No Private Retaliation Right Under Rehab Act, Sixth Cir. Holds

A federal law barring recipients of federal funding from discriminating based on disability doesn’t provide a private cause of action for retaliation claims, unlike other major anti-discrimination laws, a federal appellate court found.

The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in a split decision Friday held that Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act doesn’t include an explicit anti-retaliation provision like Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act or the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The ruling established precedent in the Sixth Circuit, which covers the states of Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee. For at least 25 years, the ...