Workman v. Mingo County Schools
| Decision Date | 03 November 2009 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 2:09-cv-00325. |
| Citation | 667 F.Supp.2d 679 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of West Virginia |
| Parties | Jennifer WORKMAN, et al., Plaintiffs, v. MINGO COUNTY SCHOOLS, et al., Defendants. |
Patricia A. Finn, Piermont, NY, Paul J. Harris, Wheeling, WV, for Plaintiffs.
J.A. Curia, III, Joanna I. Tabit, Steptoe & Johnson, Silas B. Taylor, Charlene A. Vaughan, Office of the Attorney General, Charles R. Bailey, Kelly C. Morgan, Bailey & Wyant, Charleston, WV, for Defendants.
Pending before the court are the plaintiff Jennifer Workman's Motion for Summary Judgment [Docket 62], defendants Mingo County Board of Education and Dr. Steven L. Paine's Motion for Summary Judgment [Docket 98], and defendant Dwight Dials' Motion for Summary Judgment [Docket 102]. For the reasons explained below, the plaintiff's Motion is DENIED, and the defendants' Motions are GRANTED. All other pending motions [Dockets 2, 73, 97, 118] are DENIED as moot.
The case concerns the legality of West Virginia's mandatory immunization program for schoolchildren. This topic is a sensitive one. An increasing number of parents across the country question the safety of vaccinations—particularly the purported relationship between vaccinations and autism. See, e.g., Alice Park, How Safe Are Vaccines?, TIME, May 21, 2008, available at http://www.time.com/ time/health/article/0,8599,1808438, 00.html. A parent's concern for her children's health and well-being is understandable. However, little evidence supports the claim that standard vaccinations are unsafe, see id., and the plaintiff does not contest the safety and efficacy of vaccines in this case. (See Pl.'s Mem. Supp. Mot. Preclude Med. Test. & Evidence 1 (arguing that "medical issues are irrelevant") [Docket 119].) Others oppose vaccinations on religious or philosophical grounds. Currently, West Virginia is one of only two states that do not permit a religious exemption from mandatory vaccinations.
Jennifer Workman brings this suit individually and as the parent and guardian of her minor child, M.W.1 Ms. Workman is the mother of two school-aged children: M.W., age six, and S.W., age thirteen. S.W. suffers from serious health problems, which manifested around the time she began receiving vaccinations. (Compl., Ex. 1 ¶ 4 [Docket 1].) Specifically, S.W. has been diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified, severe sleep disorders and other behavioral problems.2 (Id. ¶ 5.) These health issues have caused behavioral problems that require that S.W. be home-schooled. (Id. ¶ 6.) In light of S.W.'s health issues, Ms. Workman has chosen not to vaccinate M.W. (Id. at ¶ 7).
For the purpose of enrolling M.W. in the Mingo County school system without the required immunizations, pursuant to West Virginia Code section 16-3-4,3 Ms. Workman obtained a Permanent Medical Exemption ("the certificate") for M.W. from Dr. John MacCallum, M.D., a child psychiatrist.4 Dr. MacCallum recommended against vaccinating M.W. due to S.W.'s condition. Mingo County Health Officer, Dr. Manolo Tampoya, M.D., approved the certificate and indicated that it satisfied the requirements for M.W. to attend school in Mingo County, West Virginia.5 M.W. subsequently attended the pre-kindergarten program at Lenore K-8 School in Lenore, West Virginia, for approximately one month in the fall of 2007. (Compl., Ex. 1 ¶ 10.)
On September 21, 2007, the Superintendent of Mingo County Schools, defendant Dwight Dials, sent a letter to Dr. Cathy Slemp, the Acting Head of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, noting that a school nurse had challenged the plaintiff's certificate. His letter reads, in relevant part:
We have concerns about [the decision to allow M.W. to attend school] due to the precedence [sic] it will set for our county and possibly for the state. We feel it would be remiss to not have our concerns clarified for future reference and decision making in similar matters. The county has been consistent in all approaches and decisions concerning immunizations and this situation is new to our county.
