M.K. ex rel. Mrs. K. v. Sergi

554 F.Supp.2d 233

M.K., by and through his Mother and Next Friend, Mrs. K., Plaintiffs, v. Theodore SERGI, et al., Defendants.

No. 3:96cv00482 (WIG).

United States District Court, D. Connecticut.

June 9, 2008.

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Andrew Alan Feinstein, David C. Shaw, Law Offices of David C. Shaw, Bloomfield, CT, for Plaintiffs.

Ralph E. Urban, Thomas M. Fiorentino, Paula D. Sullivan, Susan T. Pearlman, Attorney General's Office, Frederick L. Dorsey, Paul H. Gamache Siegel, O'Connor, Zangari, O'Donnell & Beck, Hartford, CT, Jody Pagano Benbow, Siegel, O'Connor, Zangari, O'Donnell & Beck, New Haven, CT, for Defendants.

RULING ON PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT [# 232]

WILLIAM I. GARFINKEL, United States Magistrate Judge.

Mrs. K., on behalf of and as next friend of her son, M.K., (collectively "plaintiffs"), has brought this action alleging that defendants violated the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"), 20 U.S.C. §§ 1400-1482, the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C. § 12101, et seq., § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 794, and her rights under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to United States Constitution, made actionable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Named as defendants are Theodore Sergi, the former Commissioner of the Department of Education ("DOE"); Darlene Dunbar, the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families ("DCF"); Karl Kemper, the Regional Administrator for the Eastern Region of DCF; Carissa LeBrun, Kemper's subordinate (collectively defendants Dunbar, Kemper, and Le-Brun are referred to as the "DCF defendants"); the Putnam Board of Education ("Putnam"); John Shea, the former Director of Student Services for Putnam; and Patricia Kline, his successor as Director of Student Services (collectively defendants Putnam, Shea, and Kline are referred to as the "Putnam defendants").

Plaintiffs' original complaint was filed in 1996, challenging certain aspects of the Due Process Hearing Officer's decision in Board of Education Case No. 95-353. Plaintiffs then filed a second suit in 2003, M.K v. Sergi et al., No. 3:03cv1595(WIG), seeking to overturn certain portions of the Hearing Officer's decision in Board of Education Case No. 03-087. DCF also filed an action against Mrs. K. and M.K., Department of Children and Families v. M.K. and Mrs. K., No. 3:03CV1658 (WIG), challenging other aspects of the Hearing Officer's decision in Case No. 03-087. These three cases were consolidated. Over the course of this litigation, Plaintiffs amended their complaint four times, culminating in the last complaint filed on November 18, 2003, which is referred to by the parties as the "consolidated complaint," and which encompasses plaintiffs' claims in all cases.

The consolidated complaint sets forth seven counts. Count I is a claim for "costs, attorney's fees, and expert fees" against Putnam and DCF based on plaintiffs' status as prevailing parties in the due process hearings, Case Nos. 95-353 and 03-087. Count II challenges certain aspects of the Hearing Officer's decisions. Count III claims that DCF's policy and practice of placing "arbitrary time limits" on certain home-based services as compared to institutional services violate 28 C.F.R. § 38.130(b) and are discriminatory, and that DCF's placement of arbitrary time limits on the provision of services designed to prevent the breakdown of the family unit violates 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(b)(3)(ii). Count IV alleges that defendants Kemper and LeBrun violated plaintiffs' rights secured by the ADA, § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and § 1983 by virtue of certain actions taken by them intentionally and/or in reckless disregard of plaintiffs' federal rights. Count V is addressed exclusively to the Putnam defendants and alleges that they acted intentionally and/or in reckless disregard of plaintiffs rights under the ADA, § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the IDEA, and 42 U.S.C. § 1983, by establishing and implementing policies and procedures which ensured that M.K. could not receive the support needed to be educated in the Putnam schools and refusing to authorize the Putnam PPT to make placement or program decisions after DCF placed M.K. with DCF-funded services. Count VI is brought against defendant Sergi, the DOE

Commissioner, for alleged violation of the IDEA by virtue of his failing to put in place a hearing process that would enable hearing officers to enter orders against state agencies, such as DCF, which provide services that might impact the provision of a free appropriate public education ("FAPE") under the IDEA. The last count, Count VII, is brought pursuant to § 1983 against defendants Kemper and LeBrun for their violation of plaintiffs' due process rights by virtue of certain alleged intentional and/or reckless acts of intimidation and retaliation set forth more fully in the complaint.

