Burns-Vidlak v. Chandler

• Citation: 980 F.Supp. 1144
• Decision Date: 24 June 1997
• Docket Number: No. Civ. 95-00892 ACK.,Civ. 95-00892 ACK.
• Parties: Shea T. BURNS-VIDLAK, a minor, by his mother and next friend Honey BURNS, and George Cohn, Plaintiffs, v. Susan CHANDLER, in her official capacity as the Director of the Department of Human Services of the State of Hawai`i and State of Hawai`i, Defendants.
• Court: Hawaii Supreme Court

980 F.Supp. 1144

Shea T. BURNS-VIDLAK, a minor, by his mother and next friend Honey BURNS, and George Cohn, Plaintiffs, v. Susan CHANDLER, in her official capacity as the Director of the Department of Human Services of the State of Hawai`i and State of Hawai`i, Defendants.

No. Civ. 95-00892 ACK.

United States District Court, D. Hawai`i.

June 24, 1997.

Bradford L. Tannen, Alston, Hunt, Floyd & Ing, Honolulu, HI, for Plaintiffs.

Susan Barr, G. Cher Foerster, Nancy Albano, Office of Atty. Gen., Honolulu, HI, for Defendants.

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON THE AVAILABILITY OF PUNITIVE DAMAGES IN ACTIONS BROUGHT UNDER THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT AND THE REHABILITATION ACT § 504

KAY, Chief Judge.

BACKGROUND

On April 12, 1996, the Court granted in part Plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment. See Burns-Vidlak v. Chandler, 939 F.Supp. 765 (D.Hawai`i 1996). The Court found that the State of Hawai`i's QUEST health care program, from its inception on August 1, 1994 until its amendment on March 30, 1996, unlawfully discriminated against blind and disabled individuals in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C. § 12132, and § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794. The Court accordingly found Plaintiffs are entitled to recover damages for such discrimination during the relevant period.

On May 14, 1996, subsequent to the Court's order, Plaintiffs were granted leave to amend their complaint to add a claim for punitive damages and a jury demand. The amended complaint, which also adds the State of Hawai`i as a defendant, and the jury demand, were filed on May 15, 1996.

On March 14, 1997, Susan Chandler and the State of Hawai`i (hereinafter "Defendants") filed a motion for partial summary judgment on the "narrow legal question" of whether punitive damages can be recovered under § 504 and Title II of the American with Disabilities Act ("ADA").¹ On May 23, 1997, the Plaintiffs filed their opposition. On May 31, 1997, Defendants filed their reply. On June 10, 1997, the Court held a hearing on the matter.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Although Defendants label their motion as one for summary judgment, they are asking the Court to decide that as a matter of law punitive damages are not allowed under § 504. For that reason, Defendants' motion is more akin to a motion to dismiss that tests the legal sufficiency of a claim than one for summary judgment involving the particular facts of a case. Accordingly, the motion to dismiss standard governs this claim.

Under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), in determining whether a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, this Court must accept as true the plaintiff's allegations contained in the complaint and view them in a light most favorable to the plaintiff. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 1686, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974); Wileman Bros. & Elliott, Inc. v. Giannini, 909 F.2d 332, 334 (9th Cir.1990); Shah v. County of Los Angeles, 797 F.2d 743, 745 (9th Cir.1986). Thus, the complaint must stand unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff has alleged no facts that would entitle him to relief. Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 101-02, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957); Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dept., 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir.1990). A complaint may be dismissed as a matter of law for two reasons: (1) lack of a cognizable legal theory or (2) insufficient facts under a cognizable legal theory. Balistreri, 901 F.2d at 699; Robertson v. Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc., 749 F.2d 530, 533-34 (9th Cir.1984).

In essence, as the Ninth Circuit has stated, "[t]he issue is not whether a plaintiff's success on the merits is likely but rather whether the claimant is entitled to proceed beyond the threshold in attempting to establish his claims." De La Cruz v. Tormey, 582 F.2d 45, 48 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 441 U.S. 965, 99 S.Ct. 2416, 60 L.Ed.2d 1072 (1979). The Court must determine whether or not it appears to a certainty under existing law that no relief can be granted under any set of facts that might be proved in support of plaintiffs' claims. Id.

DISCUSSION

Through this motion, the Count undertakes the unenviable task of determining whether punitive damages are allowed by the Rehabilitation Act § 504, a statute whose provision on remedies depends on Title VI, an implied cause of action. With an implied cause of action as its foundation, this Court's task in determining the remedies available resembles the plight of a prodigal son without a home.

I. Overview of the Rehabilitation Act and its remedies

In 1973, Congress passed the Rehabilitation Act § 504 in an effort to protect "handicapped" citizens from discrimination. See 29 U.S.C. § 794. Section 504 did not set forth a private cause of action and thus did not define the remedies available in such a suit. Nevertheless, in 1977, the Seventh Circuit found that § 504 created an implied cause of action. See e.g. Lloyd v. Regional Transportation Authority, 548 F.2d 1277 (7th Cir. 1977).² The remedies available under § 504, however, remained undefined.

