Miener v. Special School Dist. of St. Louis County, 79-1050C(1).

• Citation: 580 F. Supp. 562
• Decision Date: 13 February 1984
• Docket Number: No. 79-1050C(1).,79-1050C(1).
• Parties: Terri Ann MIENER, et al., Plaintiffs, v. SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT OF ST. LOUIS COUNTY, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Missouri

580 F. Supp. 562

Terri Ann MIENER, et al., Plaintiffs, v. SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT OF ST. LOUIS COUNTY, et al., Defendants.

No. 79-1050C(1).

United States District Court, E.D. Missouri, E.D.

February 13, 1984.

Albert J. Haller and Steven L. Leonard, Clayton, Mo., for plaintiffs.

Burton M. Greenberg, London, Greenberg & Fleming, St. Louis, Mo., for defendants Special School District of St. Louis County, The Board of Education of the Special School District of St. Louis County, Allan G. Barclay, Gerald K. Braznell, and Gerald B. Hansen, Directors of the Special School District of St. Louis County.

M. Peter Fischer, J. Peter Schmitz, Mary Stake Hawker, Schmitz & Fischer, St. Louis, Mo., for Sp. Sch. Dist. St. Louis Co., Mo., Bd. Education Sp. Sch. Dist., St. Louis Co., Mo., Allan G. Barclay, Gerald K. Braznell & Gerald B. Hansen, Directors Sp. Sch. Dist. St. Louis Co., Mo.; Thomas E. Smith, Supt. Schools Sp. Sch. Dist. St. Louis Co., Mo.

William F. Arnet, Leslie Ann Schneider, Robert Presson, Asst. Attys. Gen., State of Missouri, Jefferson City, Mo., for State of Mo., Jos. Teasdale, Dept. Elementary & Secondary Education; Arthur L. Mallory; Dr. Leonard Hall; Dept. Mental Health State of Missouri; Norman Tice; Dr. Beverley Wilson; Mr. John Twiehaus; Dr. Milton Fujita.

Carl I. Katzen, St. Louis, Mo., for State of Mo. Dept. of Mental Health as to allegations Count IV only.

Leo M. Newman, Newman & Bronson, Simon Tonkin, Asst. Atty. Gen., State of Missouri, St. Louis, Mo., Philip R. Newmark, Clayton, Mo., Newman & Bronson, St. Louis, Mo., Ramon J. Morganstern, Michael J. McKitrick, Barbara Blee Maille, Clayton, Mo., for the State of Mo.

MEMORANDUM

NANGLE, District Judge.

This case is now before this Court on remand from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, for the purpose of considering four (4) specific issues. See Miener v. State of Missouri, 673 F.2d 969 (8th Cir.1982). The parties have briefed these issues and they are now ripe for decision. In addition, plaintiffs move to file an amended complaint. Defendants oppose the motion and, in the alternative, make several arguments that will be viewed as motions to dismiss the original complaint.

I. BACKGROUND:

This Court will not repeat the facts of this case, which have already been stated once by this Court, see Miener v. State of Missouri, 498 F.Supp. 944 (E.D.Mo.1980), and the Court of Appeals, see Miener v. State of Missouri, 673 F.2d 969 (8th Cir. 1982). However, a brief overview is in order.

Plaintiff is a young girl who suffers from behavioral, emotional and learning handicaps. In 1979 she brought an action in this Court against several defendants. For the sake of simplicity, these included the so-called "State defendants", the Special School District of St. Louis County (hereinafter "SSD"), the Board of Education of the Special School District of St. Louis County, John M. Twiehaus, and Milton Fujita. Twiehaus is or was the acting superintendent of the St. Louis State Hospital and Fujita is or was the Medical Director of the Youth Center at said hospital. Plaintiff's claims were based upon violations of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 701 et seq., (hereinafter the "Rehabilitation Act"), the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, 20 U.S.C. § 1401 et seq., (hereinafter the "EAHCA"), the equal protection clause of the fifth and fourteenth amendments, and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff also included a pendent state claim, against Twiehaus and Fujita only, for her personal injuries. The relief sought by plaintiff included declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as damages.

As a result of orders of this Court, portions of plaintiff's complaint were dismissed. On January 25, 1980, this Court held that: 1) there is a private right of action under the Rehabilitation Act, but only for injunctive or declaratory relief and not for damages; 2) there is no implied private right of action for damages under the EAHCA; and 3) plaintiff failed to state a cause of action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Miener v. State of Missouri, 498 F.Supp. 944 (E.D.Mo.1980). The § 1983 claim was dismissed because, at that time, a statutory violation (of the EAHCA or the Rehabilitation Act) was insufficient to support a claim under § 1983, and because plaintiff failed to allege the type of invidious discrimination which could give rise to a violation of the equal protection clause. Id. at 949. On September 19, 1980, this Court dismissed plaintiff's damage claim for a compensatory education as precluded by the eleventh amendment. Miener v. State of Missouri, 498 F.Supp. 949 (E.D.Mo. 1980). This Court also dismissed plaintiff's pendent state claim for damages. Id. at 951. A motion of defendant SSD for summary judgment was denied as moot. A motion of plaintiff to amend her complaint was denied.

