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ORLEANS PARISH SCHOOL BOARD WILL PAY $80,000 AND

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Orleans Parish School Board in New Orleans will adopt a new system-wide policy to address the needs of individuals with disabilities who request accommodations in accordance with the Americans With Disabilities Act ("ADA"), the Justice Department announced today. In settling three complaints of discrimination, the School Board also agreed to provide annual training to its employees who are responsible for such requests, and the School Board is prohibited from engaging in discrimination or retaliation in violation of the ADA. The School Board will pay the two affected individuals $30,000 and $50,000 as monetary settlements of their claims of discrimination.

"These Settlements represent the Department's ongoing commitment to protecting the rights of individuals with disabilities, including individuals with HIV, from unlawful employment discrimination when requesting reasonable accommodations for their disabilities," said Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Bill Lann Lee.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's regional office in New Orleans referred the complaints of discrimination to the Justice Department. The Orleans Parish School Board was found by the Justice Department to have discriminated against two school teachers with HIV in violation of the ADA by refusing to provide them with the reasonable accommodation of air-conditioned classrooms. Both of the teachers will be re-instated to teaching positions in the Orleans Parish School System in the Fall of the 2000-2001 school year.

The ADA prohibits public and private employers from discriminating against a qualified individual with a disability by failing to provide him or her with a reasonable accommodation.