Opinion ID: 496787
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Availability of the Due Process Hearings

Text: 35 Although Sec. 1415(f) provides that the EHA does not affect the applicability of other federal laws related to special education, it also clearly states that parents may not circumvent its due process procedures. Specifically, the section requires that before the filing of a civil action under such laws seeking relief that is also available under this subchapter, the procedures under subsections (b)(2) and (c) of this section shall be exhausted to the same extent as would be required had the action been brought under this subchapter. 20 U.S.C.A. Sec. 1415(f) (West Supp. 1987). In other words, when parents choose to file suit under another law that protects the rights of handicapped children--and the suit could have been filed under the EHA--they are first required to exhaust the EHA's remedies to the same extent as if the suit had been filed originally under the EHA's provisions. 1986 Senate Report, supra, at 15; 1985 House Report, supra, at 7. 36 In analyzing exhaustion under the EHA, we begin by observing that the Act's procedural due process machinery requires that complainants file a complaint with the educational service provider and appeal to the state educational agency before filing a civil action in an appropriate state or federal court. Sec. 1415(a)-(e). Congress in adding Sec. 1415(f) confirmed the clear language of Sec. 1415(a)-(e), only overruling the Smith holding that a Sec. 1983 action could not be used supplementally to enforce the Act's substantive rights. Therefore, Sec. 1415(a)-(e) remedies must be exhausted prior to instituting a civil action in federal court pursuant to Sec. 1415(e) or a Sec. 1983 action authorized by Sec. 1415(f). The Act's exhaustion requirements are the same for 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 or 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1415(e) actions and were not eliminated or cut-back by the Handicapped Children's Protection Act of 1986. Thus, pre-1986 judicial constructions of the EHA's exhaustion requirements still remain viable. 37 Exhaustion is not an inflexible rule. Under certain circumstances, not all Sec. 1415(a)-(e) administrative remedies must be exhausted prior to invoking a civil action under Sec. 1415(e). See Quackenbush v. Johnson City School Dist., 716 F.2d 141, 147-48 (2d Cir.1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1071, 104 S.Ct. 1426, 79 L.Ed.2d 750 (1984) (allowing Sec. 1983 action when state directly responsible for plaintiff's failure to exhaust administrative remedies); see generally Cain v. Yukon Pub. Schools, 775 F.2d 15, 20 (10th Cir.1985) (noting importance of notification requirements); Hall v. Vance County Bd. of Educ., 774 F.2d 629, 634 (4th Cir.1985) (same). Congress specified the situations in which before filing suit, exhaustion of the due process and review procedures set forth in Sec. 1415(b)(2) and (c) is not a prerequisite. See 1986 Senate Report, supra, at 15; 1985 House Report, supra, at 7; see also Doe v. Gonzales, 793 F.2d 1470, 1490 (9th Cir.1986) (exhaustion not required where administrative relief would be futile or inadequate), cert. granted on other grounds, --- U.S. ----, 107 S. Ct. 1284, 94 L.Ed.2d 142 (1987). These situations include complaints that: 38 (1) it would be futile to use the due process procedures ...; (2) an agency has adopted a policy or pursued a practice of general applicability that is contrary to the law; (3) it is improbable that adequate relief can be obtained by pursuing administrative remedies (e.g., the hearing officer lacks the authority to grant the relief sought).... 39 1985 House Report, supra, at 7; see 1986 Senate Report, supra, at 15 (exhaustion excused if not required under EHA); see also J.G. v. Board of Educ. of the Rochester City School Dist., 830 F.2d 444, 447 (2d Cir.1987) (Sec. 1988 attorneys' fees allowed in Sec. 1983 action when plaintiffs allege deprivation of EHA due process rights and inadequate administrative remedies); Manecke v. School Bd. of Pinellas County, 762 F.2d 912, 918-19 (11th Cir.1985) (Sec. 1983 action available to redress denial of access to EHA procedural safeguards), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1062, 106 S.Ct. 809, 88 L.Ed.2d. 784 (1986); Quackenbush, 716 F.2d at 148 (permitting Sec. 1983 action to plaintiff denied Sec. 1415's procedural safeguards); Jose P. v. Ambach, 669 F.2d 865, 869-70 (2d Cir.1982) (not requiring exhaustion of administrative remedies in complex class action alleging systematic EHA violations). 40 Plaintiffs claim to fall within these statutory exceptions. Their complaint alleges a pattern and practice of systematic EHA violations unable to be addressed at the due process hearings provided in Connecticut. They allege that this brings them within the situation described above in (2)--a complaint alleging an agency adopted policy that is contrary to law. Plaintiffs also contend that they are unlikely to receive adequate relief because a due process hearing officer lacks the authority to effectuate class action and system-wide relief. As a consequence, plaintiffs argue, they also fit the situation described in (3). 41 Reviewing an appeal from a judgment granted on the pleadings, an appellate court must assume the truth of all facts pleaded by the party opposing the motion and read the record in a light most favorable to that party. Falls Riverway Realty, Inc. v. City of Niagara Falls, 754 F.2d 49, 54 (2d Cir.1985). Accepting the facts pleaded by plaintiffs as true and drawing all inferences in their favor, plaintiffs have pleaded an entitlement to an exemption from exhaustion of administrative remedies sufficient to overcome a motion for judgment on the pleadings.