Padilla v. School District No. 1 , 233 F.3d 1268 ( 2000 )


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  •                                                            F I L E D
    United States Court of Appeals
    Tenth Circuit
    PUBLISH
    DEC 5 2000
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    PATRICK FISHER
    Clerk
    FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT
    SHAYNE PADILLA, by and through
    her legal guardians and next friends
    MICHELLE PADILLA and
    MARIANO PADILLA,
    Plaintiff - Appellee,
    v.                                        No. 99-1061 & 99-1345
    SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1 IN THE
    CITY AND COUNTY OF DENVER,
    COLORADO; DENVER SCHOOL
    DISTRICT BOARD OF
    EDUCATION; JEAN BOGGS,
    individually and in her official
    capacity as employee of School
    District No. 1 in the City and County
    of Denver,
    Defendants,
    and
    PATRICE HALL; CYNTHIA ROSE;
    MARIA DIAZ; JEANNIE HAYES,
    individually and in their official
    capacities as employeees of School
    District No. 1 in the City and County
    of Denver,
    Defendants - Appellants,
    -------------------------
    LEGAL CENTER FOR PEOPLE
    WITH DISABILITIES AND OLDER
    PEOPLE;
    COLORADO DEVELOPMENTAL
    DISABILITIES PLANNING
    COUNCIL;
    NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
    PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY
    SYSTEMS; CENTER FOR LAW AND
    EDUCATION; TASH; THE
    ASSOCIATION FOR COMMUNITY
    LIVING IN BOULDER COUNTY,
    INC.; ARC OF DENVER; ARC OF
    ADAMS COUNTY; ARC OF
    ARAPAHOE & DOUGLAS
    COUNTIES; ARC OF
    COLORADO; ARC OF THE UNITED
    STATES; NAMI COLORADO;
    NATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR THE
    MENTALLY ILL; ROCKY
    MOUNTAIN CHILDREN'S LAW
    CENTER; NATIONAL SCHOOL
    BOARDS ASSOCIATION;
    COLORADO ASSOCIATION OF
    SCHOOL BOARDS,
    Amici Curiae.
    APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
    FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
    (D.C. No. 98-WY-1262-CB)
    -2-
    Patrick B. Mooney (Julie C. Tolleson and Elizabeth J. Hyatt with him on the
    briefs) of Semple, Miller & Mooney, P.C., Denver, Colorado, for Defendants-
    Appellants.
    Kathleen Mullen of Law Office of Kathleen Mullen, P.C., Denver, Colorado, for
    Plaintiff-Appellee.
    Richard F. Hennessey and Kathryn A. Wingard of Pendleton, Friedberg, Wilson &
    Hennessey, P.C., filed an amicus curiae brief for Rocky Mountain Children’s Law
    Center.
    Kathleen B. Boundy, Co-Director, Center for Law and Education, Boston,
    Massachusetts, and Michael W. Breeskin, General Counsel, Association for
    Community Living in Boulder County, Inc., filed an amicus curiae brief for
    Center for Law and Education, Tash, and the Association for Community Living
    in Boulder County, Inc.
    Kristin A. Kutz and William P. Bethke of Kutz & Bethke, Lakewood, Colorado,
    filed an amicus curiae brief for Arc of Denver, Arc of Adams County, Arc of
    Arapahoe & Douglas Counties, Arc of Colorado, Arc of the United States, NAMI
    Colorado, and National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.
    Julie K. Underwood, General Counsel, National School Boards Association,
    Alexandria, Virginia; Lauren B. Kingsbery and Julie Murphy Seavy, Legal
    Counsel, Colorado Association of School Boards, Denver, Colorado; and Julie J.
    Weatherly, School Board Attorney, Weatherly Law Firm, Atlanta, Georgia, filed
    an amicus curiae brief for National School Boards Association and Colorado
    Association of School Boards.
    Chester R. Chapman, Denver, Colorado, filed an amicus curiae brief for The
    Legal Center for People with Disabilites and Older People, the Colorado
    Developmental Disabilities Planning Council, and National Association of
    Protection and Advocacy Systems.
    Before BALDOCK, McKAY, and ALARCON *, Circuit Judges.
    Honorable Arthur L. Alarcon, Circuit Judge, United States Court of
    *
    Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, sitting by designation.
    -3-
