After eight years at Byrne Elementary, CPS clerk Judy Mahoney faces a layoff on July 1 due to budget cuts, despite school and community support. The decision has sparked accusations of disability discrimination by the Local School Council (LSC).
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, employers must provide reasonable accommodations unless doing so creates “undue hardship” — a legal term that allows institutions to cite financial constraints. CPS has not publicly stated whether it’s invoking this exception.
Following a car accident in which she was hit by a drunk driver, Mahoney was left paralyzed from the waist down in 2017. CPS transferred her from Whittier Elementary, a non-wheelchair-accessible school, to Byrne Elementary School, a wheelchair-accessible school…