On appeal the Eighth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part. Miener v. State of Missouri, 673 F.2d 969 (8th Cir.1982). The Court affirmed the dismissal of all damage claims against the so-called "State defendants". The Court affirmed the dismissal of the EAHCA damage claims, but reversed the dismissal of the Rehabilitation Act damage claims. Therefore, with respect to these two statutory claims, the Rehabilitation Act damage claims were reinstated as to defendants SSD, its Board of Education and officials, Twiehaus, and Fujita. The Court also suggested that this Court may consider reinstating plaintiff's pendent state claim against Twiehaus and Fujita.

More importantly, however, the Eighth Circuit reversed and remanded this Court's dismissal of the § 1983 cause of action to consider:

(1) the question whether plaintiff seeks damages, as opposed to injunctive relief, pursuant to § 1983; (2) the question whether, if plaintiff seeks monetary damages pursuant to § 1983, such damages are coextensive with those sought pursuant to the underlying statutes; (3) the question whether the exclusivity exception to the Thiboutot doctrine applies; (4) the question whether the rights guaranteed by the underlying statutes are "rights secured by the laws of the United States" within the meaning of § 1983.

Id. at 977. It is these questions which are now before this Court for decision.

The Eighth Circuit declined to decide whether this Court erred in denying plaintiff's motion to amend her complaint, and stated that "such refusal shall be considered as without prejudice to such future efforts to amend as may be appropriate on remand." 673 F.2d at 983. However, the Court also held: Plaintiff "may seek to amend her complaint to assert additional damages and to add Clyde Miener plaintiff's father as a party plaintiff, insofar as these amendments pertain to the causes of action and defendants who remain in the case. Plaintiff may otherwise be permitted to amend as justice may require." Id. at 983-84.

Plaintiff now moves to amend her complaint. However, defendants contend that the amended complaint exceeds both the scope of the amendments suggested by the Eighth Circuit and the needs of justice. In addition, defendants Twiehaus and Fujita move to dismiss plaintiff's § 1983 claims against them on the ground that plaintiff fails to allege any personal involvement on the part of these two defendants so as to subject them to § 1983 liability. Twiehaus and Fujita also move to dismiss plaintiff's statutory claim under the Rehabilitation Act for the reason that plaintiff fails to allege the type of discrimination that is prohibited by that act. Finally, defendant SSD and its officials reassert contentions which they originally made in a motion for summary judgment filed in December of 1979. It was this motion which was denied by this Court as moot, following dismissal of plaintiff's claims. Essentially, the argument that defendant SSD reasserts is that it had no legal responsibility, under the EAHCA, for the education of plaintiff while she was at the St. Louis State Hospital.

II. SECTION 1983 QUESTIONS:

1. The first question which this Court must address is whether plaintiff seeks damages pursuant to § 1983. This question arises because plaintiff's original complaint was not clear as to the theoretical basis of each of her claims for relief. However, a liberal reading of plaintiff's complaint leads this Court to conclude that plaintiff does seek damages against the remaining defendants pursuant to § 1983. In ¶ 4 of the prayer of plaintiff's complaint, plaintiff seeks an award of $50,000.00 in damages against all named defendants for depriving plaintiff "of the equal protection of the laws, and depriving her of her civil and constitutional rights ...." Although this Court previously dismissed plaintiff's constitutional claims, which dismissal was not upset by the Eighth Circuit, plaintiff's use of the term "civil" in connection with "rights" implies that plaintiff seeks damages pursuant to § 1983. This Court rejects the argument of defendants Twiehaus and Fujita that the $50,000.00 prayer in ¶ 4 is limited to constitutional claims that have been dismissed. In addition, in ¶ 7 of the prayer of plaintiff's complaint, plaintiff seeks an award of $474,358.00 in damages against, inter alia, defendant SSD for "violation of Plaintiff's statutory and civil rights ...." Again, plaintiff's use of "civil rights" implies that she relies, in part, upon § 1983 as a basis for recovering the damages sought. Therefore, plaintiff seeks damages, as opposed to injunctive relief, pursuant to § 1983.

2. The second question that must be addressed is whether the damages sought by plaintiff under § 1983 are coextensive with those sought pursuant to the underlying statutes. This question also arises due to ambiguities in plaintiff's complaint. The Eighth Circuit stated: "This pleading does not make clear whether the damages requested for alleged statutory violations are coextensive with the damages sought pursuant to § 1983." Miener, 673 F.2d at 976. Plaintiff admits that because the Eighth...