Taylor v. Kan. Dep't of Health

Decision Date02 August 2013
Docket NumberNo. 108,630.,108,630.
PartiesNicholas TAYLOR and William Taylor, Appellees, v. KANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT, Division of Health Care Finance, et al., Appellants.
CourtKansas Court of Appeals

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

Syllabus by the Court

1. A state agency regulation must be implemented in conformity with the Rules and Regulations Filing Act, K.S.A. 77–415 et seq. The Act requires that proposed regulations go through a public notice and hearing process and then be formally published beforetaking effect. If a state agency fails to submit a policy that by content and effect is a regulation to the notice and publication requirements of the Act, the policy is void.

2. Constitutionally protected procedural due process requires that a person be afforded a right to be heard in a meaningful way before being deprived of life, liberty, or property.

3. A state's failure to properly follow its own requirements for enacting administrative regulations or other regulatory rules typically does not itself create a federal constitutional violation.

4. The essence of constitutionally protected procedural due process is notification to an individual of the basis for pending government action impairing or extinguishing his or her protected property right or liberty interest and a meaningful opportunity to explain why that action would be improper or erroneous. That is a fundamental right or protection against government overreaching and aims to prevent a wrongful deprivation.

5. Under the facts of this case, plaintiff failed to establish a constitutional due process violation based on the Kansas Department of Health and Environment's failure to adopt what has been presumed to be a regulation in conformity with the Rules and Regulations Filing Act.

6. Standards for attorney fee awards under 42 U.S.C. § 1988 (2006) are discussed and applied.

Brian M. Vazquez, of Kansas Department of Health & Environment, of Topeka, for appellants.

David P. Calvert, of David P. Calvert, P.A., of Wichita, for appellees.

Before ATCHESON, P.J., GREEN and McANANY, JJ.

ATCHESON, J.

This case requires the court to decide a narrow, if seldom litigated, question: If a state fails to properly apply its own procedures for adopting administrative regulations to an agency policy, does that failure create a federal constitutional due process violation in favor of persons affected by the policy? The Sedgwick County District Court ruled that Plaintiff Nicholas Taylor suffered a constitutional injury when Defendant Kansas Department of Health and Environment did not treat a policy applicable to him as part of the State's Medicaid program as a formal administrative regulation. The district court entered judgment against high ranking employees of the agency and enjoined enforcement of the policy. As a general rule, however, that sort of bureaucratic misstep does not amount to a constitutional deprivation. This case presents no exception to the rule. We, therefore, reverse the district court and remand with directions to enter judgment for the defendants, to vacate an award of attorney fees and costs to Taylor, and to otherwise proceed in conformity with this opinion.

Factual Background and Procedural History

Taylor has a rare and debilitating physical condition known as arthrogryposis multiplex congenita that affects his joints and muscles. As a result, Taylor is essentially wheelchair bound and requires assistance with most daily life activities. Taylor, therefore, qualifies for and receives Social Security disability and Medicaid benefits. Despite his condition, Taylor has become a world-class wheelchair tennis player. He regularly travels nationally and internationally from his Wichita home to compete in tournaments and to give motivational speeches. We understand he earns a modest income from those endeavors.

The Department operates what is known as the Working Healthy program that encourages persons receiving disability benefits, such as Taylor, to work as they may be able. Participants pay premiums into the program in exchange for assistance with medical expenses without having to satisfy certain Medicaid restrictions. As a component of the Working Healthy program, the Department maintains a subsidiary program known as Work Opportunities Reward Kansans or WORK that is directly at issue in Taylor's suit. Under WORK, the Department evaluates the extent of care or assistance participants need to work and otherwise meet their daily needs. The Department then provides a monthly payment to a participant to hire the necessary caregivers. In 2009, Taylor began participating in the WORK program. As a WORK participant, Taylor agreed in writing to abide by the program policies.

Based on the nature of his disability, Taylor was approved for about 403 hours of assistance a month at the Department's established hourly rate and, as a result, received a monthly payment of $5,350 for that purpose. Because Taylor had unfortunate experiences with incompetent and even negligent caregivers, he chose to hire William Taylor, his father, as his exclusive assistant. As a result, some of the monthly allocation was used to pay overtime to William. And, as we understand matters, William sometimes provided care without compensation if he put in more time than the monthly allocation covered. In January 2010, Taylor submitted and the Department approved a WORK budget of $5,350 a month for 350 hours of regular and overtime care services from William.

