Opinion ID: 425093
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Summary Judgment for Defendant Bartels

Text: 9 With only Bartels remaining as a defendant, the district court granted summary judgment against plaintiff's claims that the Commission denied him due process of law in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment and that the Commission violated section 504. The district court found that plaintiff failed to establish the existence of a genuine and material fact on these issues. Dist.Ct. at 2-3; see Emery v. Merrimack Valley Wood Products, Inc., 701 F.2d 985, 990 (1st Cir.1983) (quoting Hahn v. Sargent, 523 F.2d 461, 464 (1st Cir.1975)). An appellate court must read the record on summary judgment in the light most favorable to [plaintiff], the party opposing the motion. Poller v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., 368 U.S. 464, 473, 82 S.Ct. 486, 491, 7 L.Ed.2d 458 (1962); see Rogen v. Ilikon Corp., 361 F.2d 260, 266 & n. 6 (1st Cir.1966).
10 The district court rejected plaintiff's due process claim for two reasons. First, plaintiff could show no inadequacy in the procedures established by the MRC for administrative review of the reduction, suspension, or termination of his services. Second, [t]he facts as to due process are undisputed and reveal that plaintiff had at least two extensive administrative hearings over the ten-year period at issue. Dist.Ct. at 3. 11 Plaintiff did not allege that the procedures established by the MRC for review of diminution of his services were inadequate. Cf. Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U.S. 527, 543, 101 S.Ct. 1908, 1916, 68 L.Ed.2d 420 (1981). Mere failure by defendants to provide plaintiff with those services to which he alleged he was entitled under applicable state or federal statutes does not without more give rise to a due process violation. See Creative Environments, Inc. v. Estabrook, 680 F.2d 822, 833 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 103 S.Ct. 345, 74 L.Ed.2d 385 (1982). Moreover, Massachusetts provided and plaintiff utilized procedures designed to provide appropriate relief of the alleged deprivations. In what the record indicates to be plaintiff's most recent use of the state's review procedures, plaintiff challenged the suspension of a reading tutorial program. Plaintiff and his attorney attended an Administrative Review proceeding on May 1, 1981, cf. Mass.Admin.Code tit. 107, Secs. 1.12-1.32 (rules for Administrative Review), and a Fair Hearing on June 25, 1981, cf. Mass.Admin.Code tit. 107, Secs. 1.33-1.45 (rules for Fair Hearing). That plaintiff did not receive all the relief he sought in those hearings does not imply that the Commission violated his due process rights. The district court properly granted summary judgment for defendant Bartels on plaintiff's due process claim.
12 The district court rejected plaintiff's section 504 claim, citing Southeastern Community College v. Davis, 442 U.S. 397, 99 S.Ct. 2361, 60 L.Ed.2d 980 (1979), in holding that section 504 did not require defendant to take affirmative action in providing services to an emotionally disturbed client who is extremely difficult to serve, who often withdraws on his own whim from services provided, or rejects these services outright. Dist.Ct. at 4. The district court further found that the Commission is not required under Section 504 to provide services to a client who himself completely subverts the service process .... [T]his record reveals that the Commission made repeated efforts to match Mr. Ciampa, not only with compatible programs, but also with compatible Commission counselors and personnel to assist him with his claims. I find that the efforts made by the Commission satisfy the statute. Id. at 5-6. 13 We assume, without deciding, that a private right of action may be brought to enforce the provisions of section 504. Every court that has decided the question has held that a private right of action exists under the statute. See, e.g., Miener v. State of Missouri, 673 F.2d 969, 973-74 (8th Cir.) (citing numerous cases), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 103 S.Ct. 215, 230, 74 L.Ed.2d 171 (1982); Pushkin v. Regents of University of Colorado, 658 F.2d 1372, 1377 (10th Cir.1981); cf. Smith v. Cumberland School Committee, 703 F.2d 4, 9 (1st Cir.1983) (private action under section 504 is in doubt); Massachusetts Coalition of Citizens With Disabilities v. Civil Defense Agency, 649 F.2d 71, 75 n. 6 (1st Cir.1981) (expressing no view whether private right of action exists under section 504). We further assume, although without unanimous support from decided cases, that a private right of action for damages may be implied under section 504. Compare Miener v. State of Missouri, 673 F.2d at 978 (damages awardable under Sec. 504) with Ruth Anne M v. Alvin Independent School District, 532 F.Supp. 460, 470-73 (S.D.Tex.1982) (damages unavailable under Sec. 504). 3 14 The district court held that Sec. 504 did not require the Commission to undertake affirmative actions in providing services to a client who has resisted such services. Dist.Ct. at 4-5. In Davis, a nursing program rejected plaintiff because an audiologist reported that plaintiff's deafness would preclude her from participating in the clinical portion of the training program and from performing effectively as a nurse in a variety of situations. Plaintiff argued in part that the school should have restructured the program so that her handicap would not bar her participation. The Supreme Court responded that Sec. 504 did not require such substantial program modifications. The court held that the statute mandated evenhanded treatment of qualified handicapped persons in programs receiving federal funds, but did not require those programs to undertake affirmative efforts to overcome the disabilities of handicapped persons. 442 U.S. at 410, 99 S.Ct. at 2369. 4 See Colin & Alan K. v. Schmidt, 715 F.2d 1 at 8-9 (1st Cir.1983). 15 Given the limited mandate imposed upon federal fund recipients under section 504, Massachusetts Coalition of Citizens v. Civil Defense Agency, 649 F.2d at 76, and plaintiff's apparent recalcitrance toward various services offered by defendants, we cannot say that the district court misread the law in granting defendants' motion for summary judgment on plaintiff's Sec. 504 claim. The MRC offered plaintiff several alternative reading programs and provided him with extensive administrative review of MRC decisions with which he was dissatisfied. The record before us does not indicate that the MRC provided plaintiff with substandard services, either because of his handicap or for any other reason. See Colin K. v. Schmidt, 536 F.Supp. 1375, 1388 (D.R.I.1982) (funding residential placement for learning disabled children constituted affirmative conduct not required by RHA), aff'd sub nom. Colin & Alan K. v. Schmidt, 715 F.2d 1 at 9 (1st Cir.1983). 16 We hold that the district court acted correctly in dismissing plaintiff's declaratory and injunctive claims as moot, in dismissing the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission as a defendant on Eleventh Amendment grounds, and in awarding summary judgment against plaintiff's claims under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. 17 The order of the District Court is affirmed. The parties shall bear their own costs on appeal.