    McKAY, Circuit Judge.
    Plaintiff, a minor with physical and developmental disabilities,
    formerly attended school in Denver School District No. 1. She brought an action
    against the school district and the board of education, alleging violations of the
    Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101-12213. She also
    brought an action against the district, the board, and several individual district
    employees, alleging violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 based on Defendants’ failure
    to provide rights guaranteed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
    (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. §§ 1400-1487. Defendants moved to dismiss on various
    grounds, including qualified immunity, but the district court denied their motion
    except as to one of the individual defendants. This court has jurisdiction over the
    remaining individual defendants’ qualified immunity appeal pursuant to Mitchell
    v. Forsyth, 
    472 U.S. 511
    (1985), and over the appeal of the district court’s other
    determinations pursuant to its certification for immediate appeal under 28 U.S.C.
    § 1292(b). 1
    I.
    1
    Plaintiff’s motions to dismiss this appeal and for attorney fees are denied.
    -4-
    In 1975, Congress enacted the Education of the Handicapped Act (EHA),
    the IDEA’s predecessor. 2 Its primary purpose is “to assure that all children with
    disabilities have available to them . . . a free appropriate public education which
    emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique
    needs [and] to assure that the rights of children with disabilities and their parents
    or guardians are protected.” 20 U.S.C. § 1400(d)(1)(A)-(B). 3 To implement these
    goals, Congress mandated that state and local educational agencies receiving
    assistance under the IDEA establish procedures to ensure the provision of such
    services and the protection of these rights. See 
    id. § 1415(a).
    To identify
    necessary services, the IDEA requires representatives of the responsible
    educational agencies, in meetings with parents and teachers, to develop an
    individualized education program (IEP) for each child with a disability. The IEP
    includes a written statement of the present educational level of such child, of
    annual goals and short-term instructional objectives, and of “specific educational
    2
    Congress changed the EHA’s name to the IDEA in 1990. See Pub. L. No.
    101-476, 104 Stat. 1141 (1990). We use EHA and IDEA interchangeably
    throughout the opinion.
    3
    Congress amended the IDEA and recodified several provisions in 1997.
    See Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997, Pub. L. No.
    105-17, 111 Stat. 37 (1997). The material events giving rise to the case at hand
    occurred prior to these amendments. Moreover, the 1997 amendments are not
    retroactive. See Fowler v. Unified Sch. Dist. No. 259 , 
    128 F.3d 1431
    , 1434-35
    (10th Cir. 1997). We therefore apply and cite to the IDEA provisions as codified
    prior to enactment of the 1997 amendments. In any event,   no party has suggested
    that any revision would change the analysis or outcome of this case.
    -5-
    services to be provided to such child.” § 1401(a)(20). Before developing or
    changing a child’s IEP, the agency must provide written notice to the parents.
    See 
    id. § 1415(b)(1)(C).
    The agency must also provide parents who present
    complaints regarding these matters an impartial due process hearing. See 
    id. § 1415(b)(1)-(2).
    Any party aggrieved by the decision of a local educational
    agency may appeal to the state educational agency. See 
    id. § 1415(c).
    Further, an
    aggrieved party has the right to bring a civil action with respect to its complaints
    if the state has not provided an administrative appeals process or if the aggrieved
    party is dissatisfied with the findings or decision of the administrative appeal
    agency. See 
    id. § 1415(e).
    II.
    “Because this appeal arises on a motion to dismiss, we construe the facts,
