A family in Palo Alto, CA sued their child's middle school for dismissing their son after teachers learned he has a genetic marker related to cystic fibrosis.
Colman Chadam's parents claim that the teachers who knew about Colman's condition revealed this confidential information to other parents, who felt that their children were at risk with Chadam being in school. These were the same parents who ordered the student's removal from the school, according to Wired.
Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a genetic condition that affects the lungs, pancreas and other organs. According to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF), people with the disease have inherited 2 copies a CF defective gene; a copy from each parent. People only having a single copy of the gene is called a carrier, and do not necessarily have the disease.
It all seemed like an episode from a TV show where someone who was potentially (or in this case predisposed) at risk for something is the one being penalized. However, after just a few weeks, Chadam was asked by the school to return through an injunction obtained by the family.
The Chadams have also filed a law suit against their son's school. Yahoo Parenting reported that the couple sighted that the school violated both the Americans With Disability Act and privacy rights. They made an appeal to the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last January and received support from the Department of Justice and the Department of Education through the amicus curiae brief.
In an interview with Buzzfeed, Stephen Jaffe, the family's lawyer, said that the Chadams would like the 9th Circuit to issue a statement saying that anyone cannot just ask someone to live a school because of a mere genetic marker. "The more people that get genetic testing done, either for medical reasons or recreationally, the more possibility this stuff gets out. ... It's not a great leap to be concerned about what happens to this information." Jaffe added.
Video Credit: youtube.com/pcouvignou
