Ledet v. Fischer

• Decision Date: 18 August 1982
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 82-16.
• Citation: 548 F. Supp. 775
• Parties: Ruby Rose LEDET, et al. v. George FISCHER.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Louisiana

548 F. Supp. 775

Ruby Rose LEDET, et al. v. George FISCHER.

Civ. A. No. 82-16.

United States District Court, M. D. Louisiana.

August 18, 1982.

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Henry C. Remm, Jr., Acadiana Legal Service Corp., Lafayette, La., for plaintiffs.

Sidney W. Hall, Dept. of Health & Human Resources, Baton Rouge, La., for defendant.

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

JOHN V. PARKER, Chief Judge.

This matter is before the court on a motion for class certification and a motion for preliminary injunction. Plaintiff is a Medicaid eligible¹ disabled widow and recipient of Supplemental Security Income SSI, who is in need of eyeglasses. Plaintiff owns only a broken, unusable, unrepairable pair of eyeglasses and is unable to afford new eyeglasses and related services which she desires to obtain from an optometrist. The evidence introduced at the evidentiary hearing on plaintiff's motion for preliminary injunction demonstrates that plaintiff has uncorrected visual acuity of 20/70 in each eye, with corrected visual acuity of 20/40 in each eye. Plaintiff brings this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and alleges jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1343(3), 1343(4), and 1331,² alleging, inter alia, that the regulations of the Louisiana Public Assistance Manual, sections 19-490 through 19-492, which limit the provision of eyeglasses to certain categories of recipients which do not include plaintiff, violate plaintiff's constitutional rights and are inconsistent with certain federal regulations³ governing the provision of eyeglasses under Medicaid programs. Under the provisions of the Louisiana Public Assistance Manual, Section 14-492, adult eyeglasses are made available only to post-cataract surgery patients, of which plaintiff is not one.

The relief sought in plaintiff's complaint consists of preliminary and permanent prohibitory injunctive relief, declaratory relief, class certification, a court order requiring the defendant to send each member of the proposed class a notice informing the recipient of the procedures which may become available by which they may receive payments for eyeglasses and attendant optometric services, attorney fees, costs, disbursements, and "all other general and equitable relief which may be proper."

As a preliminary matter, defendant argues that plaintiff lacks standing to pursue her claims, on the grounds that, since it is primarily declaratory and prohibitory injunctive relief which is sought, a judgment in plaintiff's favor will not necessarily secure her the right to a new pair of eyeglasses, since the State would retain the option of cancelling the cataract glasses and contact lens program, rather than expanding it in accordance with any prohibitory injunction or declaratory judgment issued by the court. Therefore, defendant argues, there is no `case or controversy' of which the court can take jurisdiction under Article III of the United States Constitution.

The well-established rule regarding standing requirements in cases involving the challenge of the constitutionality of a legislative enactment is that, under Article III, the challenger must establish that, in fact, the asserted injury was the consequence of the unconstitutional statute (or regulation), or, in other words, that there is a substantial likelihood that, in the event the challenger is successful on the merits, the relief sought will redress the injury which was claimed. Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Environmental Study Group, Inc., 438 U.S. 59, 98 S.Ct. 2620, 59 L.Ed.2d 595 (1978), quoting Simon v. Eastern Kentucky Welfare Rights Org., 426 U.S. 26, 38, 96 S.Ct. 1917, 1924, 48 L.Ed.2d 450 (1976); Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corporation, 429 U.S. 252, 97 S.Ct. 555, 50 L.Ed.2d 450 (1977).

Plaintiff is a member of the group of persons who are ineligible for eyeglasses on the basis of their classification as non-cataract surgery patients. Since plaintiff herself is in need of eyeglasses, and since plaintiff herself suffers the consequences of being classified unfavorably under the state regulations, the interest of the plaintiff is a direct interest. The allegedly wrongful discrimination against plaintiff constitutes an immediate injury which would be remediated as a result of a judgment in this action favorable to her, which would prohibit the continuation of the disputed classification scheme. Machado v. Dept. of Health & Rehabilitative Services of the State of Florida, 357 F.Supp. 890 (D.C.Fla.1973).

The question of whether or not the plaintiff would actually receive a pair of eyeglasses as a result of a favorable judgment is immaterial to the standing issue, since it is merely a question of relief. Regents of University of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265, 281 n.14, 98 S.Ct. 2733, 2743 n.14, 57 L.Ed.2d 750 (1978) (standing issue not to be determined by failure of Bakke to prove that he would have been admitted in the absence of the special (discriminatory) program).

