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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Dyslexic student accuses WVU Tech of disability discrimination

Dyslexia text

CHARLESTON — A 20-year-old Ohio man claims West Virginia University Institute of Technology ("WVU Tech") broke its promises to make special arrangements to accommodate his learning disabilities.

Seth Jarrell filed a lawsuit Feb. 22 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia against WVU Tech and the West Virginia University Board of Governors, alleging discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

According to the complaint, Jarrell enrolled in WVU Tech in the fall of 2014 based on promises school officials made to accommodate his dyslexia and other learning disabilities while providing the opportunity to play collegiate basketball. However, the suit says the school broke most of those promises, such as not providing him with an affordable double-occupancy room with enough space for his special computer and software, prohibiting extra time for tests and writing assignments, and others.

When two professors gave Jarrell "D" grades after refusing to make the special arrangements he requested, his grade-point average fell below eligibility standards required to play basketball, the suit alleges. When Jarrell and his mother filed a complaint about disability discrimination, Jarrell was suspended from the school entirely until he was reinstated, according to the lawsuit.

Jarrell seeks a jury trial and damages in an amount to be determined at trial. He is represented by attorney Sean W. Cook of Meyer Ford & Glasser PLLC in Charleston.

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia Case number 2:16-cv-01757

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