Pollack, et al v. Regional School Unit 75, et al

Filing

OPINION issued by Juan R. Torruella, Appellate Judge; Rogeriee Thompson, Appellate Judge and William J. Kayatta , Jr., Appellate Judge. Per Curiam. Unpublished. [16-1414]

Case: 16-1414

Document: 00117062973

Page: 1

Date Filed: 10/04/2016

Entry ID: 6037486

Not For Publication in West's Federal Reporter

United States Court of Appeals
For the First Circuit
No. 16-1414
MATTHEW POLLACK, individually and as next friend of B.P.;
JANE QUIRION, individually and as next friend of B.P.,
Plaintiffs, Appellants,
v.
REGIONAL SCHOOL UNIT 75,
Defendant, Appellee,
KELLY ALLEN; TANJI JOHNSTON; PATRICK MOORE; BRADLEY V. SMITH,
Defendants.

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MAINE
[Hon. Nancy Torresen, U.S. District Judge]

Before
Torruella, Thompson, and Kayatta,
Circuit Judges.

Richard L. O'Meara, Rachel W. Sears and Murray, Plumb &
Murray, on brief for appellants.
Nathaniel A. Bessey, Daniel A. Nuzzi and Brann & Isaacson, on
brief for appellee.

October 4, 2016

Case: 16-1414

Document: 00117062973

Per Curiam.

Page: 2

Date Filed: 10/04/2016

Entry ID: 6037486

Plaintiffs-Appellants Matthew Pollack and

Jane Quirion (the "Parents") are the parents of B.P., a seventeenyear-old student at Regional School Unit 75 (the "District") who
is diagnosed with autism, cognitive impairment, and a variant of
Landau-Kleffner Syndrome, which affects his ability to understand
and express language.

B.P. is nonverbal and therefore cannot

communicate with his parents about his school day the way a student
without his disabilities can.

His education is guided by an

Individualized Education Plan ("IEP") pursuant to the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1400-50, et seq.
("IDEA").
In

2012,

after

an

incident

in

which

B.P.

was

uncharacteristically upset when picked up from school, the Parents
began requesting that the District allow him to wear an audio
recording device to school.

The District denied these requests,

citing the District's policy against the use of electronic devices
and

concerns

environment.

about

the

potential

effect

on

the

education

These requests for the use of a recording device are

at the heart of this appeal.
On September 11, 2012, the Parents filed a due process
complaint with the Maine Department of Education.
§ 1415(f).

See 20 U.S.C.

The complaint alleged that, by refusing to allow B.P.

to wear a recording device, the District had failed to make a

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reasonable accommodation under Title II of the Americans with
Disabilities

Act,

42

U.S.C.

§§

12131-34

("ADA")

and

thereby

impaired the Parents' ability to obtain information about B.P.'s
school day and his education.

A Special Education Due Process

Hearing was held over the course of three days and on December 29,
2012, the hearing officer denied the request that B.P. be permitted
to wear a recording device.
viewed

the

claim

as

The hearing officer appears to have

limited

to

whether

the

Parents

were

sufficiently informed so that they could meaningfully participate
in

B.P.'s

development

and

education,

and

noted

that

B.P.'s

educational plan, as embodied in his IEP, was not challenged.
The Parents then filed suit in the district court on
March 27, 2013.

In addition to claims not relevant to this appeal,

they asserted claims for review of the hearing officer's decision
and for violations of the ADA, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794 ("Section 504"), and the First Amendment, all
in relation to the District's refusal to allow B.P. to wear the
recording device.

On January 27, 2016, the district court granted

summary judgment for the District on the ADA, Section 504, and
First

Amendment

claims

relating

to

the

recording

device

prohibition, on the grounds that the Parents had failed to exhaust
the IDEA administrative process as required by 20 U.S.C. § 1415(l).
Viewing the Special Education Due Process Hearing as limited only

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to claims involving the Parents' rights to participate in B.P.'s
education, the district court held that the Parents had failed to
exhaust the IDEA process as to B.P.'s own substantive rights.
Because the ADA, Section 504, and First Amendment claims alleged
violations of rights personal to B.P., the district court held
that

the

earlier

Special

Education

Due

Process

insufficient to exhaust under 20 U.S.C. § 1415(l).

Hearing

was

The Parents

appealed, challenging the ruling as error.
On September 12, 2016, the District filed a Rule 28(j)
letter notifying this court of developments that occurred during
the pendency of this appeal.

Shortly before the district court's

January 27, 2016 order, the Parents filed a new due process
complaint with the Maine Department of Education, contending that
the District's refusal to allow the recording device deprived B.P.
of a free appropriate public education as required by the IDEA.
Another Special Education Due Process Hearing occurred and, on
June 2, 2016, that claim was denied by a hearing officer.
This

court

ordered

the

parties

decision's effect on the pending appeal.

to

comment

on

that

In their responses, both

parties agreed that the Parents have satisfied the exhaustion
requirement as articulated by the district court, and that the
question whether the second due process hearing was necessary is
now moot.

This court agrees, and this appeal is therefore moot.

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However, this does not render the entire case moot -the Parents still seek a determination on the merits of the ADA,
Section 504, and First Amendment claims.

The District urges us

to dismiss the appeal and leave the judgment below intact.

The

Parents, on the other hand, argue that we should dismiss the
appeal, vacate the summary judgment order, and remand to the
district court for consideration on the merits.
When an appeal becomes moot, the decision of whether to
vacate a trial court order "rests in the equitable discretion of
this court."

Kerkhof v. MCI Worldcom, Inc., 282 F.3d 44, 53 (1st

Cir. 2002) (citing U.S. Bancorp Mortg. Co. v. Bonner Mall P'ship,
513 U.S. 18, 25 (1994)).
appellant

deliberately

"A primary concern is whether the

mooted

the

appeal,"

settlement or withdrawal of the appeal.

such

Id. at 53-54.

as

through

When faced

with a situation nearly identical to the one before us, the Sixth
Circuit granted vacatur and remanded for consideration of the
merits.

See S.S. v. E. Ky. Univ., 125 F. App'x 644, 645-46 (6th

Cir. 2005) (unpublished decision) (vacating and remanding for
consideration

of

the

merits

where

plaintiff

satisfied

IDEA

exhaustion during pendency of appeal).
We believe that approach is the most equitable.

Unlike

instances in which an appellant settles an entire case and "thereby
surrender[s] his claim to the equitable remedy of vacatur," U.S.

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Bancorp Mortg. Co., 513 U.S. at 25, the Parents merely took the
actions necessary to clear the procedural hurdle of exhaustion in
accordance with the district court's order.

The Parents have

already undergone lengthy litigation in both administrative and
federal forums to achieve resolution of their claims; the only bar
remaining to a determination of the merits of these claims was
this

issue

of

exhaustion.

Now

that

they

have

undoubtedly

exhausted the process required by the IDEA, it would be inequitable
to leave the summary judgment order standing and have these claims
dismissed without ever reaching their merits.
Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal as moot, vacate the
portion of the district court's order granting summary judgment
for the District on the ADA, Section 504, and First Amendment
claims relating to B.P.'s right to wear a recording device at
school, and remand for determination of the merits of those claims.
Each side to bear its own costs.
Vacated and Remanded.

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