Defendant also raises the procedural objection that plaintiff has failed to exhaust administrative remedies before filing the complaint. This argument is without merit, since actions found upon 42 U.S.C. § 1983 are free of any requirement of exhaustion of state judicial or administrative remedies. Gibson v. Berryhill, 411 U.S. 564, 574, 93 S.Ct. 1689, 1696, 36 L.Ed.2d 488 (1973); Sparks v. Griffin, 460 F.2d 433, 442 (5th Cir. 1972); Wells Fargo Armored Service Corp. v. Georgia Public Service Comm., 547 F.2d 938 (5th Cir. 1977). Moreover, plaintiff has made an administrative claim for the relief which she seeks, which was denied. Assuming that a requirement for exhaustion of state administrative remedies exists, the exhaustion doctrine has been held inapplicable in cases where application for relief to the appropriate administrative tribunal would be totally fruitless, as when the agency involved has a declared policy in support of the conduct being challenged, which is the case here. Potts v. Flax, 313 F.2d 284 (5th Cir. 1963).

I. CLASS CERTIFICATION

Plaintiff requested, in paragraph IV of her complaint, class certification of a class consisting of "all present and future Medicaid recipients in Louisiana, who are not eligible for the Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) program, who are or will be in need of eyeglasses and/or physician's services related to their eyes, but who have been denied or will be denied assistance because of the restrictive rules and practices which authorize vendor reimbursement only for eyeglasses customarily used following cataract surgery and which do not authorize vendor reimbursement for services provided by an optometrist except for refractions following cataract surgery." Plaintiff also filed a "Motion for Maintenance of Class Actions" seeking the same relief.

This court has determined, upon its own initiative, that it is necessary for the court to exercise its inherent power to redefine the class in order to bring it within the parameters of Fed.R.Civ.P. 23, so that certification would be proper. Sembach v. McMahon College, Inc., 86 F.R.D. 188 (S.D. Tex.1980); Godbolt v. Hughes Tool Company, 63 F.R.D. 370 (S.D.Tex.1972). The definition of the proposed class is hereby redefined to consist of "all present and future categorically needy Medicaid recipients in Louisiana, who are not eligible for the Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSADT) program, or for the Louisiana program providing for `one pair of permanent cataract glasses or contact lenses following cataract surgery only'⁴ who are or will be in need of eyeglasses and related services, and who desire to obtain optometric services therefor, but who have been denied or will be denied assistance because of the restrictive rules and practices which authorize vendor reimbursement only for cataract glasses or contact lenses customarily used following cataract surgery."

For reasons pertaining to the typicality requirement of class representatives under Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a)(3), discussed below, and because plaintiff, the designated class representative, personally desires to utilize the services of an optometrist, as opposed to a physician, in procuring eyeglasses, the revised class definition has been limited to that class of categorically needy persons, such as plaintiff Ledet, who desire optometric rather than medical services in connection with the eyeglass program.

The four predicate criteria enumerated under subsection (a) of Rule 23, Fed.R. Civ.P., are (1) numerosity, (2) commonality, (3) typicality, and (4) representativeness. In addition, the class action must meet at least one of the conditions described in Rule 23(b). All of these essential criteria are satisfied in the instant case.

Numerosity refers to the degree of impracticality of joinder of all the individual members of the proposed class. The party seeking class maintenance need only show that it is difficult or inconvenient to join all members of the class. Republic National Bank of Dallas v. Denton & Anderson Co., 68 F.R.D. 208 (D.C.Tex.1975). Although the burden is on the party seeking class certification, Gonzalez v. Texas Employment Commission, 486 F.Supp. 278 (D.C.Tex.1977), the exact number of potential members of the class need not be shown, especially where the relief sought is injunctive and declaratory in nature. Doe v. Flowers, 364 F.Supp. 953 (D.C.W.Va. 1973), aff'd without opinion, 416 U.S. 922, 94 S.Ct. 1921, 40 L.Ed.2d 279 (1974).

It was stipulated at trial that approximately 379,929 persons were qualified recipients of Medicaid in Louisiana as of November, 1980. According to Dr. Paul L. Marks, an ophthalmologist whose deposition was filed in lieu of his appearance and testimony at trial, approximately fifteen percent of the general population under forty years of age, and between ninety and ninety-five percent of the general population over forty...