A paraplegic University of New Orleans student says he isn’t being provided proper accommodations for his disability.
Noah Hansard of Jefferson Parish filed his complaint September 25 in federal court against the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System as the public entity responsible for the University of New Orleans and ULS President Richard Gallot Jr.
According to the complaint, Hansard enrolled at UNO in 2018 and was majoring in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.
But in August 2022, Hansard was shot and left paralyzed from his midsection down. He was forced to be away from studies for a period of time while he stabilized. He now requires a wheelchair for mobility, and he says he has been battling pressure ulcers and sepsis.
Until that is managed, Hansard says he requires an accommodation of attending lectures or in-person events remotely via computer.
Last fall, he returned to his studies at UNO, but he says he experienced disability-related discrimination as well as encountering physical barriers to access.
In the fall 2023 semester, Hansard took a class taught by Professor Lothar Birk, who signed a student accommodation agreement on September 8, 2023. But Hansard says the audio and video quality on the Zoom link provided to him was sometimes poor and sometimes would fail completely.
When Hansard asked Birk to upload multiple lectures that he couldn’t understand because of the technical issues, he says he didn’t receive a response from Birk and did not receive the recordings.
On November 12, Hansard emailed Academic Advisor Marty Manchester D’Aunoy and Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering department head Nikolas Xiros about the issues. The next day, Birk admitted the technology had been failing.
“Unfortunately, our classroom technology is not great and sometimes fails altogether,” Birk wrote. “The NAME Computer Lab where I held most of the recitations is not setup for streaming at all.”
Birk also said he was too busy to upload the lectures requested by Hansard.
“I simply do not have the time to search and upload the Zoom recordings,” Birk said.
Hansard says the department took no action to remedy the situation. He says he fell behind in the class and was given a D grade at the end of the semester. He says Birk’s failure to adequately accommodate him was the reason for the poor grade.
He also says his academic career was impeded because he was unable to take the next required class because of the poor grade. He did audit that class and says he would have passed the course with distinction. He also had to retake the other course this semester, disrupting his academic progress and resulting in additional expense.
Hansard says the D grade also has tarnished his academic transcript, making him less appealing to potential employers.
In addition, Hansard says UNO’s campus architectural barriers that make navigating the property in his wheelchair difficult.
He accuses the defendants of violating Title II of the Americans with Disability Act by failing and/or refusing to provide necessary accommodation to ensure he is able to participate in classes, study and review class material as well as prepare for and take exams. This, he says, has caused him to suffer loss of educational opportunities, lowered grades, delayed education, stress, anxiety and invasion of his civil rights. He also accuses the defendants of violating Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
Hansard seeks a declaratory judgment saying the defendants’ policies, procedures and practices have subjected him to unlawful discrimination. He also seeks a permanent injunction ordering Gallot to have the board stop violating the ADA and the RA as well as an injunction to stop future discrimination against him or others with a disability and to develop policy requiring that students needing virtual attendance to receive the same opportunities as students attending in person, including class lecture recordings be provided within 24 hours.
He also seeks compensatory, nominal and actual damages as well as attorney fees, court costs, interest and other relief.
Hansard is being represented by Andrew D. Bizer of Bizer & DeReus in New Orleans.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana case number 2:24-cv-2332