P.C. v. McLaughlin

• Decision Date: 06 September 1990
• Docket Number: No. 582,D,582
• Citation: 913 F.2d 1033
• Parties: 62 Ed. Law Rep. 881 P.C., Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Neil McLAUGHLIN, individually, Rod Copeland, individually and in his capacity as Director of Mental Health, William A. Dalton, individually and in his capacity as Vermont Commissioner of Mental Health, David Burrus, individually and in his capacity as Assistant Director of Mental Health, Jordan Derderian, individually and in his capacity as Protective Services Worker, Vermont Department of Mental Health, Theresa Wood, individually and in her capacity as Chief of Operations, Division of Mental Retardation Programs Department of Mental Health, Michael Chamberlain, individually and in his capacity as Sheriff of Windham County, State of Vermont, Stephen Kaagan, individually and in his capacity as Vermont Commissioner of Education, Defendants, Neil McLaughlin, individually, Rod Copeland, individually and in his capacity as Director of Mental Health, William A. Dalton, individually and in his capacity as Vermont Commissioner of Mental Health, and David Burrus, individually and in his capacity as Assistant Director of Mental Health, Jordan Derderian, individually and in his capacity as Protective Services Worker, Vermont Department of Mental Health, Theresa Wood, individually and in her capacity as Chief of Operations, Division of Mental Retardation Programs, Defendants-Appellants. ocket 89-7565.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

Page 1033

913 F.2d 1033

62 Ed. Law Rep. 881

P.C., Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Neil McLAUGHLIN, individually, Rod Copeland, individually and in his capacity as Director of Mental Health, William A Dalton, individually and in his capacity as Vermont Commissioner of Mental Health, David Burrus, individually and in his capacity as Assistant Director of Mental Health Jordan Derderian, individually and in his capacity as Protective Services Worker, Vermont Department of Mental Health, Theresa Wood, individually and in her capacity as Chief of Operations, Division of Mental Retardation Programs Department of Mental Health, Michael Chamberlain individually and in his capacity as Sheriff of Windham County, State of Vermont, Stephen Kaagan, individually and in his capacity as Vermont Commissioner of Education, Defendants Neil McLaughlin, individually, Rod Copeland, individually and in his capacity as Director of Mental Health, William A. Dalton, individually and in his capacity as Vermont Commissioner of Mental Health, and David Burrus, individually and in his capacity as Assistant Director of Mental Health, Jordan Derderian, individually and in his capacity as Protective Services Worker, Vermont Department of Mental Health, Theresa Wood, individually and in her capacity as Chief of Operations, Division of Mental Retardation Programs, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 582, Docket 89-7565.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Argued Jan. 12, 1990.

Decided Sept. 6, 1990.

Joseph L. Winn, Asst. Atty. Gen., State of Vt., Waterbury, Vt. (Jeffrey L. Amestoy, Atty. Gen., Dena Monahan, Asst. Atty. Gen., State of Vt., Waterbury, Vt., of counsel), for defendants-appellants.

John D. Shullenberger, Burlington, Vt. (Mickenberg, Dunn, Sirotkin and Dorsch, Burlington, Vt., Shirley Markland, Vermont Legal Aid, Inc., Rutland, Vt., of counsel), for plaintiff-appellee.

Before VAN GRAAFEILAND, CARDAMONE and ALTIMARI, Circuit Judges.

CARDAMONE, Circuit Judge:

The instant appeal is taken by several employees of the Vermont Department of Mental Health (Department) from an order entered in the United States District Court for the District of Vermont (Billings, J.). In a suit instituted by appellee P.C. alleging that appellants had deprived him of certain constitutional and statutory rights, their motion for summary judgment based on the defense of qualified immunity was denied. P.C., a mildly retarded man now 23 years old, was abandoned when he was three and shuffled from foster home to foster home while a ward of the State of Vermont. At the age of 18 appellant Department became his guardian. Things did not change for the better. Over the years P.C. had acquired an assaultive behavior pattern that made suitable placements hard to find. Without viable alternatives appellants had P.C. placed in a school for the severely retarded, and while there he was sexually assaulted.

Underlying the litigation initiated on his behalf is P.C.'s contention that he was unjustly placed in difficult circumstances not of his own making. It is understandable how the district court judge viewing this unfortunate scenario believed that there were questions of fact mandating denial of appellants' motion for summary judgment. It is a truism that all are born into trouble,

which is sometimes overcome but seldom extinguished. Although we recognize that P.C.'s life has been hard, we cannot say that his hardships are due to appellants' actions. Further, our task is not to try to untangle the complex human problem of which P.C. presently complains; rather we must examine whether the applicable laws allegedly violated were clearly established, and determine whether questions of fact exist respecting appellants' conduct.

