California OAH special education order · October 17, 2014
Order Granting Motion to Consolidate
OAH Case No. 2014100583, 2014080013 · ALJ B. Andrea Miles
OAH consolidated Sunnyvale's due process case with Student's earlier case over Student's opposition, because both turn on whether the District offered a FAPE for 2014-2015 and would use overlapping witnesses and evidence.
Summary
Sunnyvale filed its own due process complaint and asked OAH to consolidate it with the case Student had filed nearly three months earlier. Student opposed the motion. OAH granted consolidation because both cases raise the common question of whether the District offered Student a free appropriate public education for the 2014-2015 school year, and hearing them together saves time by avoiding duplicate witnesses and evidence. All dates in Student's case were vacated, and the 45-day decision timeline now runs from the filing date of the District's newer case.
Why it matters
A district can file its own complaint and move to consolidate, which can restart the decision timeline from the later filing date and push back a parent's earlier-filed case. Parents opposing consolidation should be ready to explain concretely how the delay or the merged issues would harm Student.
Key authority cited
- Gov. Code, § 11507.3, subd. (a)
- Code Civ. Proc., § 1048, subd. (a)
Topics
Full text of the order
Published text of the OAH order. Page headers and numbers from the original PDF have been dropped.
BEFORE THE
OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
In the Consolidated Matters of:
SUNNYVALE SCHOOL DISTRICT, OAH Case No. 2014100583 v.
PARENT ON BEHALF OF STUDENT,
PARENT ON BEHALF OF STUDENT , OAH Case No. 2014080013 v.
ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO
SUNNYVALE SCHOOL DISTRICT. CONSOLIDATE
On July 28, 2014, attorney Natashe Washington, on behalf of Student, filed with the Office of Administrative Hearings a Request for Due Process Hearing in OAH case number 2014080013 (First Case), naming Sunnyvale School District. A joint request for continuance was granted on August 27, 2014.
On October 14, 2014, attorney Matthew Tamel, on behalf of Sunnyvale, filed a Request for Due Process Hearing in OAH case number 2014100583 (Second Case), naming Student. On that same date, Sunnyvale filed a Motion to Consolidate the First Case with the Second Case.
On October 15, 2014, Student filed an opposition to Sunnyvale’s motion to consolidate. On October 15, 2014, Sunnyvale filed a reply to Student’s opposition to consolidate.
APPLICABLE LAW AND DISCUSSION
Although no statute or regulation specifically provides a standard to be applied in deciding a motion to consolidate special education cases, OAH will generally consolidate matters that involve: a common question of law and/or fact; the same parties; and when consolidation of the matters furthers the interests of judicial economy by saving time or preventing inconsistent rulings. (See Gov. Code, § 11507.3, subd. (a) [administrative proceedings may be consolidated if they involve a common question of law or fact]; Code of Civ. Proc., § 1048, subd. (a) [same applies to civil cases].)
Here, the First Case and Second Case involve a common question of law or fact, specifically, whether District offered Student a free appropriate public education during the 2014-2015 school year. In addition, consolidation furthers the interests of judicial economy because the commonality of legal and factual issues, if litigated separately, would necessitate calling some of the same witnesses and using some of the same documentary evidence.
Accordingly, consolidation is granted.
ORDER
1. Sunnyvale’s Motion to Consolidate is granted.
2. All dates previously set in OAH Case Number 2014080013 (First Case) are
vacated.
3. The 45-day timeline for issuance of the decision in the consolidated cases shall be
based on the date of the filing of the complaint in OAH Case Number 2014100583 (Second Case).
4. As OAH Case Number 2014100583 was newly filed, scheduling dates have not yet
been set. Therefore, OAH shall issue a scheduling order for OAH Case Number 2014100583 and the matter shall proceed upon the dates set forth in that scheduling order.
DATE: October 17, 2014
/S/
B. ANDREA MILES
Administrative Law Judge Office of Administrative Hearings