    and reasonable inferences that might be drawn from them, in favor of the
    plaintiff.” Breidenbach v. Bolish, 
    126 F.3d 1288
    , 1292 (10th Cir. 1997).
    According to Plaintiff, during the five-year period between 1992 and 1997,
    Defendants failed to provide her with the behavioral programming, augmentative
    communication, and tube feeding services identified in her IEP.
    She also asserts Defendants repeatedly “placed her in a windowless closet,
    restrained in a stroller without supervision,” contrary to her IEP. During one of
    these incidents she tipped over and hit her head on the floor, suffering serious
    -6-
    physical injuries, including a skull fracture and exacerbation of a seizure disorder,
    which kept her from attending school for the remainder of the term. The school
    district thereafter failed to provide homebound schooling adequate to insure the
    free appropriate public education to which she was entitled.
    In August 1997, Plaintiff moved to a new school district and began
    attending a different school, neither of which is a party to this action. In February
    1998, she requested an administrative hearing from the defendant school district
    to “contest certain actions of . . . [district] personnel.” In her request, Plaintiff
    sought “any relief” available through the administrative process, “including
    money damages and attorney fees.” Plaintiff’s hearing request was denied by the
    hearing officer, who ruled that he lacked jurisdiction “as the petitioner does not
    reside within the school district,” and that he lacked authority to grant the
    requested relief.
    Thereafter, Plaintiff filed the instant suit, raising two claims. First, she
    alleged that the school district and the board of education violated her rights
    under the ADA by excluding her from participation in publicly funded general
    and special education programs based on her disability. Second, she brought an
    action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that the school district, the board of
    education, and several individual district employees violated her rights under the
    -7-
    IDEA by denying her a free and appropriate public education. Plaintiff
    specifically seeks monetary damages for both the ADA and § 1983 claims.
    Defendants moved to dismiss, arguing that (1) Plaintiff failed to exhaust
    her administrative remedies; (2) damages are unavailable under the IDEA and
    therefore unavailable in a § 1983 claim based on an IDEA violation; (3) the IDEA
    does not allow individual liability actions, and, therefore, individuals cannot be
    liable under a § 1983 claim based on an IDEA violation; and (4) the individual
    defendants were entitled to qualified immunity. The district court dismissed
    Plaintiff’s § 1983 claim as it applied to one of the individual defendants but
    denied the motion in all other respects, and the remaining defendants brought this
    appeal.
    III.
    “We review the denial or grant of a motion to dismiss de novo, applying the
    same standard used by the district court.”      Breidenbach , 126 F.3d at 1291. We
    first address the viability of Plaintiff’s IDEA-based § 1983 claims. The district
    court determined that the IDEA allows for damage awards and that it may be
    enforced against individuals. Therefore, the court reasoned, Plaintiff can likewise
    sue individuals and seek damages in a § 1983 suit based on the IDEA. The
    district court’s analysis presupposes that § 1983 may be used to enforce the IDEA
    -8-
    in the first place. This court has not previously ruled on this issue.   4
    Circuits that
    have addressed the question have not come to the same conclusion.            5
    4
    In L.C. v. Utah State Board of Education , 
    57 F. Supp. 2d 1214
    , 1220 (D.
    Utah 1999), the district court stated that two Tenth Circuit cases have held that
    § 1983 claims may be predicated on the IDEA. We respectfully disagree with the
    district court’s interpretations.  Hayes v. Unified School District No. 377    , 
    877 F.2d 809
    , 811 (10th Cir. 1989), involved a plaintiff asserting a § 1983 claim
    based on alleged constitutional violations, not IDEA violations. I     n the other case
    cited by the district court, Association For Community Living v. Romer       , 
    992 F.2d 1040
    , 1042 (10th Cir. 1993), it appears the plaintiffs’ § 1983 claim asserted
    violations of the IDEA and the Equal Protection Clause. However, in dismissing
    the plaintiffs’ claims for failure to exhaust their administrative remedies, the
    panel did not discuss the viability of the IDEA-based § 1983 claim. Thus, we do
    not read Romer as holding, or otherwise compelling the conclusion, that IDEA
    violations may form the substantive basis for § 1983 claims.
    5
    A majority of the circuits have case law holding or at least implying that
    § 1983 suits may be based on IDEA violations.        See Mrs. W. v. Tirozzi , 
    832 F.2d 748
    , 753-55 (2d Cir. 1987) (express holding);      W.B. v. Matula , 
    67 F.3d 484
    , 493-
    94 (3d Cir. 1995) (express holding);    Angela L. v. Pasadena Indep. Sch. Dist.     , 
    918 F.2d 1188
    , 1193 n.3 (5th Cir. 1990) (dicta);     Crocker v. Tennessee Secondary Sch.
    Athletic Ass’n , 
    980 F.2d 382
    , 387 (6th Cir. 1992) (implying that the IDEA may be
    the basis for a § 1983 suit, but holding that damages were not available);
    Heidemann v. Rother , 
    84 F.3d 1021
    , 1032-33 (8th Cir. 1996) (same);          Digre v.
    Roseville Sch. Indep. Dist. No. 623 , 
    841 F.2d 245
    , 249-50 (8th Cir. 1988)
    (express holding); N.B. by D.G. v. Alachua County Sch. Bd.         , 
    84 F.3d 1376
    , 1379
    (11th Cir. 1996), cert. denied , 
    519 U.S. 1092
    (1997) (holding that plaintiff must
    exhaust administrative remedies before proceeding with an IDEA-based § 1983
    claim (though not specifically addressing the claim’s viability));      Walker v.
    District of Columbia , 
    969 F. Supp. 794
    , 796-97 (D.D.C. 1997) (express holding).
    The Fourth Circuit has held that § 1983 cannot be used to remedy a
    violation of the IDEA. See Sellers v. Sch. Bd. , 
    141 F.3d 524
    , 529-32 (4th Cir.
    1998), cert. denied , 
    525 U.S. 871
    (1998).
    The First, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits have cases appearing to go both
    ways. Compare Doe v. Town of Framingham , 
    965 F. Supp. 226
    , 230 (D. Mass.
    1997) (assuming § 1983’s applicability to the IDEA),  with Andrew S. v. Sch.
    -9-
    It is well settled that § 1983 is “a generally and presumptively available
    remedy for claimed violations of federal law.”   Livadas v. Bradshaw , 
    512 U.S. 107
    , 133 (1994). Nonetheless, Congress can foreclose recourse to § 1983 “either
    by express words or by providing a comprehensive alternative enforcement
    scheme.” 
    Id. ; see
    also Blessing v. Freestone , 
    520 U.S. 329
    , 341 (1997). Congress
    has not expressly prohibited § 1983 suits as remedies for IDEA violations, so we
    must turn to the question of whether the IDEA’s administrative remedies
    nevertheless imply congressional intent to do so. Supreme Court precedent guides
    our inquiry.
    In Smith v. Robinson , 
    468 U.S. 992
    (1984), the Supreme Court considered
    whether the plaintiffs could pursue “virtually identical” claims for a free
    appropriate education under the EHA (IDEA’s predecessor), the Rehabilitation
    Act, and § 1983 (based on alleged Equal Protection and Due Process
    deprivations).   
    Id. at 1009.
    The Court concluded that the EHA’s thorough
    enforcement mechanisms indicated Congress’ intent to proscribe such a course of
    Comm. , 
    59 F. Supp. 2d 237
    , 244 (D. Mass. 1999) (stating that garden variety.
    violations of the IDEA cannot form the basis of a § 1983 claim);      compare Marie
    O. v. Edgar , 
    131 F.3d 610
    , 621-22 (7th Cir. 1997) (stating § 1983 may be used to
    enforce the IDEA), with Anderson v. Thompson , 
    658 F.2d 1205
    , 1214-17 (7th
    Cir. 1981) (prohibiting IDEA-based § 1983 claims);      compare Emma C. v. Eastin ,
    