All protocols have been completed in Mingo Co. concerning this and we would appreciate your thoughts on this issue.
Dr. Slemp responded to Mr. Dials by letter dated October 3, 2007, in which she recommended denying the certificate and, therefore, the plaintiff's application for an exemption from the compulsory immunizations. (Pl.'s Application, Ex. B.) Dr. Slemp noted that Dr. MacCallum apparently issued the certificate based on the fact that S.W. had been diagnosed with autism and because M.W. herself has speech and language delays. (Id.) Dr. Slemp explained:
In accordance with current recommendations on immunization practice issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians, and the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, autism in a family member is not a contraindication to administration of any of the immunizations required under WV Code Chapter 16-3-4 (school entry immunizations). In addition, speech and language delays, in and of themselves, are not defined contraindications to any of these vaccines.
To be as fair and consistent as possible in evaluating medical exemptions and most important, to assure our evaluations are based on current standards of medical practice and the preponderance of current scientific knowledge, it is the guidance of these organizations that the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health regularly utilizes in evaluating the sufficiency of medical exemption requests.
(Id.) Dr. Slemp concluded: (Id.) She left "to [Mr. Dials] and the Department of Education [to determine] the applicability of this information to the specific preschool setting involved, based on applicable Department of Education and other laws and regulations." (Id.)
Subsequently, on October 10, 2007, Mingo County school nurse Sandy Chapman emailed Rebecca King, the West Virginia Department of Education School Health Services Coordinator, asking for guidance on how to proceed. Ms. King responded by email on October 11, 2007, advising that the Workmans be notified "of the need for compliance with [Pre-k] immunizations" and that M.W. be removed from public school at the end of the day on October 12. (Id.) Rita Ward, the Mingo County Pre-k Contact, sent the Workmans a letter on October 12, 2007, and carbon copied Sabrina Runyon, the Lenore Pre-k Principal. In her letter, Ms. Ward informed the Workmans about Dr. Slemp's recommendation to Mr. Dials. (Pl.'s Application, Ex. D.) She further stated: (Id.)
M.W. did not attend school again until 2008, when she was admitted into a Head Start Program in Lenore which accepted Dr. MacCallum's certificate. (Resp. Opp'n Defs. Mingo County Bd. Educ. & Dr. Steven L. Paine Pl.'s Mot. Summ. J. ( ) [Docket 100], Ex. B at 26.) M.W. is now too old to attend that program, and Mingo County schools will not admit her. (Compl., Ex. 1 ¶¶ 13-14.) Ms. Workman alleges that M.W. was home-schooled as a result. (Id. ¶ 14.)6
Ms. Workman filed this action on April 1, 2009, against Mingo County Schools, Dwight Dials, and the State of West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.7 She raises both constitutional and statutory claims, and seeks declaratory judgment, injunctive relief, and money damages. She alleges that the defendants' denial of M.W.'s application for a medical exemption violates her First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights—that is, her free exercise rights and rights to due process and equal protection of the laws. Specifically, she states that her Christian Bapticostal religious beliefs require that she honor God by protecting her child from harm and illness, and that immunizing M.W. in this instance would violate those sincerely held beliefs. (Am. Compl. ¶¶ 7, 23 [Docket 38].) She further argues that the defendants' denial of M.W.'s application for medical exemption was "arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable," and discriminates against her and her family for no valid reason, and thus denies them procedural due process, substantive due process parenting rights, and equal protection of law. (Pl.'s Mem. Supp. Mot. Preclude Med. Test. & Evidence 5.) With regards to her statutory claims, Ms. Workman argues that the defendants violated West Virginia Code section 16-3-4 by refusing to accept Dr. MacCallum's certificate.
To obtain summary judgment, the moving party must show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). In considering a motion for summary judgment, the court will not "weigh the evidence and determine the truth of the matter." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Instead, the court will draw any permissible inference from the underlying facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587-88, 106...
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