education was settled. The lawsuit stated that students within the district were being punished for asking for instruction and that teachers at the school in question, Camp Challenger in Lancaster, were routinely missing classes.

According to a statement released by the education office, the teaching staff will be examined and changes made. Teachers will be retrained. In addition, as part of the lawsuit settlement, career programs and new literacy programs will be put into place. The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit.

According to the ACLU, students were graduating from the school without being able to read. According to Mark Rosenbaum, who is the attorney working on behalf of the ACLU, “these kids could not fill out job applications or read basic signs.”

In the lawsuit, it is alleged that the civil rights violations occurred and deprivation of education that is legally mandated was not provided to students enrolled at the facility. As a result of the class action lawsuit, about one quarter of the teachers have been transferred or resigned. The principal and the assistant principals may face legal charges. A federal judge will need to approve the settlement.

The office of education is like to work with various professionals to improve the education of youths who attend the high school. In addition, the county’s educational program will move towards courses that include special education, instruction, literacy and other areas of specific need. Another action of the settlement forms the Challenger Reform Taskforce, which will be responsible for monitoring the reforms occurring at the school to ensure they are being taken seriously. The county will also likely pay attorney’s fees and other expenses related to the case.

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In Connecticut, a federal judge will rule on whether or not cheerleading is a sport. The lawsuit filed by the Connecticut's Quinnipiac University's volleyball members and its coach, Robin Sparks, further looks at whether schools need to look for other ways to meet the gender equity requirements. The school cut the women's volleyball team last year and instead put in place a competitive cheer squad.

The judge in the case, Judge Stefan Underhill, further needs to determine if the school manipulated the size of its rosters on other teams to ensure that it meet the requirements of Title IX, a federal law established in 1972 that requires all schools to offer equal options for men and women in athletics. The judge has ruled that the lawsuit should be a class action suit for all current and future female athletes at the school. The trial will go to US District Court in Bridgeport for a decision.

The judge issued a temporary injunction last year to stop the school from disbanding the volleyball team until a decision is made. That decision was made because Underhill found that the school was over reporting the number of participant opportunities for females and underreporting those for men.

The case has drawn attention by other women's sports players and coaches. Not only will the case decide if cheerleading is a sport, but also what requirements need to be put in place for counting players. For example, the women's track athletes are counted three times as members of outdoor, indoor and cross country teams.

Upon investigation, it was determined the school's men's baseball and lacrosse teams would drop players before they had to report to the Department of Education. Then, they would reinstate the players after reports were submitted. The opposite was true for the women's softball team, where players were added prior to reporting, knowing those players would not play. The school's officials declined to comment about the lawsuit, but believe that it is in compliance with Title IX.

Students and coaches are unable to comment on the case. However, attorneys for the plaintiffs stated that the lawsuit is significant because it is the first to rule on whether competitive cheer is a sport. The cheer coach believes that cheerleading is a sport. The school says that the cheer squad offers more athletic opportunities for women and costs less. The judge has recognized that cheer does have competitive attributes, though it is not an NCAA recognized sport or emerging sport.

One of the qualifications to be in compliance with Title IX is that there must be a governing body for the sport. Quinnipiac has formed a governing body along with seven other schools called the National Competitive Stunts and Tumbling Association.

The school has said that any improper changes in rosters have stopped and that the percentage of men and women athletes is now in line with the population of the school and in compliance with Title IX.

Continue reading "Federal Trial Could Answer Question: Is Cheerleading a Sport?" »