Zeyen ex rel. Zeyen & v. Pocatello/Chubbuck Sch. Dist. No. 25

• Decision Date: 23 October 2019
• Docket Number: Docket No. 46193
• Parties: Mike ZEYEN, individually, and as a patron of Pocatello/Chubbuck School District #25 and, on behalf of and as Guardian Ad Litem of his minor children, Olivia Zeyen, Noah Zeyen and Ann Zeyen; Rachael Booth, individually, and as patron of Pocatello/Chubbuck School District #25 and, on behalf of and as Guardian Ad Litem of her minor children, Madison Booth and Braydon Booth, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. POCATELLO/CHUBBUCK SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 25, a municipal corporation of the State of Idaho, Defendant-Respondent.
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court

165 Idaho 690
451 P.3d 25

Mike ZEYEN, individually, and as a patron of Pocatello/Chubbuck School District #25 and, on behalf of and as Guardian Ad Litem of his minor children, Olivia Zeyen, Noah Zeyen and Ann Zeyen; Rachael Booth, individually, and as patron of Pocatello/Chubbuck School District #25 and, on behalf of and as Guardian Ad Litem of her minor children, Madison Booth and Braydon Booth, Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
POCATELLO/CHUBBUCK SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 25, a municipal corporation of the State of Idaho, Defendant-Respondent.

Docket No. 46193

Supreme Court of Idaho, Boise, June 2019 Term.

Opinion Filed: October 23, 2019

Huntley Law Firm, PLLC, Boise and Wood Law Group, PC, Idaho Falls, for appellants. Theodore J. Wood argued.

Anderson, Julian & Hull, LLP, Boise, for respondent. Brian K. Julian argued.

BURDICK, Chief Justice.

This appeal arises from the Bannock County district court’s order denying a motion for class certification and a motion for leave to amend the complaint. The named plaintiff ("Zeyen") seeks declaratory relief and recovery of damages from Pocatello/Chubbuck School District No. 25 on behalf of all students currently enrolled in the district and their guardians. Zeyen alleges that School District 25’s practice of charging fees violates Article IX, section 1, of the Idaho Constitution (the "Education Article"). Zeyen first sought to certify the class to include all students within School District 25. Zeyen’s later motion to amend sought to add a takings claim under both the Idaho and U.S. Constitutions. The district court denied Zeyen’s motion for class certification based on lack of standing and denied his motion to amend both as untimely and prejudicial to School District 25. Zeyen timely appeals.

451 P.3d 28

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In July 2016, Zeyen filed his original complaint on behalf of all K-12 school children in School District 25. Zeyen sought declaratory judgment that the fees imposed by School District 25 were "illegal and unconstitutional." Zeyen also requested the "reimbursement" or "refund" of the fees paid for the 2014-15 school year as well as the following years. Jurisdiction was proper, Zeyen contended, under the Education Article. Answering, School District 25 argued that jurisdiction should be under Idaho’s Constitutionally Based Educational Claims Act ("Educational Claims Act" or "the Act") because the Education Article does not provide a private cause of action for damages. School District 25 also argued that Zeyen did not have standing and was not entitled to class certification. In November 2016, the court calendared the case for trial to take place in fall 2017 with motions to amend pleadings due on January 3, 2017.

In October 2016, Zeyen moved for class certification. A decision on that motion was delayed after a few events altered the course of proceedings. First, School District 25 claimed it stopped charging fees that were associated with academic credit beginning with the 2016-17 school year. Second, Joki v. State was on appeal to this Court. 162 Idaho 5, 394 P.3d 48, 6 (2017). This Court heard oral argument in the Joki case in January 2017 and took the case under advisement. A short time after, Zeyen moved to suspend proceedings until this Court issued a decision in Joki. The district court granted Zeyen’s motion and vacated the trial dates.

This Court issued the Joki opinion in April 2017. Id. In August 2017, the district court held a status conference. Shortly thereafter, Zeyen filed, and the district court granted, a motion for leave to amend his complaint. The first amended complaint differed from the original complaint by asserting that Zeyen and the proposed class "have a right and standing to sue both as a constitutional claim under [the Education Article], and also, concurrently, as a claim under the Constitutionally Based Education Claims Act" based on this Court’s decision in Joki.

A few months later, in October 2017, Zeyen moved for leave to amend his complaint a second time to plead a violation of the takings clause. The proposed complaint contained additional references to the takings clause in the Idaho and U.S. Constitutions as well as 42 U.S.C. § 1983. In support of his motion, Zeyen argued that he had a viable claim for an unlawful taking under this Court’s recent decision in Hill-Vu Mobile Home Park v. City of Pocatello, 162 Idaho 588, 591, 402 P.3d 1041, 1044 (2017). He also asserted that the Educational Claims Act could not limit his Constitutional claims.