    985 F. Supp. 940
    , 945 (N.D. Cal. 1997) (holding that Congress “specifically
    authorized § 1983 actions predicated on the IDEA”),      with Dep’t of Educ. v.
    Katharina D. , 
    727 F.2d 809
    , 819-20 (9th Cir. 1983),    cert. denied , 
    471 U.S. 1117
    (1985) (holding that the IDEA cannot provide the basis for a § 1983 claim).
    -10-
    action. See 
    id. at 1012-13,
    1018. For example, as to the plaintiffs’ § 1983 claim
    based on the Equal Protection Clause, the Court stated that
    where the EHA is available to a handicapped child asserting a right
    to a free appropriate public education, based either on the EHA or on
    the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the EHA
    is the exclusive avenue through which the child and his parents or
    guardian can pursue their claim.
    
    Id. at 1013.
    Smith did not specifically involve the question of whether the EHA
    precludes § 1983 suits based on EHA violations. In fact, the Court expressly
    recognized that the plaintiffs’ § 1983 claims alleged constitutional violations, not
    EHA violations.   See 
    id. at 1008-09.
    Nonetheless, the    Court’s holding that the
    EHA provided a comprehensive enforcement scheme that preempted other
    overlapping but independent statutory or constitutional claims necessarily meant
    that the EHA also supplanted § 1983 claims based simply on EHA violations.
    In response to Smith , Congress amended the EHA in 1986.        See Pub. L. No.
    99-372, 100 Stat. 796 (1986); S. Rep. No. 99-112, at 2 (1985),    reprinted in 1986
    U.S.C.C.A.N. 1798, 1799. Among other provisions, Congress added § 1415(f),
    which stated in pertinent part: “Nothing in this title shall be construed to restrict
    or limit the rights, procedures, and remedies available under the Constitution, title
    V of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, or other Federal statutes protecting the rights
    of handicapped children and youth.” This provision obviously voided       Smith ’s
    broad holding that the EHA precludes overlapping but independent claims
    -11-
    otherwise cognizable under the Constitution, the Rehabilitation Act, or other
    Federal laws. See Hayes v. Unified Sch. Dist. No. 377      , 
    877 F.2d 809
    , 812 (10th
    Cir. 1989) (“Congress’ amendment of the EHA makes clear that the EHA is not
    the exclusive remedy available to handicapped students seeking public
    educational benefits.”); H.R. Rep. No. 99-296, at 6 (1985) (stating that § 1415(f)
    is intended to reaffirm “the viability of section 504 [of the Rehabilitation Act]
    and other federal statutes such as 42 U.S.C. 1983 as separate from but equally
    viable with the EHA as vehicles for securing the rights of handicapped children
    and youth”). It is less obvious, however, whether Congress intended § 1415(f) to
    also overrule Smith ’s more narrow implication that the EHA provides a
    comprehensive remedial framework that forecloses recourse to § 1983 as a
    remedy for strictly EHA violations. This difficult question has created a split in
    the circuits. Compare, e.g. , Marie O. v. Edgar , 
    131 F.3d 610
    , 622 (7th Cir. 1997)
    (“§ 1415(f) was enacted for the express purpose of ensuring that § 1983 claims
    would be available to enforce the IDEA.”    ), and W.B. v. Matula , 
    67 F.3d 484
    , 494
    (3d Cir. 1995) (same), with Sellers v. Sch. Bd. , 
    141 F.3d 524
    , 530-32 (4th Cir.
    1998) (stating that § 1415(f) does not allow plaintiffs to sue under § 1983 for an
    IDEA violation and that § 1415 does not overrule      Smith on that point).
    We agree with the Fourth Circuit that § 1415(f) left intact   Smith ’s
    implication that the EHA may not provide the basis for § 1983 claims.         See
    -12-
    Sellers , 141 F.3d at 529-30. Post- Smith Supreme Court precedent compels this
    conclusion. Since Congress passed § 1415(f) in 1986, the Court has nevertheless
    cited Smith and the EHA/IDEA on at least two occasions as an example of an
    exhaustive legislative enforcement scheme that precludes § 1983 causes of action.
    See Blessing , 520 U.S. at 347-48; Wright v. City of Roanoke Redevelopment and
    Hous. Auth. , 
    479 U.S. 418
    , 423-24, 427 (1987). In   Wright , the Court noted that
    the EHA itself “provided for private judicial remedies, thereby evidencing
    congressional intent to supplant the § 1983 
    remedy.” 479 U.S. at 427
    . The
    Blessing Court discussed Smith as one of only two cases in which it had “found a
    remedial scheme sufficiently comprehensive to supplant § 
    1983.” 520 U.S. at 347
    . Moreover, the Court used the EHA/IDEA in both cases as a benchmark for
    assessing the comprehensiveness of the remedial scheme provided by the statutes
    in question. See 
    id. at 348;
    Wright , 479 U.S. at 427. Based on these cases, it
    appears the Supreme Court considers    Smith to be alive and well insofar as it
    asserts that § 1983 may not be used to remedy IDEA violations. Accordingly, we
    reverse the trial court’s denial of the motion to dismiss Plaintiff’s IDEA-based
    § 1983 claims against the school district, the board of education, and the
    individual defendants. This conclusion moots the qualified immunity issues.
    Furthermore, in light of our holding and Plaintiff’s failure to make an
    -13-
    independent IDEA claim, we need not address whether the IDEA imposes
    individual liability or permits damage awards.
    IV.