In August 2010, the Department notified WORK participants, including Taylor, that it would no longer approve overtime wages for caregivers. The Department then notified Taylor and other participants with budgeted overtime that they would have to submit revised budgets in conformity with the no-overtime policy. The Department estimated that between 15 and 25 WORK participants were affected. The policy effectively required participants who were paying caregivers overtime to substitute other caregivers paid at the regular wage rate for services in excess of 40 hours a week.

Taylor submitted a modified budget for only 160 hours a month, covering regular hours for William with no overtime. In short, Taylor declined to hire anyone else as a caregiver through WORK. Nonetheless, Taylor has requested and the Department has granted him specific exemptions from the no-overtime policy for trips to tennis tournaments and other engagements requiring travel because of logistical problems in securing short-term care in distant locations. Taylor has traveled with his father as his caregiver.

In October 2010, Taylor sent a written protest to the Department regarding the no-overtime policy. He later requested an administrative hearing. The hearing was held on February 24, 2011. The hearing officer declined to provide Taylor any relief from the policy. Taylor also asserted that the policy amounted to an administrative regulation that had not been properly adopted as such. The hearing officer found that issue to be outside the scope of the proceedings.

On April 4, 2011, Taylor brought this action in the district court and named as defendants the Department; Andrew Allison, the executive director of the Department; Mary Ellen Wright, the senior manager of the Working Healthy program; and Nancy Scott, a manager of WORK. William Taylor also appears as a plaintiff, but he asserts no separate or independent claim, so we treat Taylor and his father together. About 2 months later, Taylor filed an amended petition. Taylor asserted that the agency decision denying him a complete release from the no-overtime policy was erroneous and should be reversed under the Kansas Judicial Review Act, K.S.A. 77–601 et seq. He also contended that the Department should have adopted the no-overtime policy as an administrative regulation, as provided in the Rules and Regulations Filing Act, K.S.A. 77–415 et seq., and the failure to do so rendered it invalid. So, he argued, the Department's decision to apply an invalid regulation to him denied him due process in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. He also alleged a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. Taylor brought the due process and equal protection claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2006), a statute establishing a procedural means for individuals to assert claims that state or local government officials or agents have violated rights protected in the United States Constitution or other federal law. Taylor did not actively litigate the equal protection violation, and it is not before us. Finally, Taylor alleged what he characterized as a “damages” claim for wages that would have been available to his father through WORK absent the no-overtime policy.

In his amended petition, Taylor requested an injunction prohibiting enforcement of the no-overtime policy, attorney fees and costs for litigating the § 1983 claim, and the unpaid wages. The Department and its employees answered and denied any violation of Taylor's rights or any liability to him. The Department has asserted that the no-overtime policy is not a regulation that must be adopted through the Rules and Regulations Filing Act. The Department and its employees have been jointly represented throughout the case, so we treat them more or less collectively here.

The district court heard the case without a jury on October 27, 2011. Before presenting any evidence, the parties agreed to several modifications of the claims. Taylor dismissed his claim under the Judicial Review Act. And he dismissed the Department as a defendant in the § 1983 claim. As part of the § 1983 claim, Taylor added an allegation the no-overtime policy violated the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution. As to the wage claim, Taylor also alleged William should be allowed to recover as a third-party beneficiary of the contractual relationship between the Department and the federal agency overseeing WORK.

The district...

To continue reading

Request your trial
23 cases
  • State v. Althaus
    • United States
    • Kansas Court of Appeals
    • August 2, 2013
  • Chubb v. Sullivan
    • United States
    • Kansas Court of Appeals
    • June 20, 2014
    ...and other rights closely tied to the Bill of Rights in the United States Constitution. See Taylor v. Kansas Dept. of Health and Environment, 49 Kan.App.2d 233, 244–45, 305 P.3d 729 (2013). Substantive due process protects an individual from arbitrary government action that either furthers n......
  • Johnson v. Kan. Dep't of Revenue
    • United States
    • Kansas Court of Appeals
    • July 17, 2020
    ...and various other rights closely allied with those explicitly guaranteed in the Bill of Rights." Taylor v. Kansas Dept. of Health and Environment , 49 Kan. App. 2d 233, 244, 305 P.3d 729 (2013). "While due process protection in the substantive sense limits what the government may do in both......
  • In re Interests A.a.-F.
    • United States
    • Kansas Supreme Court
    • July 12, 2019
    ...follow a statutorily required process does not inevitably result in a due process violation. See Taylor v. Kansas Dept. of Health & Environment , 49 Kan. App. 2d 233, 242, 305 P.3d 729 (2013) ; see also First Assembly of God v. Collier County, Fla. , 20 F.3d 419, 421-22 (11th Cir. 1994) (co......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT