Federal court denies claim of associational discrimination

Earlier this year, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in Flagg v. Alimed, Inc. that an employee could pursue a claim of disability discrimination on the theory that he was terminated due to a family member's disability. The Flagg decision was the first time that an "associational discrimination" claim based on disability was recognized under state law in Massachusetts. 

Last week, a federal judge in Boston refused to extend Flagg and the associational discrimination to claims involving advocacy on behalf of disabled persons. The plaintiff in Perez v. Greater New Bedford Vocational Technical School District was a special education teacher who alleged that she was terminated due to her support for her disabled students.  Judge Dennis Saylor reasoned that associational discrimination cases like Flagg generally involved a familial relation between the plaintiff and handicapped person. Moreover, Judge Saylor explained that the plaintiff claimed that she was terminated due to her advocacy, but not did not claim that she was subjected to the same "prejudices, stereotypes, and unfounded fear" that marks discrimination against disabled persons.