In 1978, Congress did address the question of remedies by passing Section 505 which states that "the remedies, procedures, and rights set forth in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 [42 U.S.C. § 2000d et seq.] shall be available to any person aggrieved ... under section 794 of this title." See 29 U.S.C. § 794a(a)(2). After this amendment, every Circuit that confronted the issue found an implied cause of action under § 504. See e.g. Kling v. County of Los Angeles, 633 F.2d 876 (9th Cir.1980); Camenisch v. University of Texas, 616 F.2d 127 (5th Cir.1980); NAACP v. Medical Center, Inc., 599 F.2d 1247 (3rd Cir.1979).

Some of these cases, most notably the Ninth Circuit's decision in Kling, held that compensatory damages were also allowed under § 504. See Kling v. County of Los Angeles, 769 F.2d 532, 534 (9th Cir.1985), rev'd on other grounds, 474 U.S. 936, 106 S.Ct. 300, 88 L.Ed.2d 277 (1985). Until 1994 however, it appears that a majority of cases held that punitive damages were not available under § 504. See Moreno v. Consolidated Rail Corporation, 99 F.3d 782, 790 (6th Cir.1996) (collecting cases). Since then, the majority of courts seem to have shifted, holding that punitive damages are allowed under § 504. See e.g. Kilroy v. Husson College, 959 F.Supp. 22 (D.Maine 1997) (holding that "punitive damages are recoverable under § 504); Hernandez v. Hartford, 959 F.Supp. 125 (D.Conn.1997) (holding that "the analysis developed in Franklin governs the inquiry under the Rehabilitation Act as well and inescapably leads to the conclusion that both compensatory and punitive damages are available" under § 504); Todd v. Elkins, 105 F.3d 663 (8th Cir.1997) (unpublished) (upholding denial of motion to dismiss a § 504 claim seeking punitive damages); DeLeo v. Stamford, 919 F.Supp. 70, 75 (D.Conn.1995) (holding that "punitive damages are included within the full panoply of remedies" of § 504); Zaffino v. Surles, 1995 WL 146207 (S.D.N.Y.1995) (denying motion to dismiss § 504 punitive damage claim); Garrett v. Chicago School Reform Board, 1996 WL 411319 (N.D.Ill.1996) (denying motion to strike plaintiff's claim for punitive damages under § 504); Simenson v. Hoffman, 1995 WL 631804 (N.D.Ill.1995) (holding that plaintiff had "sufficiently alleged facts which permit an inference of intentional discrimination and are therefore entitled to seek compensatory and punitive damages" under § 504); but see Moreno v. Consolidated Rail Corporation, 99 F.3d 782, 790 (6th Cir.1996) (en banc); Winfrey v. Chicago, 957 F.Supp. 1014 (N.D.Ill.1997); Dertz v. Chicago, 1997 WL 85169 (N.D.Ill.1997); Doe v. Marshall, 882 F.Supp. 1504, 1508 n. 4. (E.D.Pa.1995).

The genesis of this change was the Supreme Court's decision in Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools, 503 U.S. 60, 112 S.Ct. 1028, 117 L.Ed.2d 208 (1992). In Franklin, the Court confronted the issue of whether Title IX supports a claim for monetary damages. Id. at 62, 112 S.Ct. at 1030-31. In holding that monetary damages were indeed available in Title IX cases, the Court stated that:

the general rule, therefore, is that absent clear direction to the contrary by Congress, the federal courts have the power to award any appropriate relief in a cognizable cause of action brought pursuant to a federal statute.

Id. at 70-71, 112 S.Ct. at 1035. The Defendants argue that Franklin does not apply.

II. The Court reads the Supreme Court's language in Franklin, a Title IX case, as well dicta in the Ninth, Eighth, Eleventh, Fourth and Third Circuits, all § 504 actions, as allowing an award of punitive damages

Before surveying the case law, it is important to interpret the lexicon. In Franklin, the Supreme Court held that "monetary damages" were available under Title IX and that absent direction by Congress, courts have the power to award "appropriate relief" in other federal statutory cases. The Ninth Circuit has held that the "full panoply" of damages are available under § 504. See e.g. Kling v. Los Angeles, 769 F.2d 532, 534 (9th Cir.1985), rev. on other grounds, 474 U.S. 936, 106 S.Ct. 300, 88 L.Ed.2d 277 (1985); followed by Smith v. Barton, 914 F.2d 1330, 1338 (9th Cir.1990) and Greater Los Angeles Council on Deafness, Inc. v. Zolin, 812 F.2d 1103 (9th Cir.1987). The Fourth Circuit has also held that the "full panoply" of damages are available under § 504. Pandazides v. Virginia Board of Education, 13 F.3d 823 (4th Cir.1994). Lastly, the Eighth, Eleventh and arguably the Third Circuits have held that the "full spectrum" of remedies are available under § 504. See Rodgers v. Magnet Cove Public Schools, 34 F.3d 642 (8th Cir.1994); Waldrop v. Southern Company Services, Inc., 24 F.3d 152 (11th Cir.1994); W.B. v. Matula, 67 F.3d 484 (3rd Cir.1995).

Defendants do not really address any of these cases other than the Ninth Circuit's decision in ...