D. D. v. Los Angeles Unified School District, No. 19-55810 (9th Cir. 2020)
Annotate this Case
Plaintiff, an elementary school student who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and severe, disability-related behavioral issues, filed suit under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) alleging that the school district denied him equal access to a public education because of his disability. The district court dismissed the complaint, concluding that plaintiff failed to exhaust his claim through the administrative procedures prescribed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), as required when a plaintiff seeks relief under other federal statutes for the denial of a free appropriate public education (FAPE).
The Ninth Circuit vacated the district court's dismissal and held that a close review of plaintiff's allegations reveals that the gravamen of his ADA claim is discrimination separate from his right to a FAPE. Therefore, the panel concluded that plaintiff's ADA claim is not subject to IDEA exhaustion. Finally, the panel concluded that there is nothing untoward—or inconsistent with Fry v. Napoleon Cmty. Sch., 137 S. Ct. 743 (2017)—in plaintiff's having followed resolution of his IDEA claims with a lawsuit alleging non-FAPE-based violations of another statute.
Court Description: Americans with Disabilities Act. The panel vacated the district court’s dismissal of an action brought by a student under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and remanded for further proceedings. The student alleged that the Los Angeles Unified School District denied him equal access to a public education because of his disability, and the district court dismissed his complaint on the ground that he failed to exhaust his claim through the administrative procedures prescribed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”), as required when a plaintiff seeks relief under other federal statutes for the denial of a free appropriate public education (“FAPE”). The panel held that the gravamen of the student’s ADA claim was discrimination separate from his right to a FAPE. Hence, his ADA claim was not subject to IDEA exhaustion. The panel closely examined the complaint and determined that its allegations concerned the denial of access to public facilities, rather than the denial of a FAPE. The panel further concluded that a different result was not required by Fry v. Napoleon Cmty. Sch., 137 S. Ct. 743 (2017), pursuant to which the panel considered (1) whether the plaintiff could bring the same claim outside the school setting and whether an adult or school visitor could bring the same claim within the school setting and (2) the history of the proceedings. D.D. V. LAUSD 3 Dissenting, Judge Rawlinson disagreed with the majority’s application of Fry to the facts of this case. She wrote that exhaustion was required because the claims for relief in the amended complaint were premised on asserted violations of the IDEA.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on May 6, 2021.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on November 19, 2021.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.