Whooley v. Tamalpais Union High Sch. Dist.

• Decision Date: 29 July 2019
• Docket Number: Case No. 18-cv-07686-RS
• Parties: Monica WHOOLEY, Plaintiff, v. TAMALPAIS UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of California

399 F.Supp.3d 986

Monica WHOOLEY, Plaintiff,

v.TAMALPAIS UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT, et al., Defendants.

Case No. 18-cv-07686-RS

United States District Court, N.D. California.

Signed July 29, 2019

Filed July 30, 2019

Jamon Rahi Hicks, Carl Edwin Douglas, Eean L. Boles, Douglas / Hicks Law, APC, Los Angeles, CA, for Plaintiff.

Mark E. Davis, Davis & Young, APLC, San Jose, CA, Seth L. Gordon, Louis A. Leone, Leone & Alberts, APC, Concord, CA, Anne Bailey Miller, Leone & Alberts, Walnut Creek, CA, for Defendants.

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART TAMALPAIS DISTRICT'S MOTION TO DISMISS AND GRANTING YOSHIHARA'S MOTION TO DISMISS

RICHARD SEEBORG, United States District Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

Monica Whooley, the mother and successor-in-interest to her son, Gabriel, maintains that he committed suicide because Tamalpais Union High School District (the "District") and its former superintendent, David Yoshihara (collectively "Defendants"), failed to implement his accommodation plan pursuant to section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794 (the "504 Plan"). Whooley charges Defendants with violations of numerous federal and state laws. The District and Yoshihara separately move to dismiss, asserting none of Whooley's causes of action adequately state a claim for relief. This matter is suitable for disposition without oral argument pursuant to Civil Local Rule 7-1(b). For the reasons explained below, the District's motion is granted only as to Whooley's first and eighth causes of action with leave to amend and is otherwise denied, while Yoshihara's motion is granted in its entirety with leave to amend.

II. BACKGROUND¹

In 2014, during Gabriel's eighth grade year, he was assessed by Ross Valley School District ("RVSD") and found eligible for special education owing to a specific learning disability arising from his significant processing weaknesses and high anxiety related to academics. Upon reassessment, he was found ineligible for special education, but concerns remained regarding his processing skills and anxiety. RVSD then placed Gabriel on a section 504 accommodation plan ("504 Plan") pursuant to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794. The 504 Plan included numerous accommodations to meet Gabriel's needs, including regular one-on-one checks with teachers and extra time on tests.

Beginning in the Fall of 2014, Gabriel was enrolled in Drake High School in the Tamalpais District. He remained on the 504 Plan throughout his time at Drake, but the District purportedly never re-evaluated Gabriel for his 504 Plan. As he progressed through high school, Gabriel became increasingly overwhelmed by mounting pressure from the school to achieve and maintain a high grade point average, to attain high scores on the ACT or SAT exams, and to complete early enrollment period applications for colleges. This stress was allegedly compounded by the District's employees failing to implement his 504 Plan on numerous occasions.

In one instance, Gabriel was scheduled to take the Advanced Placement ("AP") test in English Language and Composition in May 2017. Pursuant to his 504 Plan, Gabriel was to be placed in a separate room away from other students and given the test by a different proctor. On the day of the test, however, he was told that there was no proctor available to administer his test, thereby forcing him to take the test in the school's gymnasium with the other students. When Gabriel informed her of this breach of his 504 Plan, Whooley contacted members of Drake's staff to ensure his accommodations were in place and would be implemented for the ACT in June 2017. Whooley also contacted the College Board and was told to request that Drake file an incident report regarding what occurred during the AP test.

Shortly after the AP exam, Gabriel suffered a sudden spontaneous pneumothorax, meaning one of his lungs partially collapsed. Whooley informed all of Gabriel's teachers, his academic counselor, and Drake's 504 Plan coordinator that he would be out of school for a few days and requested that they send class notes and assignments. Whooley never received a response. She then contacted the assistant, Jolie Jacobs, to Drake's principal, Liz Seabury, in order to inform the principal of Gabriel's condition and to ensure that his teachers were apprised of the need for extra accommodations due to his health. Jacobs refused to inform Seabury of Gabriel's health concerns. In light of Gabriel's continuing symptoms of pneumothorax, Whooley sent Drake a note from his doctor requesting that he be given reasonable academic accommodations to facilitate his recovery. Whooley again received no response from Drake employees.

