In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a deaf student, Miguel Luna Perez, who sued his public school system in Sturgis, Michigan, for providing an inadequate education.

The ruling holds that disabled students who receive a settlement under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) could still sue for damages under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The school system allegedly neglected Perez for 12 years by providing him with an untrained aide who didn’t know sign language and by awarding him inflated grades. Just before graduation, his family was told he qualified only for a “certificate of completion.”

The case has legal implications for other disabled students who were failed by school officials.