    Defendants argue that the trial court erred in denying their motion to
    dismiss Plaintiff’s ADA claim against the school district and the board of
    education for failure to exhaust her administrative remedies.
    Although Plaintiff proceeds under the auspices of the ADA, the IDEA
    nonetheless requires her to first exhaust its administrative procedures and
    remedies prior to commencing her ADA suit if she is “      seeking relief that is also
    available under ” the IDEA. 20 U.S.C. § 1415(f) (emphasis added). Like the
    Seventh Circuit, we understand “available” relief “to mean relief for the events,
    condition, or consequences of which the person complains, not necessarily relief
    of the kind the person prefers,”   Charlie F. v. Bd. of Educ. , 
    98 F.3d 989
    , 992 (7th
    Cir. 1996), or specifically seeks. Thus, our primary concern in determining
    whether a plaintiff must utilize the IDEA’s administrative procedures relates to
    the source and nature of the alleged injuries for which he or she seeks a remedy,
    not the specific remedy itself.    See Hayes v. Unified Sch. Dist. No. 377   , 
    877 F.2d 809
    , 812 (10th Cir. 1989) (stating that the IDEA’s remedies must be exhausted
    before a plaintiff files a non-IDEA suit if that “suit could have been filed under
    the” IDEA). In essence, the dispositive question generally is whether the plaintiff
    -14-
    has alleged injuries that could be redressed to any degree by the IDEA’s
    administrative procedures and remedies. If so, exhaustion of those remedies is
    required. If not, the claim necessarily falls outside the IDEA’s scope, and
    exhaustion is unnecessary. Where the IDEA’s ability to remedy a particular
    injury is unclear, exhaustion should be required in order to give educational
    agencies an initial opportunity to ascertain and alleviate the alleged problem.
    See, e.g. , Charlie F. , 98 F.3d at 992, 993.
    So far as we can tell in the instant case, Plaintiff seeks damages solely to
    redress the fractured skull and other physical injuries she suffered allegedly as a
    result of the school district’s and board of education’s purported ADA violations.
    Plaintiff makes no complaints regarding her current educational situation. Indeed,
    she expressly attests that her new school “meets her educational needs” and that
    she presently receives “the full benefits of a free and appropriate education in an
    integrated, least restrictive educational environment.” Under these narrow
    circumstances, we fail to see how the IDEA’s administrative remedies, oriented as
    they are to providing prospective educational benefits, could possibly begin to
    assuage Plaintiff’s severe physical, and completely non-educational, injuries.
    That is not to say damages are unavailable under the IDEA. We have not
    previously addressed that question and need not to resolve this case. Our holding
    simply recognizes the fact that even if damages are available under the IDEA they
    -15-
    should be awarded in civil actions, not in administrative hearings.      Cf. Covington
    v. Knox County Sch. Sys. , 
    205 F.3d 912
    , 918 (6th Cir. 2000) (stating that
    damages are “unavailable through the [IDEA] administrative process”);           W.B. v.
    Matula , 
    67 F.3d 484
    , 494-96 (3d Cir. 1995) (holding that IDEA-based § 1983
    suits permit damage awards, but damages cannot be awarded during the course of
    the IDEA’s administrative proceedings).
    We affirm the district court’s denial of Defendants’ motion to dismiss for
    failure to exhaust administrative remedies. Under the narrow circumstances of
    this case, exhaustion was unnecessary because, so far as we can tell, Plaintiff’s
    ADA claim is not seeking “relief that is also available” under the IDEA.
    In conclusion, we note that other circuits, although employing slightly
    different approaches to the problem, have reached similar conclusions under
    similar circumstances. For example, in       Witte v. Clark County Sch. Dist.   , 
    197 F.3d 1271
    , 1275-76 (9th Cir. 1999), the Ninth Circuit held that exhaustion was
    not required where the plaintiff was seeking “only monetary damages” for alleged
    “physical abuse and injury” and “all educational issues already have been
    resolved to the parties’ mutual satisfaction.”      The court noted that “[t]he remedies
    available under the IDEA would not appear to be well suited to addressing past
    physical injuries adequately; such injuries typically are remedied through an
    award of monetary damages.”       
    Id. at 1276.
    Likewise, in Matula , 67 F.3d at 496,
    -16-
    the Third Circuit refused to require administrative exhaustion in a claim for
    compensatory damages in part because the parties had already settled their
    disputes over IDEA rights.
    Moreover, circuit court cases cited by Defendants that have required
    plaintiffs who seek damages to exhaust their IDEA administrative remedies have
    done so where the plaintiffs’ alleged injuries were educational in nature and
    therefore presumptively redressable through the IDEA’s administrative
    procedures. See, e.g. , Thompson v. Bd. of Special Sch. Dist. 1   , 
    144 F.3d 574
    ,
    580 (8th Cir. 1998) (requiring exhaustion where plaintiff sought damages and
    one-on-one tutoring to remedy alleged denial of free and appropriate public
    education, and dismissing § 1983 claim on insufficient evidence grounds);     Charlie
    
