Opinion ID: 587688
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: statutory sources of relief

Text: 12 The parties agree that plaintiffs are entitled to a forum in which to air their claims of discrimination. They disagree over the forum and the vehicle: plaintiffs contend that they may obtain relief by suit commenced in district court under the Rehabilitation Act, while SSA insists that they must seek an administrative remedy under the Administrative Procedures Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 701 et seq. (APA). We begin by examining the structures of the two statutes. 13 The APA provides a mechanism for persons suffering legal wrong because of agency action, or adversely affected or aggrieved by agency action to obtain judicial review and relief other than money damages. 5 U.S.C. § 702. A reviewing court has the power to compel agency action unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed. 5 U.S.C. § 706(1). It may also hold unlawful and set aside agency action ... found to be--(A) arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law; ... [or] (C) in excess of statutory jurisdiction, authority, or limitations, or short of statutory right. 5 U.S.C. § 706(2). For agency action to be reviewable under the APA, it must be final. 5 U.S.C. § 704. In this case, finality would require that plaintiffs exhaust the administrative procedure set forth in 45 C.F.R. § 85 (Enforcement of Non-Discrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services). 3 14 Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (as amended) states: 15 No otherwise qualified individual with handicaps in the United States ... shall, solely by reason of her or his handicap, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance or under any program or activity conducted by any Executive agency or by the United States Postal Service. 16 29 U.S.C. § 794. Like the APA, the Rehabilitation Act may be used to obtain redress from the government. Congress unequivocally expressed its intent [in section 504] to provide handicapped victims of government discrimination a private right of action for damages against the government discriminator. Doe v. Attorney General of the United States, 941 F.2d 780, 789 (9th Cir.1991). The Rehabilitation Act differs from the APA in other respects. In enacting section 504, Congress intended not to limit victims of government discrimination to enforcement through injunctive relief under the APA but to permit enforcement through the same means available against private parties: enforcement in the courts with damages and equitable relief. Id. at 794. See also Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 1028, 1035, 117 L.Ed.2d 208 (1992) (The general rule, therefore, is that absent clear direction to the contrary by Congress, the federal courts have the power to award any appropriate relief in a cognizable cause of action brought pursuant to a federal statute). Also unlike the APA, the Rehabilitation Act contains no per se exhaustion requirement; parties may proceed directly to district court. See Greater Los Angeles Council on Deafness, Inc. v. Baldridge, 827 F.2d 1353, 1361 n. 6 (9th Cir.1987); Kling v. County of Los Angeles, 633 F.2d 876, 879 (9th Cir.1980). 4 17 As these brief descriptions reveal, the two statutes overlap considerably. Plaintiffs may invoke the APA (1) to obtain relief other than money damages (2) from the federal government (3) following the exhaustion of administrative remedies. The Rehabilitation Act is broader: it allows (1) both monetary and non-monetary relief (2) against the federal government or entities receiving federal funds (3) without an exhaustion requirement. Depending upon the relief they seek, plaintiffs alleging discrimination by the government may have a cognizable claim under either statute, or both. 5 The nature of the wrong alleged and the remedy sought determine the proper statutory route or routes. 18