Southeastern Community College v. Davis

In Southeastern Community College v. Davis (1979), the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) for the first time. Section 504 prohibits recipients of federal funds from discriminating against individuals with disabilities on the basis of their disabilities. The statute further requires federally funded programs to provide reasonable accommodations to otherwise qualified individuals with disabilities so that they can participate in these programs. In Davis, the Court defined the term otherwise qualified as it is used in Section 504. Under the Court's definition, institutions of higher education can consider the effects of individuals' disabilities in evaluating whether they are otherwise qualified. Further, the Court indicated that Section 504's mandate to provide reasonable accommodations does not require institutional [Page ...