    F., 98 F.3d at 993
    (requiring exhaustion where the plaintiff alleged “that his
    education has suffered”);   N.B. by D.G. v. Alachua County Sch. Bd.    , 
    84 F.3d 1376
    , 1378 (11th Cir. 1996) (requiring exhaustion where the plaintiff’s alleged
    injuries included segregation from non-disabled children and unnecessary absence
    from school). Under those distinct circumstances, we would also require
    exhaustion.
    The denial of the motion to dismiss the § 1983 actions is REVERSED. The
    denial of the motion to dismiss the ADA action is AFFIRMED. The case is
    REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
    -17-
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 99-1061, 99-1345

Citation Numbers: 233 F.3d 1268, 2000 Colo. J. C.A.R. 6451, 2000 U.S. App. LEXIS 31148

Judges: Baldock, McKay, Alarcon

Filed Date: 12/5/2000

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 10/19/2024

Authorities (25)

shawn-witte-a-minor-by-his-next-friend-and-parent-teresa-witte-v-clark , 197 F.3d 1271 ( 1999 )

wb-parent-of-the-minor-ej-on-her-own-behalf-and-on-behalf-of-her , 67 F.3d 484 ( 1995 )

Blessing v. Freestone , 117 S. Ct. 1353 ( 1997 )

Doe v. Town of Framingham , 965 F. Supp. 226 ( 1997 )

Andrew S. Ex Rel. Margaret S. v. School Committee , 59 F. Supp. 2d 237 ( 1999 )

L.C. v. Utah State Board of Education , 57 F. Supp. 2d 1214 ( 1999 )

dennis-hayes-a-minor-and-sally-hayes-a-minor-through-their-parents , 877 F.2d 809 ( 1989 )

marie-o-gabriel-c-and-kyle-g-by-their-parents-and-legal-guardians , 131 F.3d 610 ( 1997 )

jay-fowler-and-barbara-fowler-parents-and-next-friend-of-michael-fowler-v , 128 F.3d 1431 ( 1997 )

kristopher-sellers-by-his-parents-allen-and-sherri-sellers-sherri-sellers , 141 F.3d 524 ( 1998 )

Livadas v. Bradshaw , 114 S. Ct. 2068 ( 1994 )

Charlie F., by His Parents and Next Friends Neil and Bonnie ... , 98 F.3d 989 ( 1996 )

cherry-heidemann-a-minor-child-june-heidemann-mother-and-next-friend , 84 F.3d 1021 ( 1996 )

burma-l-covington-natural-parent-and-legal-conservator-of-david-jason , 205 F.3d 912 ( 2000 )

N.B. Ex Rel. D.G. v. Alachua County School Board , 84 F.3d 1376 ( 1996 )

Angela L. B/n/f Mrs. Zeta L. v. Pasadena Independent School ... , 918 F.2d 1188 ( 1990 )

james-e-anderson-and-shirley-a-anderson-individually-and-as-parents-of , 63 A.L.R. Fed. 197 ( 1981 )

Emma C. v. Eastin , 985 F. Supp. 940 ( 1997 )

Sharon Digre, for Herself and as Parent and Next Friend on ... , 841 F.2d 245 ( 1988 )

mrs-w-mrs-b-and-connecticut-legal-services-v-gerald-n-tirozzi , 832 F.2d 748 ( 1987 )

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