Blackburn v. State
| Decision Date | 09 February 2023 |
| Docket Number | 39012-8-III |
| Parties | DION BLACKBURN, Appellant, v. STATE OF WASHINGTON, DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES, OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS, and CORPORATE JOHN DOES 1-10, Respondents. |
| Court | Court of Appeals of Washington |
UNPUBLISHED OPINION
Dion Blackburn sues two Washington State subdivisions, the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) and the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS). DSHS prosecuted, before the OAH a demand that Dion Blackburn pay child support to Brad Blackburn, her ex-husband, with whom the couple's two children primarily resided. We refer to the two by their respective first names to avoid confusion. After two administrative law judges (ALJ) respectively entered consecutive orders imposing a child support obligation, Dion brought this separate suit, in Thurston County Superior Court. The suit alleges both government entities violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and denied her due process during the course of the OAH administrative proceeding. She appended a claim against DSHS for a purported violation of the Public Records Act, (PRA) chapter 42.56 RCW.
The superior court granted both OAH and DSHS summary dismissal of all of Dion Blackburn's causes of action based on the defenses of sovereign immunity, quasi-judicial immunity, res judicata, and ripeness. On appeal, we grant sovereign immunity to both state subdivisions for the due process claim, but deny it for other claims. We affirm the dismissal of the suit against OAH under the ADA on the basis of quasi-judicial immunity. We affirm the dismissal of the claim under the ADA against DSHS on the basis of res judicata. We affirm the dismissal of the PRA cause of action, but remand to the superior court to dismiss this cause of action without prejudice rather than with prejudice.
Because Dion Blackburn appeals the summary judgment dismissal of her suit, we recite the facts in the light most favorable to Dion. We observe that the parties emphasized, in briefs and arguments made in support of and in opposition to the summary judgment motion, the allegations of Dion, rather than the underlying facts. Thus, the summary judgment motions of OAH and DSHS paralleled a motion to dismiss under CR 12(b)(6). Therefore, we often highlight the allegations in Dion's complaint.
Dion and Brad Blackburn maintained a committed relationship for many years, married in 2003, and divorced in 2006. The couple begat two children, a son born in 2000 and a daughter born in 2005. Dion initially functioned as the custodial parent of the two children. Dion entered a relationship with another man, which relationship turned abusive. Brad obtained a court order transferring primary residential placement of both children to him. The court order imposed no obligation for child support on Dion. Dion thereafter sought to return placement of the children to her.
Dion Blackburn, born in 1980, obtained a Bachelor's Degree in criminal justice. She previously worked in insurance and as a dental office manager. Beginning in 2013, she worked for the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (DLI) as a claims adjustor, in which position she earned a salary of $2,855 per month. Brad left school after his junior year in high school. By 2016, he earned a net monthly income of $3,602 as a delivery truck driver.
In September 2015, licensed therapist Jennifer Reza, who offices in San Clemente, California, diagnosed Dion Blackburn with generalized anxiety disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder and alcohol use disorder. On September 1, 2015, Reza admitted Dion to ninety-day intensive outpatient treatment because of severe functional impairment. Dion then went on medical leave from her employment with DLI. Dion returned to work at DLI in January 2016.
In January 2016, Brad Blackburn requested assistance from the DSHS Division of Child Support (DCS) to garner child support from Dion, his ex-wife. DCS holds statutory authority to establish child support amounts and to enforce payment of amounts when no court order addresses support. In February 2016, DCS commenced an administrative proceeding to determine the amount of child support Dion should pay Brad. Dion objected to the amount administratively established by DCS and requested a hearing. Under RCW 74.20A.055(4), either the payee parent or payor parent may seek a hearing if either party objects to a finding of financial responsibility. The proceeding is adversarial in nature.
