Spencer v. District of Columbia
| Decision Date | 11 January 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 05-2439 (RMU).,05-2439 (RMU). |
| Citation | 416 F.Supp.2d 5 |
| Parties | Shadonna SPENCER, Plaintiff, v. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Columbia |
Roy Carleton Howell, Washington, DC, for Plaintiff.
Veronica A. Porter, Office of Attorney General for the District of Columbia, Washington, DC, for Defendant.
This case comes before the court on the plaintiffs motion for a preliminary injunction. The plaintiff alleges that the defendants, the District of Columbia and the District of Columbia Public Schools ("DCPS"), violated the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"), 20 U.S.C. §§ 1400 et seq. The plaintiff moves the court for injunctive relief to reverse the defendants' alleged denial of a due process hearing. Because the defendants have not denied the plaintiffs request for a due process hearing, the court denies the plaintiffs motion for a preliminary injunction.
The plaintiff brings this suit on behalf of her minor son, a special education student in the District of Columbia. Compl. ¶¶ 9, 15. Believing that her minor son's individualized education plan ("IEP")1 does not meet her son's needs, the plaintiff requested an administrative due process hearing on December 6, 2005. Pl.'s Mot. at 5-6. In response to the plaintiff's request for an administrative due process hearing, the defendants scheduled a resolution meeting2 for December 21, 2005. Id. at 7; Defs.' Opp'n at 6. On December 14, 2005, the plaintiff spoke to an official at her son's school and stated that she wished to withdraw the request for a due process hearing and that she did not want to proceed with the resolution session. Defs.' Opp'n at 6.
Later, however, the plaintiff renewed her request for a due process hearing. Pl.'s Mot. at 9; Defs.' Opp'n at 7. The defendants received the plaintiff's renewed request for a due process hearing on December 21, 2005. Defs.' Opp'n at 7. The defendants subsequently scheduled a resolution session for January 2006. Defs.' Opp'n at 7. The plaintiff filed suit in this court to compel the defendants to schedule a due process hearing instead of a resolution session. The court now turns to the plaintiff's motion.
II. ANALYSIS
This court may issue interim injunctive relief only when the movant demonstrates:
(1) a substantial likelihood of success on the merits, (2) that it would suffer irreparable injury if the injunction is not granted, (3) that an injunction would not substantially injure other interested parties, and (4) that the public interest would be furthered by the injunction.
Mova Pharm. Corp. v. Shalala, 140 F.3d 1060, 1066 (D.C.Cir.1998) (quoting CityFed Fin. Corp. v. Office of Thrift Supervision, 58 F.3d 738, 746 (D.C.Cir.1995)); see also World Duty Free Americas, Inc. v. Summers, 94 F.Supp.2d 61, 64 (D.D.C.2000). It is particularly important for the movant to demonstrate a substantial likelihood of success on the merits. Cf. Benten v. Kessler, 505 U.S. 1084, 1085, 112 S.Ct. 2929, 120 L.Ed.2d 926 (1992) (per curiam). Indeed, absent a "substantial indication" of likely success on the merits, "there would be no justification for the court's intrusion into the ordinary processes of administration and judicial review." Am. Bankers Ass'n v. Nat'l Credit Union Admin., 38 F.Supp.2d 114, 140 (D.D.C.1999) (internal quotation omitted).
The four factors should be balanced on a sliding scale, and a party can compensate for a lesser showing on one factor by making a very strong showing on another factor. CSX Transp., Inc. v. Williams, 406 F.3d 667 (D.C.Cir.2005) (citing City-Fed Fin. Corp., 58 F.3d at 747). "An injunction may be justified, for example, where there is a particularly strong likelihood of success on the merits even if there is a relatively slight showing of irreparable injury." CityFed Fin. Corp., 58 F.3d at 747.
Moreover, the other salient factor in the injunctive-relief analysis is irreparable injury. A movant must "demonstrate at least `some injury'" to warrant the granting of an injunction. CityFed Fin. Corp., 58 F.3d at 747 (quotation omitted). Indeed, if a party makes no showing of irreparable injury, the court may deny the motion for injunctive relief without considering the other factors. Id.
