Opinion ID: 789765
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: ada and section 504

Text: 66 In addition to his IDEA claims, Pace also asserted claims under the ADA and § 504 in his suit. The district court severed the IDEA claims from these non-IDEA claims. After dismissing Pace's IDEA claims, the district court then considered defendants' motion for summary judgment seeking exoneration under § 504 and the ADA. The district court granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment on grounds that the factual bases for the non-IDEA claims were indistinct from the resolved IDEA claims. The district court concluded further that principles of issue preclusion applied to preclude Pace from pursuing his redundant non-IDEA claims. Pace argues that the district court committed legal error in applying principles of issue preclusion to bar his non-IDEA claims. 67 Issue preclusion or collateral estoppel is appropriate when: (1) the identical issue was previously adjudicated; (2) the issue was actually litigated; and (3) the previous determination was necessary to the decision. See Southmark Corp. v. Coopers & Lybrand (In re: Southmark Corp.), 163 F.3d 925, 932 (5th Cir.1999). In Southmark we also found that the relitigation of an issue is not precluded unless the facts and the legal standard used to assess them are the same in both proceedings. Id. (quoting RecoverEdge L.P. v. Pentecost, 44 F.3d 1284, 1291 (5th Cir.1995)). Issues of fact are not identical or the same, and therefore not preclusive, if the legal standards governing their resolution are significantly different. 90 Pace argues that the accessibility issues the court litigated under the IDEA were for the limited purpose of determining whether the Bogalusa High School provided Pace with a FAPE under that statute. Thus, Pace contends, because a significantly different legal standard applies to his accessibility issues under the ADA and § 504, these latter claims were never litigated and issue preclusion should not apply. We therefore compare the standards of accessibility under the IDEA on the one hand and the ADA and § 504 on the other to determine whether the legal standards are significantly different. 68 As indicated above, the IDEA requires states and local educational agencies receiving federal IDEA funds to make a FAPE available to children with certain disabilities between the ages of 3 and 21. The IDEA imposes extensive requirements on schools to safeguard the disabled child's right to a FAPE. 20 U.S.C. §§ 1414, 1415. In determining whether a school has provided a student with a FAPE, the focus is on the Individualized Education Plan (IEP), a written statement prepared by a team consisting of a representative of the local school district, the disabled child's teachers, the child's parents and the child. 20 U.S.C. § 1414(d). The IEP includes the child's educational performance, his goals, the nature of his disabilities, and a description of the educational and related services that will be provided for the child to meet the stated objectives. The objective is always to tailor the FAPE to the particular needs of the child. Cypress-Fairbanks ISD v. Michael F., 118 F.3d 245, 247 (5th Cir.1997). 69 The goal of the IDEA is to require a FAPE that will permit the child to benefit from the educational experience. It need not be the best possible education nor one that will maximize the child's educational potential. Bd. of Education v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176, 102 S.Ct. 3034, 73 L.Ed.2d 690 (1982). 70 Admittedly different from those underlying the IDEA, the Congressional objective of both the ADA and § 504 is the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities. 42 U.S.C. § 12101(b)(1). Title II of the ADA, which applies to public entities including public schools, provides that no qualified individual with a disability shall, by reason of such disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs or activities of a public entity or be subjected to discrimination by any such entity. 42 U.S.C. § 12132. See also 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(a). Section 504 contains virtually identical language. See 29 U.S.C. § 784(a). Mandating physical accessibility and the removal and amelioration of architectural barriers is an important purpose of each statute. 91 71 The primary difference between the ADA and § 504 is that § 504 applies only to recipients of federal funds. 29 U.S.C. § 794(a). This difference does not concern us in this case because no defendant argues that it does not receive federal money. Thus, as we stated in section II-D above, for the purposes of this appeal, the ADA and § 504 and their implementing regulations impose identical obligations on the defendants and grant identical rights to Pace. 92 72 In Pace's brief to us on his non-IDEA claims brought under § 504 and the ADA he complains only that parts of the Bogalusa High School campus are inaccessible to him. The only § 504 regulations dealing with accessibility in education are found in subpart C of the § 504 regulations. 