Plaintiffs have now moved for partial summary judgment on all counts of the consolidated complaint, except Count VII,¹ as well as on DCF's appeal of certain aspects of the Hearing Officer's decision in Case No. 03-087. Most of the issues raised by plaintiffs' motion have already been addressed by this Court in four prior summary judgment rulings: Ruling dated March 30, 2007, on Defendant Sergi's Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. # 231]; Ruling dated May 12, 2008, 2008 WL 2120534, on the DCF Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. # 230]; Ruling dated May 12, 2008 on Defendants M.K. & Mrs. K.'s Motion for Summary Judgment in 3:03cv1658 [Doc. # 275]; and Ruling dated June 6, 2008, 2008 WL 2364282 on the Putnam Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. # 227]. The factual background of this case has been presented at length in these rulings and will not be repeated herein, except as necessary for the resolution of any new issues presented by plaintiffs' motion.

Summary Judgment Standard

The standard governing motions for summary judgment is well-settled. A motion for summary judgment may not be granted unless the court determines that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 411 U.S. 242, 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The court must resolve all ambiguities and draw all inferences in favor of the non-moving party. Id. at 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505. If there is any evidence in the record from which a reasonable inference could be drawn in favor of the non-moving party on a material issue of fact, summary judgment is improper. See Chambers v. TRM Copy Centers Corp., 43 F.3d 29, 37 (2d Cir.1994).

However, with respect to IDEA appeals, the court's inquiry is not directed to ascertaining whether there are disputed issues of material fact, but rather whether the administrative record, together with any additional evidence, establishes that there has been compliance with the IDEA processes and that the child's educational needs have been appropriately addressed. A.E. v. Westport Bd. of Educ., 463 F.Supp.2d 208, 215 (D.Conn.2006). "The Supreme Court and [the Second] Circuit have interpreted the IDEA as strictly limiting judicial review of state administrative decisions." Collins v. Board of Educ. of Red Hook Central School Dist, 164 Fed. Appx. 19, 21 (2d Cir.2006). Summary judgment has been described as the "most pragmatic procedural mechanism in the Federal Rules for resolving IDEA actions." AS. v. Norwalk Bd. of Educ, 183 F.Supp.2d 534, 539 (D.Conn.2002) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted).

Federal courts reviewing administrative decisions under the IDEA must base their determinations on a "preponderance of the evidence developed at the administrative proceedings and any further evidence presented by the parties." Walczak v. Florida Union Free School Dist, 142 F.3d 119, 122-23 (2d Cir.1998); see also Grim v. Rhinebeck Central School Dist, 346 F.3d 377, 380 (2d Cir.2003). Although the district court is required to engage in an independent review of the administrative record, this assessment "is by no means an invitation to the courts to substitute their own notions of sound educational policy for those of the school authorities which they review." Hendrick Hudson Dist. Bd. of Educ. v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176, 206, 102 S.Ct. 3034, 73 L.Ed.2d 690 (1982) (considering the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, subsequently amended and renamed IDEA); see also Cabouli v. Chappaqua Central School Dist, 202 Fed.Appx. 519, 521 (2d Cir.2006). "The IDEA'S statutory scheme requires `substantial deference to state administrative bodies on matters of educational policy.'" AE. v. Westport, 463 F.Supp.2d at 215 (quoting Cerra v. Pawling Central School Dist, 421 F.3d 186, 191 (2d Cir.2005)). "While federal courts do not simply rubber stamp administrative decisions, they are expected to give due weight to these proceedings, mindful that the judiciary generally lacks the specialized knowledge and experience necessary to resolve persistent and difficult questions of educational policy." Walczak, 142 F.3d at 129 (quoting Rowley, 458 U.S. at 206, 208, 102 S.Ct. 3034 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted)); see also Cabouli 202 Fed.Appx. at 521; Mrs. B. v. Milford Bd. of Educ, 103 F.3d 1114, 1120 (2d Cir.1997); M.H. v. Monroe-Woodbury Central School Dist, 250 Fed.Appx. 428, 430 (2d Cir.2007) (reversing judgment of district court where it failed to give "due weight" to the administrative findings); Lillbask v. Sergi, 193 F.Supp.2d 503, 508 (D.Conn.2002) (in reviewing the findings and decisions of the hearing officer, the Court must afford deference and due weight to a hearing officer's' findings of fact). "Deference is particularly appropriate when, as here, the state hearing officer's review has been thorough and careful." Walczak, 142 F.3d at 129. Legal issues, however, regarding the IDEA...