Ivy v. Williams

• Citation: 781 F.3d 250
• Decision Date: 24 March 2015
• Docket Number: No. 14–50037.,14–50037.
• Parties: Donnika IVY; Bernardo Gonzalez ; Tyler Davis, as next friend of Juana Doe, a minor; Erasmo Gonzalez; Arthur Prosper, IV, Plaintiffs–Appellees v. Commissioner Michael WILLIAMS, in his official capacity as head of the Texas Education Agency, Defendant–Appellant.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)

781 F.3d 250

Donnika IVY; Bernardo Gonzalez ; Tyler Davis, as next friend of Juana Doe, a minor; Erasmo Gonzalez; Arthur Prosper, IV, Plaintiffs–Appellees

v.Commissioner Michael WILLIAMS, in his official capacity as head of the Texas Education Agency, Defendant–Appellant.

No. 14–50037.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

March 24, 2015.

Joe Thomas Sanders, II, Olga Kobzar, Scott, Douglass & McConnico, L.L.P., Joseph P. Berra, James C. Harrington, Esq., Texas Civil Rights Project, Austin, TX, for Plaintiff–Appellee.

Erika M. Kane, Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General, Richard Bernard Farrer, Attorney, Office of the Solicitor General, Austin, TX, for Defendant–Appellant.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Before JOLLY, WIENER, and CLEMENT, Circuit Judges.

Opinion

EDITH BROWN CLEMENT, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiffs-appellees Donnika Ivy (“Ivy”) and the other named plaintiffs (collectively, the “named plaintiffs”) are deaf individuals who brought a putative class action against defendant-appellant Michael Williams in his official capacity as head of the Texas Education Agency (the “TEA”). They request injunctive and declaratory relief requiring the TEA to bring driver education into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and Rehabilitation Act. The district court denied the TEA's motion to dismiss but certified its order for immediate appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b). We granted leave for the TEA to file an appeal, and we now REVERSE and RENDER judgment dismissing the case.

Facts and Proceedings

In Texas, individuals under the age of 25 cannot obtain driver's licenses unless they submit a driver education certificate to the Department of Public Safety (“DPS”). Tex. Transp. Code Ann. § 521.1601.¹ Driver education certificates, in turn, are only available from private driver education schools licensed by the TEA. Tex. Educ.Code Ann. § 1001.101(a).² The named plaintiffs are all deaf individuals who contacted a variety of TEA-licensed private driver education schools, all of which informed the named plaintiffs that the schools would not accommodate them.³ Because they cannot obtain driver education certificates, the named plaintiffs cannot obtain driver's licenses.

A Deafness Resource Specialist with the Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services informed the TEA of the inability of deaf individuals like the named plaintiffs to receive driver education certificates. But the TEA declined to intervene, stating that it was not required to enforce the ADA and that it would not act against the private driver education schools unless the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) found that the schools had violated the ADA. The Deafness Resource Specialist filed a complaint against the TEA with the DOJ, which the DOJ apparently dismissed.

Ivy filed a lawsuit in federal district court against the TEA and a private driver education school, requesting injunctive and declaratory relief against both parties under the ADA. She later dismissed the private driver education school from the lawsuit. After some additional procedural steps that are not relevant here, the lawsuit became a putative class action with multiple named plaintiffs and the TEA as the sole remaining defendant. The live pleading, the Fourth Amended Complaint, requests injunctive and declaratory relief requiring the TEA to bring driver education into compliance with the ADA. The TEA filed a motion to dismiss for want of jurisdiction and for failure to state a claim. The district court denied these motions, certified its order for interlocutory appeal, and stayed the case. We granted the TEA leave to file an interlocutory appeal.

Standard of Review

We review de novo the denial of a motion to dismiss for want of jurisdiction and for failure to state a claim. Young v. Hosemann, 598 F.3d 184, 187–88 (5th Cir.2010).

Discussion

We first consider the TEA's argument that the named plaintiffs lack standing to bring their claims. Finding that they have standing, we next consider whether they adequately state a claim upon which relief can be granted. We conclude that they do not, so we dismiss the case.