34 C.F.R. §§ 104.21-104.23. Section 104.23 of § 504's regulations deals with new construction on school campuses, the basis of Pace's complaints in this suit. Subpart D of the § 504 regulations deals with preschool, elementary, and secondary education and those regulations do not purport to cover accessibility in schools. 93 Rather, 34 C.F.R. § § 104.21-23, the general education regulations on accessibility found in subpart C of § 504 apply to new construction on high school campuses such as Bogalusa High. 94 The ADA has no specific section on education, so the general regulations governing accessibility to public buildings also control accessibility to school buildings. 73 With this background, we turn to Pace's specific argument that his accessibility claims under the ADA/504 are not precluded by the district court's rejection of his accessibility claims under the IDEA. He argues that his non-IDEA accessibility claims are not precluded because different legal standards apply to his ADA and § 504 accessibility claims, and these claims have never been litigated or decided. When we consider the equivalent standards for accessibility in schools under the IDEA on the one hand and the ADA/504 on the other, it becomes clear that we should reject this argument. 74 Congress required in a 1997 amendment to the IDEA that any construction of new facilities must comply with either (1) The Americans with Disabilities Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities (ADAAG); or (2) The Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS). 20 U.S.C. § 1404(b). 95 Thus, with respect to a physically disabled child such as the wheelchair-bound Pace, the school can comply with the IDEA's accessibility requirements by satisfying either the ADAAG or UFAS. 96 75 Pace presents no argument that the accessibility standards for new construction of school buildings under the ADA or § 504 are more demanding or even different from the standards required under the 1997 amendment to the IDEA. This is understandable, because the regulations governing accessibility in schools under the ADA/504 require a school engaged in new construction to conform to the same standards as the IDEA, either the ADAAG or UFAS. 76 New construction and alterations of public facilities under Title II of the ADA are governed by the regulations found in 28 C.F.R. § 35.151. 97 Like the IDEA, the ADA accessibility regulations require a school conducting new construction to comply with either the ADAAG or UFAS. Section 504's accessibility regulations are virtually identical to the ADA's, 98 and also demand that schools engaging in new construction comply with the same federal guidelines required by the IDEA. Thus, Pace's argument that the accessibility standards are different under IDEA and ADA/504 is meritless. 77 In summary, under the IDEA, when, as here, a child complains that his disability renders a portion of the campus inaccessible, this triggers the application of the 1997 amendments to the IDEA. In determining whether the school has met its obligations under the amendment and provided the disabled student with a FAPE, the hearing examiner, the SLRP, and the district court must determine whether the area of the school in question complies with either the ADAAG or UFAS. These are the same federal guidelines the school must comply with to satisfy the accessibility requirements of the ADA and § 504. 78 Pace, as he was required to do by the IDEA, presented his accessibility claims in his administrative claim. In their administrative findings, both the hearing examiner and the SLRP discussed the 1997 amendment to the IDEA. This makes it clear that both were aware that new or existing construction to Bogalusa High School must meet either the ADAAG or UFAS standards before the school could fully comply with the IDEA. 99 79 The only significant summary judgment evidence Pace presented to the district court on his ADA/504 claims was the report and deposition testimony of Donald MaGinnis, an architectural expert. The point of his testimony is that structural changes to the Bogalusa campus failed to comply with the ADAAG. Although this same standard applied to Pace's claim under the IDEA, he did not introduce this evidence before the hearing examiner. Further, Pace failed to offer the expert evidence to the district court to support his appeal of the administrative determination under the IDEA. Because the accessibility standards under the IDEA and the ADA/504 are identical for new construction of school buildings, Pace has not demonstrated that the defendants owed him any greater or even different obligation in this respect under § 504/ADA than he was entitled to under the IDEA. Thus, the accessibility issue Pace litigated in his IDEA case and lost is the same issue he sought to litigate in his ADA/504 claim. The district court correctly concluded that Pace was precluded from relitigating this issue. 