A class-action lawsuit alleging the Archdiocese of New Orleans discriminated against potentially thousands of school-age children with disabilities can move forward after nearly a year of delays, a federal district court judge has ruled.

The suit claims that local Catholic schools discriminate against prospective students with physical or learning disabilities by asking “unlawful” questions about medical information or disabilities on application forms in violation of Louisiana’s Civil Rights Act for Persons with Disabilities.

Friday’s ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Barry Ashe reverses an earlier ruling by U.S. District Bankruptcy Court Judge Meredith Grabill, who is presiding over the church’s ongoing bankruptcy case. Grabill had sided with the archdiocese last fall, placing a “stay” on the discrimination lawsuit, which put it on hold indefinitely.

But Ashe ruled that Grabill “erred” in her decision and sent the case back to state court in Orleans Parish, where it was originally filed last August.

“We are pleased with the federal district court’s ruling reversing the bankruptcy court,” said attorney Chris Edmunds, who filed the suit on behalf of two disabled students. “We are dismayed, however, that the archdiocese wasted so much of our time and the courts’ time by disingenuously invoking its bankruptcy as a basis to avoid accountability for a wholly unrelated lawsuit.”

A spokesperson for the archdiocese declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation.

Discriminatory practices

The lawsuit argues that Louisiana law prohibits educational institutions that receive state money from using an application for admissions that “elicits or attempts to elicit information … concerning the disability of an otherwise qualified applicant for discriminatory purposes.”

Local Catholic schools receive millions of dollars in state funds every year for textbooks, school lunches and other required services.

The suit cites specific questions from local school applications that ask applicants to “list any physical limitation” and “list any learning disabilities.”

Prior to filing the lawsuit, Edmunds asked the archdiocese to change the application. He filed suit because they did not, he previously said.

The suit does not seek damages but only asks the archdiocese to change the questions on its application forms.

The suit mentions two particular students who claim discrimination. They are identified by their initials.

But Edmunds filed the suit as a class action and will seek class certification for thousands of disabled children now that the court has cleared the way for the matter to move forward.

Heading to trial

Ashe’s ruling appears to be a rare blow to the archdiocese, which has so far seen few adverse rulings in its three-year-old bankruptcy case. The Chapter 11 case was filed in May 2020 amid mounting claims of child sex abuse at the hands of priests and other clergy. Since then nearly 500 people have put in claims for compensation based on alleged abuse.

Edmunds’ case does not allege clergy sex abuse or seek monetary compensation from the archdiocese.

But attorneys for the archdiocese had argued the discrimination suit could affect the bankruptcy proceedings and thus tried to block the case from going forward.

In a ruling last October, U.S. District Court Judge Greg Guidry ruled in favor of Edmunds’ clients and sent the case back to state court, writing that “the remedy plaintiffs are pursuing will not affect the defendant’s bankruptcy estate.”

But in response to a separate court filing, Grabill sided with the archdiocese.

Edmunds appealed her ruling to Guidry, but he has since recused himself from the case because of a potential conflict, so Ashe is now hearing appeals in the case. Under bankruptcy court law, district court judges hear appeals of bankruptcy court rulings. 

With Ashe’s decision, Edmunds notes, two district court judges have affirmed his case can go forward.

“Though the archdiocese’s gambit succeeded in delaying our suit by nearly a year, we are prepared to promptly and vigorously prosecute our state-court lawsuit, to ensure that Catholic schools are prohibited from unlawfully discriminating against prospective students with physical disabilities, emotional disabilities, or learning disabilities,” he said.