M.D. v. Southington Bd. of Educ.

• Decision Date: 30 June 2003
• Docket Number: Docket No. 00-9412.
• Parties: M.D., Mr. & Mrs. D, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. SOUTHINGTON BOARD OF EDUCATION, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

334 F.3d 217

M.D., Mr. & Mrs. D, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. SOUTHINGTON BOARD OF EDUCATION, Defendant-Appellee.

Docket No. 00-9412.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Argued: May 17, 2001.

Case Remanded: August 6, 2001.

Appeal Reinstated: September 11, 2002.

Decided: June 30, 2003.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Winona W. Zimberlin, Hartford, CT, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

Nicole A. Bemabo (Mark J. Sommaruga, on the brief), Sullivan, Schoen, Campane & Connon LLC, Hartford, CT, for Defendant-Appellee.

Before: WALKER, Chief Judge, FEINBERG and CABRANES, Circuit Judges.

JOSÉ A. CABRANES, Circuit Judge.

This case is before us a second time, following a remand to the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut (Dominic J. Squatrito, Judge) for supplementation of the record. See generally United States v. Jacobson, 15 F.3d 19, 22 (2d Cir.1994) (holding that remands for supplementation of the record are permissible). The question presented is whether the plaintiffs' claims brought pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"), 20 U.S.C. §§ 1400 et seq., § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794 ("Rehabilitation Act"), and the Connecticut and United States Constitutions are time-barred under the applicable Connecticut statute of limitations.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs initially brought this action on March 12, 1999, seeking, inter alia, reimbursement for the three-and-one-half years of tuition expenses that resulted from Mr. and Mrs. D.'s unilateral decision to remove their daughter M.D. from the Southington public school system and to place her in Cheshire public high school on a tuition basis. We assume familiarity with the facts and procedural history set forth in the published opinion of the District Court. See Mr. & Mrs. D. v. Southington Bd. of Educ., 119 F.Supp.2d 105 (D.Conn.2000) (M.D.I).

On October 20, 2000, the District Court granted defendant's motion to dismiss pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1) and (b)(6) because it concluded that plaintiffs' claims were time-barred by the two-year limitations period set forth in Connecticut General Statutes ("C.G.S.") § 10-76h(a)(3). The Court determined that plaintiffs' cause of action accrued when M.D. was unilaterally withdrawn from the Southington School District on January 12, 1994. See M.D.I, 119 F.Supp.2d at 112. Plaintiffs did not file a request for a due process hearing pursuant to the IDEA, 20 U.S.C. § 1415(f)(1), until April 19, 1998—more than four years after the unilateral withdrawal of M.D. from Southington and the subsequent enrollment of M.D. at Cheshire public high school. Accordingly, the District Court concluded, their claims fell outside the two-year limitations period. After determining that the doctrine of equitable tolling was inapplicable, the Court granted defendant's motion to dismiss on the ground that plaintiffs' claims were time-barred. See id. at 115. Plaintiffs timely appealed.

On August 6, 2001, we filed an unpublished order remanding the cause to the District Court so that the parties could supplement the record. See M.D. v. Southington Bd. of Educ., 16 Fed.Appx. 70, 72, 2001 WL 881045 (2d Cir. Aug.6, 2001) (M.D.II). Recognizing that § 10-76h requires the Board of Education to provide notice of certain procedural safeguards before the two-year limitations period begins to run—including notice of the limitations period itself—we sought supplementation of the record with admissible evidence related to the following three questions:

when, how, and under what circumstances did the D family first receive actual notice that a two-year period of limitation—or any period of limitation— was running against them[;][2] if the D family did not first receive such actual notice from the Board of Education, ... when, how, and under what circumstances did they first receive it ... [; and] [3] did the D family "sleep on their rights" so that the doctrine of laches may have some bearing on this case?

M.D. II, 16 Fed.Appx. 70, 71-72. We stated that, on remand, the District Court should consider "whether it is appropriate or permissible for the District Court to convert the Rule 12 motion to a Fed R. Civ. P. 56 motion for summary judgment." Id. 16 Fed.Appx. at 72. We indicated that "[i]f the Rule 12 motion is converted into a Rule 56 motion, jurisdiction will be restored to this panel, without the need to file a new notice of appeal." Id.

