Yes. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act as well as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibit any intimidation or abusive behavior related to a student’s disability that creates a hostile environment for the student and causes them to lose education, services, and activities for which they are eligible. To be illegal, the behavior must be severe, persistent, and pervasive. However, a one-time conduct can violate the law if it is very severe.[1]
Harassment can occur in different forms – verbal; nonverbal, and physically threatening, harmful and humiliating, and can be present even if the student does not show a tangible effect. Disparaging comments, obstructing accessible paths, inappropriate physical restraints and denial of school activities such as field trips and school assemblies could all be unlawful harassment if they meet the criteria.[2]
Once the school or the educational agency knows or should know about the harassment/bullying, it must take prompt and thorough steps to determine what happened, end the harassment, eliminate the hostile environment and its effects, and prevent the harassment from recurring.[3]
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has also stated that an appropriate response to eliminate harassment may include: separating the victim from the accused harasser, providing counseling to both the victim and the harasser, taking disciplinary action against the harasser, providing training to school staff and the larger school community, and issuing and disseminating new policies and procedures against harassment.[4]