FACTS

In the lawsuit underlying this appeal P.C. alleged that various Vermont state officials failed to provide him with appropriate residential and educational services as required by law. Since the age of three P.C. has been in the custody of the State of Vermont and lived in at least nine foster homes and schools before turning 18. On December 11, 1985, several months after his eighteenth birthday, he was placed by provision of Vermont law under the guardianship of the Commissioner of the Department, then Neil McLaughlin. P.C. was at the time a resident student at the Green Meadows School in Wilmington, Vermont.

Jordan Derderian, assigned as P.C.'s protective services caseworker, met with him and reviewed his records. These included a comprehensive evaluation prepared in connection with the guardianship proceedings and an Individualized Education Program (individual educational program) outlining required special education services. Derderian concluded that a small family residence run by trained personnel, coupled with day school, would be more beneficial to P.C. than the Green Meadows School, the residents of which were more severely handicapped than P.C. and too low-functioning to be appropriate peers. In addition, P.C.'s history of "maladaptive" behavior, such as verbal assaultiveness and lack of cooperation, suggested a setting where P.C. would receive significant individual attention.

P.C. contends that his present behavior problems were caused, at least in part, by the failure on the part of the State of Vermont to provide him with adequate care and education and a stable, supportive living environment. Unfortunately, a vicious circle was established: P.C. acting assaultive out of frustration because his living environment was not suitable for his needs and that behavior making it difficult to find a permanent residential placement that would meet those needs.

In February 1986 Green Meadows stated that P.C. would have to leave on April 1 because of his anti-social behavior. He was moved to a short-term respite home in St. Albans, while Derderian searched for an appropriate living facility. During this time P.C. refused to participate in any educational program. The caseworker applied to six residential schools, none of which would accept P.C. At the end of April the temporary caretakers asked that he be removed because he was becoming too attached to them and because of behavior problems including belligerence and drinking incidents. On April 29 he was moved to a second temporary respite home while efforts continued to find appropriate long-term residential care. He refused tutoring during his time in this second temporary home.

On May 17 P.C. was moved to an unlicensed community care home in Bellows Falls where he received no schooling because during the summer the local school district provided summer school only in emergency cases involving regression of educational performance, and because P.C. stated that he preferred to work. In September 1986 he was enrolled in an occupations program at a local high school. Problems quickly arose in the residential placement due to P.C.'s aggressive behavior and the caretakers' unmet request for additional compensation for their services. After an incident in which P.C. threatened a member of the household with a screwdriver and then stayed away overnight, the caretakers notified Derderian on November 8, 1986 that they could not handle P.C. and that he would have to leave within two days, or by November 10.

Derderian then contacted Theresa Wood, Chief of the Operations Division of Mental Retardation Programs and coordinator of On November 13, 1986 an administrative hearing was held to determine if the statutory requirements for short-term emergency admission to Brandon had been met. Id. Sec. 8830(a)(2). The hearing officer found that P.C. was not a person in need of commitment at Brandon because he did not pose a danger to himself and because Brandon could not provide appropriate care, treatment and habilitation for him. Based on these findings, the Superintendent of Brandon denied P.C. admission to the school. Nevertheless, because defendants did not have a residential placement available P.C. remained at Brandon. The Department appealed the Superintendant's decision, and also filed two petitions for involuntary admission in the Vermont District Court, one on December 5, 1986 and the second on January 13, 1987. Both petitions were dismissed on procedural motions filed by P.C. On December 27, 1986 P.C. filed a writ of habeas corpus in state court, which was granted on January 27, 1987. As a result of that ruling, no further attempts were made to admit P.C. to Brandon. But because other residential options still were unavailable--except furnishing P.C. a motel room or leaving him to fend for himself--P.C. continued to reside at the school as a "guest."

                the respite care programs, who told him that no placements were immediately available.  After discussing the situation with Dave Burrus, Assistant Director of Mental Retardation Programs, Derderian and Wood concluded that the only option then available was the Brandon Training School (Brandon), a state-owned residential school for severely retarded individuals.  When Derderian told P.C. that he would not be returning to the foster home, P.C. refused to cooperate and local police officers were called to transport P.C. to Brandon pursuant to Vermont's "emergency admission procedure law."    Vt.Stat.Ann. tit. 18, Sec. 8830 (1987).  During the course of transportation P.C. was placed in handcuffs in accordance with standard police procedures
                

From November 1986 to August 1988--or for nearly two years--P.C. remained at Brandon. He received only sporadic educational services, largely because he resisted defendants' attempts to develop for him an individual educational program. For example, he was enrolled in an occupations program at a local school in March 1985 but was expelled after 40 days on account of his behavior.

In August 1987 this action was filed on his behalf seeking a declaratory judgment and injunction requiring the defendant state officials to place P.C. in an appropriate, professionally supervised community facility and to...