California OAH special education order · June 12, 2017
Order Denying Las Lomitas Elementary School District's Motion for a Ruling on Its Notice of Joinder as Moot; Order Denying Without Prejudice Las Lomitas Elementary School District's Motion to Dismiss
OAH Case No. 2017050461 · ALJ Darrell Lepkowsky
OAH denied Las Lomitas's request for rulings: its joinder in Sequoia Union's dismissal motion was moot, and its own motion to dismiss was never properly filed because the fax never reached OAH.
This case went to decision
Student v. Sequoia Union High School District: Sequoia Union High School District did not refuse transportation to a Woodside High School placement; student's sole claim denied. (2017)
Summary
Las Lomitas asked OAH to rule on its notice of joining Sequoia Union's motion to dismiss and on its own motion to dismiss. Its May 17, 2017 fax to OAH never arrived, though the other parties received copies. OAH denied the joinder as moot because it had already dismissed Student's ADA, Section 504, and Unruh Act claims on May 31, 2017. OAH denied the motion to dismiss without prejudice because attaching the motion as an exhibit is not the same as filing it, and Las Lomitas may refile and serve it properly.
Why it matters
A motion counts only if OAH actually receives it. Parties must confirm their filings went through and must refile a failed filing rather than attach it to a later request. A district's motion to join another party's motion goes nowhere once OAH has already ruled on that motion.
Key authority cited
- 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq.
- 29 U.S.C. § 701 et seq.
- Civ. Code, § 51 et seq.
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 Matter of:
PARENTS ON BEHALF OF STUDENT, OAH Case No. 2017050461 v. ORDER DENYING LAS LOMITAS
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT’S
LAS LOMITAS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL MOTION FOR A RULING ON ITS
DISTRICT AND SEQUOIA UNION HIGH NOTICE OF JOINDER AS MOOT;
SCHOOL DISTRICT.
ORDER DENYING WITHOUT
PREJUDICE LAS LOMITAS
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT’S
MOTION TO DISMISS
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On May 9, 2017, Student filed a Request for Due Process Hearing (complaint) with the Office of Administrative Hearings, naming Las Lomitas Elementary School District, Sequoia Union High School District, and San Mateo County Special Education Local Plan Area.
On May 16, 2017, Sequoia Union filed a motion to dismiss Student’s complaint in its entirety. Sequoia Union moved to dismiss Student’s claims arising under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act on the basis that they were not ripe, and to dismiss all of Student’s other claims on the basis that OAH does not have jurisdiction over claims arising under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Government Code section 11135, the Unruh Civil Rights Act (Civil Code, § 51, et seq.), and California Civil Code sections 54 and 54.1.
On May 17, 2017, Las Lomitas attempted to file a joint pleading in which it gave notice of its joinder to Sequoia’s motion to dismiss Student’s complaint and moved to dismiss Student’s complaint based upon its contention that the complaint fails to contain any allegations as to Las Lomitas. Las Lomitas attempted to fax its pleadings to OAH, but the fax was never received.
On May 31, 2017, OAH issued an order which, partially granted and partially denied Sequoia Union’s motion to dismiss.1 OAH dismissed all allegations of Student’s complaint alleging violation of Americans with Disability Act (ADA) (Title 42 U.S.C. §§ 1201, et seq.), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) (29 U.S.C. § 701 et seq.), and the Unruh Civil Rights Act (Civ. Code, § 51, et seq.).
On June 1, 2017, Las Lomitas filed a request for ruling on its notice of joinder and on its unfiled motion to dismiss. Las Lomitas stated that it did not discover until June 1, 2017, that OAH had not received its faxed pleading, which the other parties to this action received on May 17, 2017. Las Lomitas attached a copy of the pleading it had attempted to file on May 17, 2017, as an exhibit to its motion for decision. Las Lomitas has not filed a new motion to dismiss. Student filed an opposition to Las Lomitas’s motions for rulings on June 5, 2017.
DISCUSSION AND ORDER
OAH dismissed allegations 3 through 7 of Student’s complaint on May 31, 2017, since they were beyond OAH’s jurisdiction. Las Lomitas’s request for joinder in Sequoia’s motion to dismiss Student’s ADA, Section 504, and Unruh Act claims is therefore moot, and is denied on that ground.
Las Lomitas’s request for a ruling on its motion to dismiss is denied without prejudice. Las Lomitas states that it realized that its fax to OAH on May 17, 2017, did not go through. Rather than re-filing its motion, Las Lomitas has attached it as an exhibit to its motion for ruling. Once Las Lomitas realized that it had not properly filed its original motion, it should have re-filed it. Since its motion to dismiss has never been properly filed with OAH, Las Lomitas’s motion for ruling is denied without prejudice to Las Lomitas properly filing the motion with OAH and serving it on the remaining parties to this case.
ORDER
1. Las Lomitas’s motion for a ruling on its notice of joinder is denied as moot.
1 OAH’s order also dismissed San Mateo County, which had separately filed a motion to dismiss on May 15, 2017.
2. Las Lomitas’s motion for a ruling on its motion to dismiss is denied without
prejudice to Las Lomitas properly filing and serving the motion.
DATE: June 12, 2017
DARRELL LEPKOWSKY
Administrative Law Judge Office of Administrative Hearings