Legal Update for Special Education Law – Case Law Update

District Court Dismisses, with Prejudice, Disability Discrimination Suit Brought by Prospective Medical Student with Disabilities. 
Zangara v. Nat’l Bd. of Med. Examiners, No. CV 23-3928, 2024 WL 4041759, at *1 (E.D. Pa. Sept. 4, 2024)

The plaintiff, a medical student with disabilities, claimed he failed to pass multiple examinations administered by the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME), the defendant, because the method the NBME uses to score its exams is inherently discriminatory to people with disabilities. According to the plaintiff’s complaint, the defendant scores exams, in part, by looking at how prior test-takers fared, which he says wrongly compares those with disabilities to those without disabilities. 

The plaintiff brought claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 1991, the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination and the New Jersey Civil Rights Act. In his amended complaint, the plaintiff sought injunctive relief and a declaratory judgment, requiring the NBME to score their exams “in a non-discriminatory manner; based strictly and solely on the test candidates own merit . . . not basing passing or failing on a test candidates comparison to any current or prior testing candidate”; i.e., to establish an entirely separate grading system for students with disabilities. He also filed an “Application for Order to Show Cause/Temporary Restraining Order/Motion for Preliminary Injunction” to block the defendant’s alleged scoring methodology.

While the ADA provides test-taking accommodations be afforded to qualifying individuals, the District Court held, in part: “…the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has a provision for examinations like the NBME’s. And usually, individuals in Mr. Zangara’s situation rely on that law to seek reasonable test-taking accommodations like extra time. Mr. Zangara, however, seeks something different and more sweeping . . . the ADA simply does not allow us to fundamentally re-shape medical licensing examinations or their grading procedures in the way he urges.” 

The court dismissed the plaintiff’s complaint with prejudice. For the same reasons, the court also denied his request for a temporary restraining order or a preliminary injunction. 

^{Legal Update for Special Education Law – October 2024 is prepared by Marshall Dennehey to provide information on recent legal developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. We would be pleased to provide such legal assistance as you require on these and other subjects when called upon. ATTORNEY ADVERTISING pursuant to New York RPC 7.1 Copyright © 2024 Marshall Dennehey, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm. For reprints or inquiries, or if you wish to be removed from this mailing list, contact tamontemuro@mdwcg.com.}