A federal judge dismissed a long-standing lawsuit against Capella University that had claimed the online university’s course-management software discriminated against people with disabilities. The judge decided that a former student was not disabled under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Even if he was, the judge said, the institution had provided reasonable accommodations.
Details of this decision came from a U.S. District Court memorandum last month. In the lawsuit, Jeffry La Marca, who argued he had cognitive and memory disorders, said problems arising from the university’s switch to WebCT, an online course-management program, prevented him from fully accessing course material. He also said the university did not sufficiently accommodate him despite his disability.
However, Judge Marc L. Goldman of the Central District in California wrote in his decision that La Marca’s disabilities did not substantially limit his capacity to learn given his past academic success.
In regard to accommodations, Capella offered “one-on-one interaction with instructors,” according to the court document, and “a directed study program would have addressed every issue [the] Plaintiff raised.”
Capella suspended La Marca from the university after he wrote several complaints on a class discussion board in 2004. He said the action was discriminatory, and in retaliation against his complaints about WebCT. The judge wrote that he did not find La Marca’s suspension to be either — rather, it was an action to stop his disruptive posts on a class discussion board. — Hurley Goodall
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