K.C. v. O'Connell
Published: Sep. 22, 2007 | Result Date: Aug. 8, 2007 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: C054077 Settlement – Nonmonetary
Court
USDC Northern
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Michael F. McCabe
(Littler Mendelson PC)
Arlene B. Mayerson
(Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund Inc.)
Facts
In 2005, four Northern Californian families and the American Diabetes Association (ADA) alleged California state school districts were not providing insulin administration and other services to students with diabetes-related disabilities who were legally entitled to them at school. They filed a federal class action suit against defendants the California Department of Education (CDE), two Bay Area schools (San Ramon Valley and Fremont), and the California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell under federal disability civil rights and special education laws. They claimed that a lack of a uniform policy where school officials are qualified to administer blood-sugar tests or insulin shots was discriminatory.
Result
Non-monetary settlement. Under the settlement mediated before retired Judge Coleman Fannin, students suffering from diabetes will receive federal disability rights and be offered the treatment they need at school. The agreement provides that when school nurses or other school health care professionals are not available, an unlicensed yet adequately trained school employee may administer insulin pursuant to the student's physician's orders. The case took three years to settle.
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