80 The only argument Pace presents to us on the applicability of the 1997 amendment was presented for the first time in his petition for en banc review. He argued in that petition and argues to the en banc court that the amendment was not triggered because no evidence was presented that IDEA funds were used to make the improvements to the Bogalusa campus. Pace relies on the following language in the 1997 amendment to 20 U.S.C. § 1404: 81 § 1404. Acquisition of equipment; construction or alteration of facilities 82 (a) In general 83 If the Secretary determines that a program authorized under this chapter would be improved by permitting program funds to be used to acquire appropriate equipment, or to construct new facilities or alter existing facilities, the Secretary is authorized to allow the use of those funds for those purposes. 84 Neither the amendment nor the existing statute purports to require a plaintiff to prove the use of IDEA funds or any other fact as a predicate to seeking relief under the IDEA against a school for failing to make its campus accessible in response to a student's IEP. We have found no cases interpreting this amendment or its predecessor. Subsection (a) is simply a restyled version of the existing statute. 100 The change is found in Subsection (b), which incorporates into the IDEA for the first time the ADAAG and UFAS construction standards. The amended § 1404(a), like the existing statute, authorizes the Secretary to allow the use of IDEA funds for construction or alterations. 85 To support Pace's argument that the amended version of § 1404 does not apply in this case, amicus seems to argue that structural alterations to meet accessibility demands in a student's IEP are not part of the calculus in determining whether a student has received a FAPE. 86 In Weber's Special Education Law and Litigation Treatise, he rejects this suggestion in his cogent discussion of the interplay between the IDEA, § 504 and ADA: 87 Schools covered by Title II and Section 504 owe obligations not only to students with disabilities but to all persons with disabilities whom they serve. In this sense, the laws are more inclusive than the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), whose beneficiaries are children with disabilities who need special education. Nevertheless, by requiring school districts to provide an appropriate education in the least restrictive environment, IDEA overlaps with Section 504 and Title II in terms of the children it covers. Thus, IDEA may require a school district to modify programs or facilities to achieve these ends for an individual student. IDEA funds may be used for removal of architectural barriers or other improvements to accessibility in order to promote appropriate education for children with disabilities. (Footnotes omitted) 101 (emphasis added) 88 Weber further describes a school's duty under the IDEA to address accessibility concerns in the IEP as a component of appropriate special education and related services in the least restrictive environment. 102 This discussion makes it clear that when a student's IEP raises concerns of accessibility to the school's campus, the determination of whether these concerns have been met is a necessary component in resolving whether the student has received a FAPE. 89 The Hearing Examiner tried this controversy on the premise that the entire IDEA statute, including the 1997 amendment, applied to Pace's claims, and no one argued to the contrary. The Hearing Examiner did not require the parties to file extensive pre-trial papers. However, she did require each party to list the issues they wanted the hearing examiner to address. Neither Pace nor the school board asserted that an issue was presented with respect to the expenditure of IDEA funds or any other issue relating to the applicability of the 1997 amendment to § 1404. Considering the strict duty that the ADAAG and UFAS construction guidelines impose on the school, it was also reasonable for the Hearing Examiner to assume that the school board would object if there was some basis for it to argue that these guidelines did not apply to the architectural improvements ordered by Pace's IEP. It is not surprising that Pace did not object to the Hearing Examiner's application of such rigorous standards; it was in his interest at the time to require the school to meet the toughest standards possible in making the architectural improvements. 90 After three hearings, the Hearing Examiner issued her report finding that Bogalusa High had provided Pace with a FAPE. The Hearing Examiner explicitly found that the ADAAG guidelines applied, meaning that she concluded that Pace's accessibility concerns regarding improvements made to the campus triggered the application of the 1997 amendment to § 1404 of the IDEA. Otherwise, the ADAAG guidelines would be irrelevant. In making her findings, the Hearing Examiner relied on the voluminous administrative record, which shows that Bogalusa received substantial federal IDEA funds during 1996 and 1997, the relevant time period. 103 IDEA regulations make it clear that federal IDEA funds cannot be co-mingled with state funds. 