Because interim injunctive relief is an extraordinary form of judicial relief, courts should grant such relief sparingly. Mazurek v. Armstrong, 520 U.S. 968, 972, 117 S.Ct. 1865, 138 L.Ed.2d 162 (1997). As the Supreme Court has said, "[i]t frequently is observed that a preliminary injunction is an extraordinary and drastic remedy, one that should not be granted unless the movant, by a clear showing, carries the burden of persuasion." Id. (citation omitted). Therefore, although the trial court has the discretion to issue or deny a preliminary injunction, it is not a form of relief granted lightly. In addition, any injunction that the court issues must be carefully circumscribed and tailored to remedy the harm shown. Nat'l Treasury Employees Union v. Yeutter, 918 F.2d 968, 977 (D.C.Cir.1990) (citation omitted).
Because the plaintiff has not made the requisite showing on three parts of the preliminary injunction test, substantial likelihood of success on the merits, irreparable harm, and public interest, the court denies the plaintiff's motion. The preliminary injunction factors are discussed individually below.
The plaintiff contends that the defendants violated the IDEA because: (1) the defendants cancelled the December 21, 2005 resolution session when the plaintiff withdrew her original due process complaint on December 14, 2005; and (2) the defendants scheduled a resolution session for January 2006, even though the plaintiff requested a due process hearing in her renewed due process complaint. Pl.'s Mot. at 10. The defendants argue that the court should deny the plaintiff's motion because "the prescribed timetables" for processing the plaintiff's request for a hearing have not yet expired. Defs.' Opp'n at 9. In other words, the defendants argue that the plaintiff has not yet exhausted her administrative remedies. The court agrees.
Congress enacted IDEA "to ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for employment and independent living." Calloway v. Dist. of Columbia, 216 F.3d 1, 3 (D.C.Cir.2000) (quoting 20 U.S.C. § 1400(d)(1)(A)). Under IDEA, school districts must develop IEPs to meet the special educational needs of disabled students. Id. (citing 20 U.S.C. § 1414(d)). The IEP must include "a statement of the child's present levels of educational performance[,] a statement of measurable annual goals, [and] a statement of the special education and related services ... to be provided to the child." Id. As a procedural safeguard, IDEA affords parents the right to examine all records regarding their child's disability and to participate in meetings regarding the child's identification, evaluation, and educational placement. 20 U.S.C. § 1415(b)(1). If a parent objects to the child's identification, evaluation, or educational placement, the parent may request a due-process hearing before a hearing officer. Calloway, 216 F.3d at 3 (citing 20 U.S.C. §§ 1415(b)(6), (f)(1)). A parent who is aggrieved by a hearing officer's determination ("HOD") may bring suit in state or federal court. Id. (citing 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(2)).
The administrative process set forth by IDEA is not "just an optional stop on the way to court." Andersen by Andersen v. Dist. of Columbia, 877 F.2d 1018, 1025 (D.C.Cir.1989). Rather, the philosophy underpinning IDEA requires a plaintiff to exhaust administrative remedies before turning to the courts. Cox v. Jenkins, 878 F.2d 414, 418 (D.C.Cir.1989). As the D.C. Circuit has pointed out,
[t]he exhaustion doctrine serves several important purposes: it prevents courts from interrupting the administrative process permanently; it allows the agency to apply its specialized expertise to the problem; it gives the agency an opportunity to correct its own errors; it ensures that there will be a complete factual record for the court to review; and it prevents the parties from undermining the agency by deliberately flouting the administrative process.3
Id. at 419. Under IDEA, a plaintiff's failure to exhaust administrative remedies deprives the court of authority to hear the suit. 20 U.S.C. § 1415(c), (e); Rann v. Chao, 346 F.3d 192, 195 (D.C.Cir.2003) (); Cox, 878 F.2d at 422 (); Lemon v. Dist. of Columbia, 920 F.Supp. 8, 10 (D.D.C.1996) (). Only "where exhaustion would be futile or inadequate" may a plaintiff bypass the administrative process and proceed to court. Cox, 878 F.2d at 419 (citing Honig v. Doe, 484 U.S. 305, 326-27, 108 S.Ct. 592, 98 L.Ed.2d 686 (1988)). The plaintiff bears the burden of showing futility or inadequacy. Id.; Moss v. Smith, 794 F.Supp. 11, 13 (D.D.C.1992).
The plaintiff is unlikely to succeed on the merits because she has not exhausted her administrative remedies and because she has not shown that exhaustion would be futile or inadequate. The...
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