On May 23, 2002, while the case was pending on remand, defendant filed a motion for summary judgment. On August 1, 2002, Magistrate Judge Thomas P. Smith, to whom the case had been referred, filed a report recommending that defendant's summary judgment motion be granted. See Mr. & Mrs. D. v. Southington Bd. of Educ., No. 99 Civ. 453, slip op. at 21 (D.Conn. Aug. 1, 2002) (M.D.III). Magistrate Judge Smith correctly recognized that, because the IDEA does not contain its own statute of limitations, courts must "apply the most closely analogous statute of limitations under state law." Id. at 11 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted); see generally Wilson v. Garcia, 471 U.S. 261, 266-67, 105 S.Ct. 1938, 85 L.Ed.2d 254 (1985). He determined that the most closely analogous statute of limitation under Connecticut law is C.G.S. § 10-76h(a)(3), which sets forth a two-year limitations period for challenges to the appropriateness of an educational placement. Nevertheless, he concluded that, because M.D. was unilaterally withdrawn from the Southington School District prior to the enactment of § 10-76h(a)(3), that statute's two-year limitations period was not applicable. Instead, he recommended applying the three-year limitations period set forth in C.G.S. § 52-577, which governs all causes of action "founded upon a tort."

Magistrate Judge Smith next determined that the date of accrual of a cause of action brought pursuant to the IDEA is governed by federal law, and that such an action accrues "when the parents know or have reason to know of the injury or event that is the basis for their claim." M.D. III, No. 99 Civ. 453, at 13 (quoting James v. Upper Arlington City Sch. Dist., 987 F.Supp. 1017, 1023 (S.D.Ohio 1997)). He concluded that "[i]n this case, the parents were aware of the alleged injury to their child when they unilaterally placed her out of what they judged to be an inferior school district." Id. at 16. Because M.D. was withdrawn from the Southington schools on January 12, 1994—more than four years before Mr. and Mrs. D. requested a due process hearing on this matter— Magistrate Judge Smith concluded that, even under the longer, three-year limitations period provided by § 52-577, the plaintiffs' claims are time-barred.

The District Court adopted Magistrate Judge Smith's recommendation, and judgment was entered in favor of the defendants on September 11, 2002. Pursuant to this Court's summary order of August 6, 2001, jurisdiction was automatically reinstated in this Court.

DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Review

We review a grant of summary judgment de novo, construing all facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and identifying any genuine issues of material fact that remain for adjudication. See, e.g., Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-48, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Schonholz v. Long Island Jewish Med. Ctr., 87 F.3d 72, 77 (2d Cir.1996).

B. Accrual of the Cause of Action

Even where a federal court borrows a state statute of limitations, "[f]ederal law governs the question of when a federal claim accrues." Leon v. Murphy, 988 F.2d 303, 309 (2d Cir.1993) (internal quotation marks omitted). Under federal law, a cause of action generally accrues "when the plaintiff knows or has reason to know of the injury that is the basis of the action." Id. (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Singleton v. City of New York, 632 F.2d 185, 191 (2d Cir.1980) (applying this rule of accrual to claims brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983).

We join our sister circuits in holding that this general rule is also applicable to claims brought pursuant to the IDEA. See, e.g., James v. Upper Arlington City Sch. Dist., 228 F.3d 764, 769 (6th Cir.2000) (holding that "initial claim accrued when the[] [parents] knew of the injury to their child[,] i.e., the inadequate education"); Alexopulos v. Riles, 784 F.2d 1408, 1411 (9th Cir.1986) (holding that "a cause of action generally accrues when a plaintiff learns of the injury which is the basis of his action" and applying this standard to claims brought pursuant to the IDEA's predecessor statute, the Education of All Handicapped Children Act, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1401 et seq. (1982)).

Applying this rule, it is clear that plaintiffs "knew or had reason to know" of their injury when they withdrew M.D. from the Southington school system on January 12, 1994 because they believed that the system was not providing her with an appropriate and adequate education. At the time they placed M.D. in Cheshire's public high school on a tuition basis, Mr. and Mrs. D. were aware that they would have a substantial monetary loss as a result of their decision. We therefore hold that plaintiffs' claims accrued on or before January 12, 1994.¹

C. Statute of Limitations Governing the IDEA Claims

"When Congress has not established a time limitation for a federal cause of action, the settled practice has been to adopt a local time limitation as federal law if it is not inconsistent with federal law or policy to do so." Wilson v. Garcia, 471 U.S. 261, 266-67, 105 S.Ct. 1938, 85 L.Ed.2d 254 (1985). Where a federal statute is silent with respect to the applicable limitations period, courts apply the "most appropriate or analogous state statute of limitations." Goodman v. Lukens Steel Co., 482 U.S. 656, 660, 107 S.Ct. 2617, 96 L.Ed.2d 572 (1987); see also Wilson, 471 U.S. at 266-68, 105 S.Ct. 1938; Board of Regents v. Tomanio, 446 U.S. 478, 488, 100 S.Ct. 1790, 64 L.Ed.2d 440 (1980); Adler v. Educ. Dep't of...