Disabled Teacher Says He Had to Drag Himself

NEWARK, N.J. (CN) - Mount Carmel Guild Academy moved a disabled art teacher's classroom to the second floor without providing wheelchair access, forcing him to "crawl up and down the steps each school day, asking passing colleagues or students to bring his wheelchair to the level to which he was slithering," James Jeffreys claims in Essex County Court.

For one school year, Jeffreys says he endured the "humiliation, indignity and physical strain" of having to crawl to and from his second-floor classroom and the basement cafeteria.

He filed his disability discrimination lawsuit against academy owners Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Newark and Catholic Health and Human Services Corp., principal James Badavas and superintendent Joseph Marino.

His attorney is Edward Kopelson of Montclair, N.J.

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit