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College disability accommodations

Penny Alexandra Jackson v. University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center School of Medicine

Updated Nov 11, 2026

In brief

Where it stands
Petition Pending

Awaiting an order on the petition

No decision timeline until the Court agrees to hear the case.

What it’s about
Penny Jackson says UT Southwestern delayed and inadequately provided disability accommodations, contributing to exam failures and her dismissal; lower courts found she did not qualify for protection under disability laws because of those failures, without deciding whether the accommodations were adequate.
What's at stake
The Supreme Court has not decided whether to review Jackson’s challenge to the lower courts’ handling of her disability claims.

Summary: written with AI from the case record.

What it's about

Her petition was distributed for a Supreme Court conference, which is not a decision to hear it.

Jackson says delayed or inadequate accommodations contributed to exam failures and her dismissal. The lower courts found she did not qualify for disability-law protection based on those failures, without deciding whether the accommodations were adequate.

Jackson’s petition raises questions about disability accommodations for students, academic results under disputed accommodations, and what evidence courts must consider before ending a claim.

Question presented

1. Whether a plaintiff may be held, as a matter of law, not to be a “qualified individual” under 42 U.S.C. § 12131(2) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act on the basis of academic outcomes obtained under the very accommodations whose adequacy is the disputed question in the case — so that the injury alleged becomes conclusive proof that the plaintiff was never qualified. 2. Whether Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c)(3), which provides that a court “need consider only the cited materials, but it may consider other materials in the record,” permits entry of summary judgment against a nonmovant on a dispositive element without any determination whether the evidence in the summary judgment record would permit a reasonable jury to find in her favor. 3. Whether the elements of a failure-to-accommodate claim brought by a student under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act are supplied by the employment framework of Title I, so that a public university is held to the notice and accommodation obligations of a “covered employer.”?

What happens next

The petition is set for a Nov. 13, 2026 conference, where the Court may consider whether to hear it. That date is not a promised decision date.

Documents

1

Docket activity

5
  • New analysis added

    Nov 11, 2026 · Court records

  • AI analysis generated: Case Briefing

    Nov 11, 2026 · Generated

  • Case data updated: summary, question_presented, generation_metadata

    Nov 11, 2026 · Court records

  • Case data updated: question_presented, extraction_metadata

    Nov 11, 2026 · Court records

  • Brief added: Petition

    Sep 9, 2026 · Court records

Sources

Primary materials plus reporting. Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.

Checked Nov 11, 2026Methodology

Court records and filings

Reporting and analysis