John & Leigh T. v. IA Dep't of Edu., s. 00-2722

• Decision Date: 13 April 2001
• Docket Number: 00-3287,Nos. 00-2722,s. 00-2722
• Citation: 258 F.3d 860
• Parties: (8th Cir. 2001) John and Leigh T., individually and as Guardians and Next Friends of Robert T., Appellees, v. Iowa Department of Education, Appellant. Submitted:
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 860

258 F.3d 860 (8th Cir. 2001)

John and Leigh T., individually and as Guardians and Next Friends of Robert T., Appellees, v. Iowa Department of Education, Appellant.

Nos. 00-2722, 00-3287

United States Court of Appeals FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

Submitted: April 13, 2001

Filed: July 31, 2001

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa. [Copyrighted Material Omitted] Before WOLLMAN, Chief Judge, MAGILL, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges.

MAGILL, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiffs John and Leigh T. are the parents of Robert, a child with cerebral palsy. Robert's parents sued the Marion Independent School District and the Grant Wood Area Education Association (together, the "Local Defendants"), as well as the Iowa Department of Education (the "Department"), alleging violations of Iowa law and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"). In a prior appeal, this Court held that the defendants violated IDEA, and remanded to the district court to implement a remedy and consider an award of attorneys' fees. John T. v. Marion Indep. Sch. Dist., 173 F.3d 684, 691 (8th Cir. 1999) ("John T. I"). On remand, the district court held that Robert's parents were "prevailing parties" against the Department, and ordered the Department to pay a portion of the plaintiffs' attorneys' fees. The Department appeals, and we affirm the district court's holding that the plaintiffs were "prevailing parties" against the Department, but reverse the fee award and remand to the district court to subtract from the award all fees incurred during the administrative proceedings.

I.

Robert T. is a student at St. Joseph Catholic School ("St. Joseph"). The parties agree that Robert's cerebral palsy renders him disabled within the meaning of IDEA. Robert's parents asked the Local Defendants to provide a full-time instructional assistant to work with Robert at St. Joseph. After the Local Defendants denied their request, Robert's parents appealed the decision to an administrative law judge ("ALJ"), arguing that the Local Defendants' refusal to provide Robert with an assistant violated Iowa law and IDEA. Robert's parents did not name the Department as a defendant in the administrative appeal, and the Department did not participate in those proceedings. The ALJ decided that neither Iowa law nor IDEA compelled the Local Defendants to provide Robert with a classroom assistant.

Robert's parents appealed the ALJ's decision to federal district court, where their complaint named the Local Defendants and the Department as defendants, identifying the Department as "the 'state educational agency' with authority over Robert's education within the meaning of § 1401(7) of the IDEA." The complaint alleged that the Local Defendants were responsible for denying Robert an assistant, but did not claim that the Department affected the Local Defendants' decision. The Department filed a brief in the district court urging affirmance of the ALJ's decision; the Local Defendants jointly filed a separate brief. The district court reversed the ALJ's decision, holding that Iowa law required the Local Defendants to provide an assistant for Robert. The district court did not resolve the IDEA claim.

In wake of the district court's decision, Robert's parents requested attorneys' fees. The Local Defendants filed a joint response opposing the request, which the Department joined in part. The Department filed a separate response to counter the Local Defendants' argument that if the district court awarded fees, then the court should hold the Department wholly liable because the Local Defendants merely "followed state procedures and interpreted the applicable state law statute consistent with the guidelines established by the [Department.]" The district court granted Robert's parents' request, holding that their success on the state claim rendered them "prevailing parties" under IDEA. The district court also held that the Department's advocacy in support of the ALJ's decision justified imposing part of the fee award against the Department.

The Local Defendants appealed both the district court's decision on the merits and the court's decision to award fees. The Department joined the Local Defendants' appeal of the fee award, but did not challenge the district court's reversal of the ALJ's decision. Collectively defining the Local Defendants and the Department as the "School District," this court held that "the School District's actions before 1997 violated the IDEA but . . . its actions after that time did not violate the IDEA." John T. I, 173 F.3d at 686, 690.¹ On the attorneys' fees issue, we stated:

We leave to the 'broad discretion of the district court' the question of the remedy to which Robert's parents are entitled as a result of the School District's violations of the pre-1997 IDEA. After making this determination, the district court should reconsider whether and to what extent Robert's parents are entitled to an award of attorneys' fees under the IDEA. . . . At that time, the district court may consider the arguments.-4- between [the Local Defendants] on the one hand and [the Department] on the other regarding the proper apportionment of attorneys' fees among the three parties.

