School Board of Nassau County v. Arline

School Board of Nassau County v. Arline (1987) centered on the difficult dilemma that occurs when the rights of individuals with disabilities must be balanced against the authority of officials in school systems to take action to protect the health and well-being of others. At issue in Arline was whether Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 applied to persons with communicable diseases and if so, what should be done in evaluating whether such individuals could be reasonably accommodated. According to Section 504, “No otherwise qualified handicapped individual… shall, solely by reason of his handicap, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” In Arline, the U.S. ...