Sarah Hernandez, a former member of the Enfield Board of Education and one of the first openly autistic individuals elected to public office, won a federal jury verdict against the town and the board last week.
The lawsuit alleged that the board discriminated against her by failing to provide necessary accommodations for her participation on the board. For example, she requested communication via text or email between meetings and permission to use a whiteboard for note-taking during executive sessions. However, the lawsuit asserted that the board and town denied these requests for basic accommodations over two years.
The town and the school board have not said whether they plan to appeal.
While the jury did not award compensatory damages, they did grant Hernandez $10 in nominal damages. The judge has yet to rule on potential injunctive relief for Hernandez.
“All people deserve equity in access to serve in government and have laws, policies, and procedures created of the people, by the people, for the people,” Sarah Hernandez said in a statement. “This includes the disability community, and especially multiply marginalized intersections such as nonspeakers and people of color. Protecting the disability community is a moral imperative. Communication and accommodation rights are protected by the ADA, and it
was my literal privilege to step to the line and affirm those protections.”
Hernandez served on the board from 2017 to 2019. She filed the lawsuit in 2019 because her motivation for running for a position on the board was to be a voice for people with disabilities, and the voters of Enfield elected her to fulfill that role. In addition to her autism, Hernandez has disclosed that she is hard of hearing and faces auditory processing challenges, which make it difficult for her to comprehend telephone and in-person conversations.
To ensure effective communication, Hernandez repeatedly informed the school board of her need for written materials, the ability to read lips, and note-taking during executive sessions.
Hernandez was represented in the case by attorneys Anthony May and Eve Hill of Brown, Goldstein & Levy, along with Kasey Considine and Deborah Dorfman of Disability Rights Connecticut.
“At every step of the way, the Defendants have fought against Ms. Hernandez, who was simply asking to serve on the Board in the same capacity as her peers; to do the job for which she was elected,” Anthony May of Brown, Goldstein & Levy, said. “In reaching its decision, the jury sent the message that people with disabilities have the right to participate equally in government, and that they have the right to have their voices heard.”
Disability Rights Connecticut supervising attorney Kasey Considine said “Hopefully, the jury’s verdict in Ms. Hernandez’s case serves as an example for other public offices to accommodate elected officials with disabilities.”
