Discipline & Students with Disabilities: What You Need to Know

Ms. Salonus is an Employment and Special Education attorney serving clients throughout Tennessee.

Ms. Salonus zealously represents employees in array of employment matters including cases of age discrimination under the ADEA; leave issues or interference under the FMLA; disability discrimination, retaliation, and failure to accommodate claims under the ADA; discrimination and retaliation under Title VII; and wrongful terminations arising from reporting illegal activities. Ms. Salonus also has an interest in litigating cases involving denial of employee life insurance benefits or interference with pension plan benefits under ERISA.

While she very much enjoys assisting employees and “righting a wrong,” as they say, or assisting employers with legal compliance to prevent claims or illegal treatment of employees, her biggest passion comes from assisting families of children with disabilities in the school environment.

Ms. Salonus has a personal understanding of what it means to be a parent of a child with a disability. Accordingly, Ms. Salonus has an active and dedicated practice securing the services and accommodations a child rightfully deserves under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (“IDEA”), Section 504, and/or the ADA. She also seeks compensation for physical and/or emotional injuries caused to a child as a result of abuse or illegal actions taken against the child by school officials. Additionally, Ms. Salonus litigates cases involving retaliation against parents or teachers who advocate for the rights of children with disabilities.

Charles Weiner was admitted to practice in Pennsylvania in 1988 and has offices in Bucks County and Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.

His practice focuses on the representation of parents and their children who have special needs in education and school discipline throughout Pennsylvania. He also represents individuals with disabilities nationwide in obtaining accommodations in high stakes testing such as LSAT SAT, ACT, USMLE GRE, MCAT, GMAT and MBE. Charles has filed federal litigation against school districts and testing agencies, such as the Law School Admission Council, to secure the rights of people with disabilities. The Law Office also pursues matters involving disability discrimination by government entities, employers, restaurants, hotels and businesses. The firm also represents individuals whose civil rights have been violated by a governmental entity. Several cases have been the subject matter of news articles and Charles has been interviewed by Fox News, MSNBC and Time.

Prior to starting the Law Office of Charles Weiner, he was an associate at one of Philadelphia’s largest law firms where he litigated complex multi-district commercial matters and insurance disputes. He later served as counsel in the law departments of a large insurance/financial services company and a large banking institution. There he was responsible for litigation and litigation management, compliance, account holder relations, marketing and employment matters.

Charles has conducted numerous seminars and workshops on disability rights, the American with Disabilities Act, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 before various professional, advocacy and support groups. He received his J.D. in 1988 from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, and is a graduate of the Partners in Policy Making program of the Institute on Disabilities, Temple University. In 2014, Charles was appointed to the American Bar Association’s Commission on Disability Rights. Charles is active in several community organizations and has served on the board of directors of several non-profit organizations. He is a member of the Disability Rights Bar Association, Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, and the Association on Higher Education and Disability.

Robert M. Tudisco is a nationally recognized author, motivational speaker, and non-profit management consultant in addition to being an attorney diagnosed with ADHD. Currently committed to end the stigma associated with ADHD, Robert is spearheading CHADD’s “one of 15 million” campaign. He is the former executive director of the Edge Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides specialized coaching for students with ADHD and Executive Functioning Impairment; past member of the National Board of Directors of Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder (CHADD), and former Vice President of the Attention Deficit Disorder Association (ADDA). Robert writes extensively on special education law and disability advocacy. He has been published in ATTENTION? Magazine and was a legal columnist for ADDitude Magazine.

Robert received his Juris Doctor at Fordham University School of Law in 1989. He served four years as Assistant District Attorney in Bronx County, NY. For the last twenty five years, Robert has specialized in the areas of education law, disability advocacy and criminal law.

Kathleen Boundy, co-director of CLE since 1990, has worked as an attorney for CLE for more than 35 years. She has an extensive background in federal education policy, analysis and advocacy, and has participated in the reauthorization of both the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Title I/No Child Left Behind Act. She has testified on multiple occasions before the U.S. Senate, HELP Committee, Subcommittee on Disability Policy, and the U.S. Civil Rights Commission on exclusion of students with disabilities, poor, and racial minority students from educational opportunities. She was a member of the Validation Panel of the Joint Committee for Standards for Educational Evaluation, Kalamazoo, MI, 2000-2002. For 5 years, she directed CLE’s participation through the PACER Center in US Dept. ED’s FAPE Project with its focus on including students with disabilities in education reform promoting high academic standards and achievement for all students.

Ms. Boundy has provided hundreds of presentations and workshops to parents of students with disabilities and their advocates, and authored numerous articles and publications analyzing the rights of these students, including to participate fully in state accountability systems, standards, and assessments under Title I and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. As counsel/co-counsel she has also represented students in challenging high-stakes testing, the denial of special education and related services, including transition services, for incarcerated and detained youth, the disproportionate identification of racial minorities by disability category and placement, disciplinary exclusions of students with disabilities, failure to provide a student with a significant learning disability an education consistent with state standards; and she has served as counsel for amici curiae, members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives, in multiple cases raising issues critical to the rights of low-income students with disabilities.

Boundy is a graduate of Manhattanville College; Boston College Graduate School of Education (MAT); and Northeastern University School of Law.