Id. at 691 & n.4 (citation omitted).

After this court's decision in John T. I, Robert's parents resolved their attorneys' fees claims against the Local Defendants, but not against the Department. On remand, the district court held the Department liable for part of the plaintiffs' attorneys' fees. The district court noted that our decision in John T. I collectively referred to the Local Defendants and the Department as the "School District," and held that the School District violated IDEA. Therefore, the district court held that the plaintiffs were "prevailing parties" against the Department. The court then stated that since the Department

was one of three defendants, and [was] a zealous advocate in support of affirmation of the administrative decision, it is the court's view that the appropriate share to be borne by the [Department] is 1/3 of all reasonable fees and costs through January 13, 2000. Additionally, [the Department] shall bear all reasonable costs and fees incurred thereafter (following settlement by the other two defendants).

The district court subsequently ordered the Department to pay the plaintiffs $65,431.14. The Department appeals.

II.

A. "Prevailing Party" Status

The Department first argues that the district court erred in holding that Robert's parents were "prevailing parties" against the Department. IDEA provides: "In any action or proceeding brought under this section, the court, in its discretion, may award reasonable attorneys' fees as part of the costs to the parents of a child with a disability who is a prevailing party." 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(3)(B) (2000). We review de novo whether the district court applied the correct legal standard in determining if the plaintiffs were "prevailing parties," and review the award of fees for abuse of discretion. Warner v. Independent Sch. Dist. No. 625, 134 F.3d 1333, 1336 (8th Cir. 1998).

The Supreme Court has explained that to qualify as a "prevailing party," a plaintiff must obtain "actual relief on the merits of his claim [that] materially alters the legal relationship between the parties by modifying the defendant's behavior in a way that directly benefits the plaintiff." Farrar v. Hobby, 506 U.S. 103, 111-12 (1992); see also Buckhannon Bd. & Care Home, Inc. v. West Virginia Dep't of Health & Human Res., 121 S. Ct. 1835, 1840 (2001). The State of Iowa waived its Eleventh Amendment immunity by receiving funds appropriated under IDEA. See Bradley v. Arkansas Dep't of Educ., 189 F.3d 745, 753 (8th Cir. 1999), rev'd on other grounds sub nom. Jim C. v. United States, 235 F.3d 1079 (8th Cir. 2000) (en banc).

We conclude that the district court correctly held that Robert's parents were "prevailing parties" against the Department. IDEA places primary responsibility on state education agencies ("State Agencies"), such as the Department, to ensure the proper education of disabled children. Section 1412 of IDEA makes State Agencies "responsible for ensuring that the requirements of this subchapter are met." 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(11)(A)(i) (2000). Moreover, IDEA's legislative history indicates that Congress wanted to "assure a single line of responsibility with regard to the education of handicapped children." S. Rep. No. 94-168, at 24 (1975). The Senate Report explained:

The Committee considers the establishment of single agency responsibility for assuring the right to education of all handicapped children of paramount importance. Without this requirement, there is an abdication of responsibility for the education of handicapped children. . . . While the Committee understands that different agencies may, in fact, deliver services, the responsibility must remain in a central agency overseeing the education of handicapped children, so that failure to deliver services or the violation of the rights of handicapped children is squarely the responsibility of one agency.

Id.; see also 34 C.F.R. § 300.401(2000).

Indeed, several circuits have held State Agencies liable when they have failed to ensure Local Agencies' implementation of IDEA's requirements. See, e.g., Gadsby v. Grasmick, 109 F.3d 940 (4th Cir. 1997). In Gadsby, Eric Gadsby's parents requested the Baltimore Public Schools (the "Baltimore Schools"), the applicable Local Agency, to evaluate Eric for special education services. Id. at 945. Eric's parents initially challenged the program that the Baltimore Schools developed, but the parties settled their dispute when the Baltimore Schools agreed to pay part of Eric's tuition at a private school and to apply to the Maryland Department of Education (the "Maryland Department") for the remainder of the tuition. Id. However, when the Maryland Department rejected the Gadsbys' request that it pay...