In January 2018, the district court heard argument on Zeyen’s motion for leave to amend the First Amended Complaint and his motion to certify the class. The court orally denied the motion to amend the First Amended Complaint and took the class-certification issue under advisement. The court later issued an order denying the motion for class certification. In the accompanying memorandum decision, the court recited its reasoning for denying Zeyen’s motion to amend the Amended Complaint, explaining that Zeyen’s "undue delay" in asserting the takings claim would be "especially prejudicial" given "that discovery was concluded in accordance with the accelerated timeline" he had requested. As to class certification, the court ruled that Zeyen lacked standing to pursue the class action. The court determined that the Educational Claims Act provides the sole mechanism for Zeyen to acquire standing under the Education Article. Because the Educational Claims Act does not address past wrongs or individual damages, the court ruled that Zeyen failed the typicality requirement for class-action standing because he lacked a redressable injury required for individual standing.

At Zeyen’s request, the court certified the memorandum decision as a final appealable judgment under Rule 54(b) of the Idaho Rules of Civil Procedure, and Zeyen appealed. After his appeal was conditionally dismissed for lack of a partial judgment, the court entered a partial judgment denying the motion for class certification. This Court elected to treat the final partial judgment as

451 P.3d 29

a motion for permissive appeal and granted the motion.

II. ISSUES ON APPEAL

1. Did the district court abuse its discretion when it denied Zeyen’s motion for leave to amend the first amended complaint?

2. Did the district court abuse its discretion when it denied Zeyen’s motion for class certification for lack of standing?

3. Is Zeyen entitled to attorney’s fees on appeal?

III. STANDARD OF REVIEW

This Court reviews a trial court’s decision to grant or deny a motion for class certification for an abuse of discretion. BHA Investments, Inc. v. City of Boise, 141 Idaho 168, 171, 108 P.3d 315, 318 (2004) (citing Pope v. Intermountain Gas Co., 103 Idaho 217, 646 P.2d 988 (1982) ). Likewise, this Court reviews a trial court’s decision to grant or deny a motion to amend the pleadings for an abuse of discretion. PHH Mortg. v. Nickerson, 160 Idaho 388, 396, 374 P.3d 551, 559 (2016) (citing Clark v. Olsen, 110 Idaho 323, 326, 715 P.2d 993, 996 (1986) ).

To determine whether a lower court has abused its discretion, this Court asks whether the trial court: "(1) correctly perceived the issue as one of discretion; (2) acted within the outer boundaries of its discretion; (3) acted consistently with the legal standards applicable to the specific choices available to it; and (4) reached its decision by the exercise of reason." Lunneborg v. My Fun Life, 163 Idaho 856, 863, 421 P.3d 187, 194 (2018) (citing Hull v. Giesler, 163 Idaho 247, 250, 409 P.3d 827, 830 (2018) ).

For questions of law, this Court applies a de novo standard of review. Questions of jurisdiction, statutory interpretation, and the interpretation and application of procedural rules are questions of law. See Tucker v. State, 162 Idaho 11, 17, 394 P.3d 54, 60 (2017) ("Jurisdictional issues, like standing, are questions of law, over which this Court exercises free review.") (quoting Christian v. Mason, 148 Idaho 149, 151, 219 P.3d 473, 475 (2009) ); Hayes v. City of Plummer, 159 Idaho 168, 170, 357 P.3d 1276, 1278 (2015) ("The interpretation of a statute is a question of law that the Supreme Court reviews de novo."); Smith v. Treasure Valley Seed Co., 161 Idaho 107, 109, 383 P.3d 1277, 1279 (2016) ("[T]he application of a procedural rule is a question of law on which we exercise free review.") (quoting Zenner v. Holcomb, 147 Idaho 444, 450, 210 P.3d 552, 558 (2009) ).

For constitutional challenges, "every presumption is in favor of the constitutionality of the statute, and the burden of establishing the unconstitutionality of a statutory provision rests upon the challenger." Osmunson v. State, 135 Idaho 292, 294, 17 P.3d 236, 238 (2000) (citing State v. Nelson, 119 Idaho 444, 447, 807 P.2d 1282, 1285 (Ct. App. 1991) ).

IV. ANALYSIS

Although reasonable minds may differ on issues of school funding, this appeal presents two narrow, discrete procedural issues: (A) whether the district court erred in denying Zeyen’s motion to amend the first amended complaint; and (B) whether the district court erred in denying Zeyen’s motion to certify the class. For the reasons expressed below, we...