Los Angeles (May 31, 2023): After a court battle that has lasted nearly seven years, a federal court jury last week found that the Los Angeles Community College District discriminated against two blind students, Roy Payan and Portia Mason, by failing to ensure them an equal educational opportunity as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act. The jury ruled that the schools discriminated in fourteen distinct ways, including by maintaining inaccessible websites, library resources, and educational software, as well as by failing to provide timely accessible course materials. It further found that in most instances, the District had discriminated intentionally through its deliberate indifference to its legal obligations. The jury awarded Mr. Payan and Ms. Mason a total of $242,500 in damages. The plaintiffs were supported in the litigation by the National Federation of the Blind, the transformative advocacy organization of blind Americans.

Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: “The National Federation of the Blind is committed to working collaboratively with educational institutions to help them create an accessible and inclusive environment. At the same time, we will fight for as long as it takes to vindicate the rights of blind students in court when institutions are unwilling to take advantage of available resources and the lived experience of blind people to guide them in meeting their legal and moral obligations. We thank the jurors in this case for recognizing the harm that was done to these students, and we are proud to have supported their fight for justice. It is long past time for institutions of higher education to lead the way in collaboration with the disability community rather than to perpetuate the history of low expectations that hold blind students back.”

“This moment has been a long time in coming, and I am so grateful to the supporters and to the legal team that have brought us here,” said Portia Mason. “I know that this team will continue to put its best efforts behind our cause in any further proceedings.”

“My grateful thanks for an amazing legal team from Brown Goldstein & Levy and Patricia Barbosa from the Barbosa Group,” said Roy Payan. “This win is not so much a win just for Portia and me, but for all those students who will continue to come after us who may be too afraid, timid, or intimidated by threats from the institutions to advocate for themselves. We follow in the footsteps of Robert F. Kennedy when he said, ‘There are those who look at things the way they are and ask why. I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?’ I see a world where I won’t have to beg for the accommodations I deserve, where I am provided the freedom of independence all others enjoy.”