A few days before the ACT, Gabriel contacted Kyle Elsman, the Drake staff member responsible for handling accommodation requests, to confirm that his accommodations were in place. After receiving no response, Gabriel contacted the ACT organization itself to discover that Drake had not filed the appropriate paperwork on his behalf, despite Elsman's confirmation in March 2017 that Gabriel had provided all of the proper paperwork to process his request. Drake and the District subsequently attempted to secure the proper accommodations for the ACT, but were only able to do so for the September exam. This would preclude Gabriel from being able to complete early enrollment period applications for colleges. Additionally, Gabriel had received a scholarship for tutoring for the June ACT that did not carry over to the September 2017. In order to retain the information he had learned over the course of his tutoring, Gabriel had to continue studying over the summer of 2017. Drake and the District refused to cover the cost of the additional three months of tutoring.

The night before the September ACT, Gabriel told Whooley that he was growing increasingly stressed about school. Whooley then contacted Gabriel's academic counselor, Sheila Souder, and asked if there were any counselors at Drake with whom Gabriel could speak. Souder assured Whooley that she would complete a Wellness Referral for Gabriel and would follow-up with her soon. The Wellness Referral was not made. Subsequently, in October 2017, Gabriel suffered from another pneumothorax. Gabriel informed his teachers and academic counselors that he would be out of school and requested extra time and support to complete his assignments, but received no response.

In November 2017, Gabriel's Advanced Placement Chemistry teacher and tutor commented that his stress levels were rising due to his having to miss class for health reasons. They recommended that Gabriel drop the class, even though that would mean he would receive a failing grade in the course. Whooley alleges that despite the chemistry teacher's awareness of his health issues, she refused to give him the extra time to prepare for a test he missed when he was out of school for a doctor's appointment. Additionally, Whooley generally avers the chemistry teacher refused to follow Gabriel's 504 Plan and allow him extra accommodations for time. She also generally pleads another unnamed teacher routinely mocked Gabriel for his constant anxiety over achieving the best grades.

On the night of December 13, 2017, Gabriel informed his mother that he would be pulling his first "all-nighter" to study for a chemistry test and a Spanish final exam the next day. Between 3:00 AM and 6:00 AM on December 14, Gabriel hung himself in his bedroom.

III. LEGAL STANDARD

A complaint must contain "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). While "detailed factual allegations" are not required, a complaint must have sufficient factual allegations to state a claim that is "plausible on its face." Ashcroft v. Iqbal , 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (citing Bell Atl. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544, 555, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) ). A claim is facially plausible "when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged." Id. (citing Twombly , 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955 ). This standard asks for "more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully." Id. The determination is a context-specific task requiring the court "to draw on its judicial experience and common sense." Id. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937.

A motion to dismiss a complaint under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure tests the legal sufficiency of the claims alleged in the complaint. See Conservation Force v. Salazar , 646 F.3d 1240, 1241-42 (9th Cir. 2011). Dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) may be based on either the "lack of a cognizable legal theory" or on "the absence of sufficient facts alleged under a cognizable legal theory." Id. at 1242 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). When evaluating such a motion, the court must accept all material allegations in the complaint as true and construe them in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. In re Quality Sys., Inc. Sec. Litig. , 865 F.3d 1130, 1140 (9th Cir. 2017). "[C]onclusory allegations of law and unwarranted inferences," however, "are insufficient to defeat a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim." Caviness v. Horizon Cmty. Learning Ctr., Inc. , 590 F.3d 806, 812 (9th Cir. 2010) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

IV. DISCUSSION

A. Mixing Defendants Together

The Complaint is critically deficient for all of Whooley's causes of action against Yoshihara because she improperly mixes Yoshihara with the District by accusing them of the same conduct and holding them collectively liable. The Complaint, however, contains no facts stating what acts Yoshihara committed and how his individual conduct caused Whooley harm. There is virtually no detail about Yoshihara's interaction with Whooley or Gabriel, nor anything to infer that Yoshihara played any role with the accused...