A. Standing

There are three requirements for standing: (1) the plaintiff must have suffered an “injury in fact,” (2) there must be “a causal connection between the injury and the conduct complained of—the injury has to be fairly traceable to the challenged action of the defendant, and not the result of the independent action of some third party before the court,” and (3) “it must be likely, as opposed to merely speculative, that the injury will be redressed by a favorable decision.” Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560–61, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992) (internal quotation marks and alterations omitted).

Here, the injury alleged is quite obvious—the named plaintiffs' inability to receive driver education certificates, which in turn prevents them from receiving driver's licenses. The TEA challenges the named plaintiffs' standing under the second and third prongs. The TEA argues that there is no causal connection between the named plaintiffs' injury and the TEA's conduct because it is the driver education schools, not the TEA, that refuse to accommodate the named plaintiffs. This contention is meritless. While driver education schools' actions are one cause of the injury, it is equally clear that the named plaintiffs' alleged injuries are also “fairly traceable” to the TEA's failure to inform private driver education schools of their ADA obligations and its failure to deny licenses to driver education schools that violate the ADA.⁴

The TEA next argues that a court order could not redress the plaintiffs' alleged injuries. It advances three main arguments in support of this contention. First, it argues that it does not have the statutory authority under Texas law to ensure private driver education schools' compliance with the ADA. We disagree; multiple provisions of Texas law empower the TEA to perform actions that would likely redress the named plaintiffs' injuries. For example, the TEA can issue a license to a driver education school only if the school “complies with all county, municipal, state, and federal regulations, including fire, building, and sanitation codes and assumed name registration.” Tex. Educ.Code Ann. § 1001.204(7). Thus, the TEA has the power to withhold licenses from driver education schools that fail to comply with the DOJ's ADA regulations.⁵ Further, Texas law provides that the TEA “has jurisdiction over and control of” driver education schools and is allowed to “adopt and enforce rules necessary to administer” the chapter on driver education. Tex. Educ.Code Ann. §§ 1001.051 ; 1001.053(a)(3). These provisions give the TEA the power to enact regulations relating to ADA compliance in driver education schools.

Second, the TEA argues that a federal court cannot order it to ensure that driver education schools comply with the ADA because the court would effectively be commandeering the state into implementing a federal program. This argument misses the mark. While the federal government cannot require states to implement a federal program, the federal government can require the states to comply with federal law. Reno v. Condon, 528 U.S. 141, 150–51, 120 S.Ct. 666, 145 L.Ed.2d 587 (2000). The named plaintiffs are arguing that driver education schools are a “service, program, or activity” of the TEA. If they are correct, requiring the TEA to comply with the ADA in providing driver education would only require the state itself to comply with federal law, so the anti-commandeering doctrine would not be implicated.

Third, the TEA argues that withholding or revoking licenses from driver education schools would only shut down schools, not improve their compliance with the ADA. Similarly, the TEA argues that any potential fines would not necessarily change the schools' behavior. But it seems highly unlikely that all driver education schools would choose to shut their doors or accept fines rather than comply with the ADA. Instead, it is likely that the TEA's action would help redress the named plaintiffs' injuries. Thus, the redressability requirement for standing is satisfied.

B. Failure to State a Claim

The named plaintiffs' lawsuit fails on the merits, however. They sued under both the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the ADA. It is uncontested that the TEA receives federal funding, which is a prerequisite for Rehabilitation Act coverage. See 29 U.S.C. § 794(a), (b)(1)(A). Besides this special prerequisite for the Rehabilitation Act, the ADA and Rehabilitation Act “are judged under the same legal standards, and the same remedies are available under both Acts.” Kemp v. Holder, 610 F.3d 231, 234 (5th Cir.2010) (per curiam). Further, “[t]he parties have not pointed to any reason why Title II and [the Rehabilitation Act] should be interpreted differently.” Frame v. City of Arlington, 657 F.3d 215, 224 (5th Cir.2011) (en banc). Thus, “[a]lthough we focus primarily on Title II, our analysis is informed by the Rehabilitation Act, and our holding applies to both statutes.” Id.

Title II of the ADA 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. It is uncontested that the TEA is a public entity and that the named plaintiffs are qualified individuals with disabilities. The key question is whether the named plaintiffs have been “excluded from participation in or ... denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of [the TEA].” Id. To answer that question, we must decide whether driver education is a service, program, or activity of the TEA. We hold that it is not, although this is a close question for which the...