104 The Hearing examiner also had the benefit of Pace's IEP and the testimony of the School Board's Maintenance Supervisor that the construction changes were made in response to Pace's IEP facilitator's instructions. Even if a showing of the use of IDEA funds was required, it was reasonable for the Hearing Examiner to conclude that IDEA funds were used and that under the amended version of 20 U.S.C. § 1404 the school provided Pace with a FAPE. 91 Pace appealed the Hearing Examiner's order to the State Level Review Panel (SLRP). Again, the record reflects no argument from any party to that appeal that the entire IDEA statute, including the 1997 amendment to § 1404, did not apply. The SLRP in its opinion explicitly applied the 1997 amendment, discussed Pace's arguments, and after rejecting them, affirmed the Hearing Examiner. 92 Pace then filed suit in federal district court seeking relief under the IDEA, § 504 and the ADA. He specifically alleged in his petition that the state received federal IDEA funds. 105 His core claim was that the school had failed to comply with the ADAAG. 93 The primary evidence Pace presented to the district court was the deposition testimony and report of architect Donald MaGinnis, who testified that the structural changes to the campus failed to meet ADAAG standards. Thus, Pace's federal claim was predicated on these guidelines, made applicable to the IDEA by the 1997 amendment to § 1404. Because the Hearing Examiner and the SLRP had rejected Pace's accessibility claims based on application of these same standards (the ADAAG and UFAS), the district court concluded that Pace was precluded from relitigating his accessibility issues. 94 Suffering summary judgment in the district court on both his IDEA and non-IDEA claims, Pace sought appellate relief from this court. In his initial brief to the panel, Pace argued that the district court erred in accepting the Hearing Examiner and SLRP's findings of accessibility to preclude his non-IDEA accessibility claims. However, Pace did not base his argument on the inapplicability of the 1997 amendment to § 1404 or that the Hearing Examiner erred in applying the ADAAG guidelines to the structural changes. The School Board did argue to the panel that the amendment applied and that the Hearing Examiner and SLRP had used the very same federal guidelines in deciding Pace's IDEA claims that Pace sought to litigate in his non-IDEA action. 106 95 Faced with the appellee's argument that his non-IDEA claims were precluded due to the previous application of the 1997 amended version of § 1404, Pace filed a reply brief with the panel. Again, he made no effort to refute the School Board's argument that the 1997 amendment to § 1404 applied. 96 Without any opposition from Pace as to the proper application of § 1404 to the improvements to Bogalusa High's campus, the panel accepted the School Board's unchallenged argument and relied on the 1997 amendment to affirm the district court's judgment. 107 The panel specifically cited the 1997 amended version of § 1404 to support its conclusion that issue preclusion was proper because accessibility to the campus had already been litigated under the same federal standards. 108 97 In response to the panel's decision, Pace sought en banc review, where he argued for the first time that § 1404 did not apply to the improvements he demanded in his IEP, because [t]here is no proof that construction in this case would be covered by this provision. 109 98 In sum, we do not read the 1997 amendment to require proof that IDEA funds were used for improvements to trigger the amendment. Even if the statute can be read in this manner, there is evidence to support an inference that IDEA funds were used to make the structural changes. More importantly, we cannot permit Pace to change his position at will. He was obviously happy to have the administrative bodies and the trial court apply the 1997 amendment to § 1404 (and the strict ADAAG guidelines) when it was helpful to him. He cannot at this late date reverse his position when he finds that application of those guidelines are not in his best interest. 99 Pace has one remaining argument in support of his position that issue preclusion should not apply to his claims under the ADA and § 504. He argues that the IDEA's savings clause, gives him the right to maintain a cause of action under the ADA and § 504. 110 We agree that Pace is not limited to a claim under the IDEA and that he can assert claims under the ADA and § 504. But his ability to assert non-IDEA claims does not mean that general principles of issue preclusion do not apply to preclude his redundant claims. 111 Because Pace's claims under the ADA and § 504 are factually and legally indistinct from his IDEA claims, issue preclusion is proper in this case. 100 Because Pace is precluded from litigating the question of whether the defendants have any obligation under the ADA and § 504 to make further architectural or structural changes in the buildings on the Bogalusa campus, his claim for an injunction ordering such changes must also fail. 101 In conclusion, we AFFIRM the district court's dismissal of Pace's claims under the IDEA and also AFFIRM the district court's dismissal of Pace's claims for damages and injunctive relief under the ADA and § 504.