Court Opinion

ID: 9899396
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-11-16 18:00:51.034615+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:20:23.277008
License: Public Domain

United States Court of Appeals
                            For the Eighth Circuit
                        ___________________________

                                No. 23-1073
                        ___________________________

              F.B., a minor, by and through next friend Tracy Bono

                                      Plaintiff - Appellant

                                         v.

                          Francis Howell School District

                                     Defendant - Appellee
                                  ____________

                    Appeal from United States District Court
                  for the Eastern District of Missouri - St. Louis
                                  ____________

                         Submitted: September 21, 2023
                           Filed: November 16, 2023
                                 [Unpublished]
                                 ____________

Before COLLOTON, GRASZ, and KOBES, Circuit Judges.
                          ____________

PER CURIAM.

       F.B. is a minor with autism and a former student of Francis Howell School
District, where he says staff unlawfully isolated and restrained him. Through his
mother, he sued Francis Howell for compensatory damages, equitable relief, and
attorney’s fees under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Rehabilitation
Act, and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The district court found that F.B.’s suit was based on
the denial of a free appropriate public education (FAPE) and dismissed it for failure
to exhaust administrative processes under the Individuals with Disabilities Act
(IDEA). See 20 U.S.C. § 1415(l). F.B. appeals the dismissal of his claims for
compensatory damages. 1

       We review de novo whether exhaustion was required. J.M. v. Francis Howell
Sch. Dist., 850 F.3d 944, 947 (8th Cir. 2017). Section 1415(l) requires plaintiffs to
exhaust the IDEA’s administrative processes before suing under the ADA,
Rehabilitation Act, or similar laws when they seek relief also available under the
IDEA—that is, relief for the denial of a FAPE. Fry v. Napolean Cmty. Schs., 580
U.S. 154, 165 (2017). Exhaustion has been our general rule when a plaintiff
complains of the denial of a FAPE, regardless of the remedy he requests. J.M., 850
F.3d at 950. But in Luna Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools, the Supreme Court held
that § 1415(l) does not apply to suits, even those premised on the denial of a FAPE,
that seek a remedy unavailable under the IDEA. 598 U.S. 142, 150 (2023).

        F.B. asks only for compensatory damages, a remedy the IDEA cannot give.
Id. at 147. So he did not need to exhaust the IDEA’s administrative processes before
bringing his ADA, Rehabilitation Act, and § 1983 claims.

        Francis Howell concedes this point but urges us to affirm on alternative
grounds: that F.B.’s suit is time-barred and that he has failed to state a § 1983 claim.
The district court did not reach these issues, and we decline to address them in the
first instance. See Wivell v. Wells Fargo Bank, 773 F.3d 887, 899–900 (8th Cir.
2014).

     We vacate the district court’s dismissal of F.B.’s claims for compensatory
damages and remand for further proceedings.
                    ______________________________

      1
       F.B. acknowledged at oral argument that he has abandoned his claims for
equitable relief.
                                     -2-