Tennessee Taxpayers To Pay Legal Fees For Plaintiffs Who Attempted To Force All Students Into Masks
Shortly After A Lawsuit Was Filed By 8 Families Saying That Parents Being Able To Make The Choice Whether To Send Their Children To School Without Masks Was A Violation Of Their Rights, A New Tennessee Law Was Passed That Effectively Made Their Case Moot. However, The Legal Fees Associated With Their Case Didn’t Disappear And A Court Has Ruled That Taxpayers Are Now Responsible For Covering Them.
Image Credit: Alliance for Excellent Education / CC
The Tennessee Conservative [By Kelly M. Jackson] –
In August of 2021 Governor Bill Lee signed Executive Order 84, which allowed parents to exercise their inherent control over the health of their own children and send them to school without a mask.
With surprising speed, as noted in reports at the time, a lawsuit was filed by the families of 8 children who claimed that allowing for such a thing violated their rights as disabled persons.
This stance is based on an interpretation by their attorneys of the Americans With Disabilities Act that states that “reasonable” accommodations must be made in order for disabled people to gain access to all the same public spaces and benefits that able-bodied people enjoy.
Title I of the ADA states that employers are required to “provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities who are employees or applicants for employment, unless to do so would cause undue hardship”. This statute also applies to schools.
The phrase “undue hardship” took on a historically uncharacteristic meaning after a federal judge awarded an injunction enjoining Governor Lee’s Executive Order and declaring that it violated the ADA by allowing parents to send their children to school without a mask, in violation of the Shelby County Schools mask mandate at the time.
The judge argued that the request was “reasonable” in comparison to “more costly and inefficient alternatives.” Those alternatives were never expressly stated, so there is no way of knowing whether or not this is objectively true. Studies have shown that good ventilation in schools reduces the spread of airborne illnesses – the CDC’s top recommendation was simply to open a window.
Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, legislation was passed in the General Assembly (The Covid -19 ACT) that addressed masking in schools, and the governor signed that legislation, effectively ending his executive order. This made the lawsuit a moot point, and it was dropped.
The legal bills from those cases, however, didn’t disappear like the cases did from the court docket. The lawyers from those cases decided to sue the state of Tennessee for payment of their legal expenses and the 6th District Court of Appeals has granted their request.
The Court states that they are siding with the plaintiffs in this case because even though the legislation made the lawsuit a moot point, before that, their suit had some moderate success in that it successfully argued for and was granted the injunction to stop the implementation of the order.
Intimating that had the suit been allowed to proceed, their likelihood of enduring success in a permanent injunction against the order was good enough to declare them as “victors” in the suit, a requirement in order to win the demand for payment of the legal expenses in the original suit.
The amount that will be paid at the expense of the taxpayers is $129,000. There is no indication that the state intends to elevate this issue to The Supreme Court, which would be its only recourse if it wished to challenge the rationale of the 6th Circuit’s Appeals Court.
About the Author: Kelly Jackson is a recent escapee from corporate America, and a California refugee to Tennessee. Christ follower, Wife and Mom of three amazing teenagers. She has a BA in Comm from Point Loma Nazarene University, and has a background in law enforcement and human resources. Since the summer of 2020, she has spent any and all free time in the trenches with local grassroots orgs, including Mom’s for Liberty Williamson County and Tennessee Stands as a core member. Outspoken advocate for parents rights, medical freedom, and individual liberty. Kelly can be reached at kelly@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
“Title I of the ADA states that employers are required to “provide reasonable accommodation…”
The students of a public school are not employees, so the accommodating part doesn’t apply. They are more like the public entering a business. Non-public access areas are not necessarily required to be accessible- even by employees. E.g., a school commercial kitchen doesn’t have wheelchair accessible cooklines/appliances – because that accommodation isn’t reasonable. While the corrupt judge can claim hollow victory, the fact that the state law cannot be challenged as violating federal ADA requirements is proof enough that their claims are without merit. They cannot use ADA to force others to restrict their airways. That may be accommodating their neuroses, but not their actual physical disabilities, which is what the ADA addresses.
If I am not mistaken, Knox county had the same thing happen. 4 families filed suit pushing the mask mandate back. They only dropped the case after Knox county agreed to pay the legal fees.
Are there any judges left who aren’t nazi pedophiles? If so they seem to be in hiding.
Restore NON-LAWYER JUDGES.
For God & Country
Ruth you have an excellent idea. I remember how much better our laws were enforced in court than they are today. Lawyers look for loopholes so they can make the most money. Our country is in a sad situation.
Payment needs to come from the Federal Gov, who was behind all the lies and deception created by them in a attempt to control the masses. Better still out of their Personal Bank accounts.
Lucifer’s “maskers” and pubic ejikashun. Two abominations.