In March 2016, Dion Blackburn withdrew from active duties with DLI and began to receive $1700 monthly long-term disability payments. In early March 2016, Licensed Clinical Social Worker Diane Potratz, in Medford, Oregon, admitted Dion to a residential treatment facility because of extreme anxiety, sleep disturbance, and posttraumatic stress disorder.
DCS scheduled a hearing, on Dion Blackburn's challenge to DCS's administrative assessment of child support, for March 18, 2016 before OAH, a State of Washington subdivision separate from DSHS. Dion failed to appear at the hearing, and OAH entered a default order against her.
Around April 12, 2016, Dion Blackburn sent OAH a letter from a healthcare provider stating that she was undergoing treatment in a residential treatment facility. The letter attached a March 11, 2016, statement from social worker Diane Potratz that verified Dion had been in a facility. On April 12, Dion filed with OAH a petition to vacate the default order. OAH scheduled a hearing on the petition for April 27. Dion also failed to appear at the April 27 hearing. On May 24, 2016, the Department of Labor & Industries terminated the employment of Dion.
Dion Blackburn asked again for a new hearing date, which request OAH granted. On June 10, 2016, an OAH Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) conducted a child support hearing. Blackburn testified that DLI terminated her employment after having been placed on long-term disability. At the hearing, Dion asked:
On June 17, 2016, a week following the OAH hearing, Dion Blackburn signed and delivered to DSHS a medical release permitting DSHS access to her records with Terilee Wingate, a psychologist in Olympia, pertaining to her history of mental health treatment. On June 22, Dion contacted DSHS and informed it that she was approved for a General Assistance Unit (GAU) grant. On June 23, DSHS noted that Dion had been approved for the Housing and Essential Needs (HEN) program.
On June 23, according to Dion Blackburn, DSHS claims manager Shawn Shaha informed Dion that DSHS staff would forward OAH or the ALJ her medical records on file with DSHS so that the ALJ could supplement his findings. DSHS does not confirm that this conversation transpired. In her complaint, Dion complains that DSHS did not forward the records to the ALJ before the June 10 hearing. We assume the accuracy of this part of the complaint since DSHS could not forward, by June 10, records it did not receive until June 23. Dion does not state whether she believes DSHS failed to forward the medical records to the ALJ after June 23.
On June 30, 2016, the OAH ALJ issued an order establishing Dion Blackburn's child support obligation. The ALJ found good cause excusing Dion's failure to appear at two earlier hearings due to treatment of her medical condition, and the ALJ vacated default orders entered pursuant to those two failures to appear.
In the June 30 order, the ALJ concluded that Dion Blackburn was voluntarily unemployed and imputed her income at $2,182.00 per month. The order described Dion as being in "good health." CP at 53. The ALJ imposed an obligation to pay $585 per month with $3,396.75 in arrears beginning with January 2016. The ALJ's order did not disclose whether he reviewed any medical or counseling records of Dion. The order did not explain why the ALJ concluded Dion was voluntarily unemployed.
On August 4, 2016, Dion Blackburn contacted DSHS requesting assistance appealing the child support order. DSHS referred Dion to legal aid and informed her that she could modify her child support order since she had begun receiving a GAU grant. On August 9, Dion complained to DCS that it should have forwarded to the ALJ the records showing her approval for HEN payments. DCS responded that it did not represent Dion and she could have forwarded the records directly to OAH or requested additional time to submit records.
On August 30, 2016, Dion Blackburn appealed the June 2016 order to the Thurston County Superior Court. She asked that child support be terminated because of her inability to work. She also asserted that the proceedings violated her rights under the ADA. The appeal was dismissed as untimely because she did not file her petition for review within thirty days of the ALJ's order.
On January 1, 2018, OAH regulation WAC 10-24-010 became effective. The lengthy regulation addresses accommodations under the ADA. WAC 10-24-010(3) declares:
If, during any stage of an adjudicative proceeding, the administrative law judge or any party has a reasonable belief that an otherwise unrepresented party may be unable to...
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