Fortes-Cortes v. Garcia-Padilla

128 F. Supp. 3d 458, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97118, 2015 WL 4487694
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedJuly 23, 2015
DocketCivil No. 14-1892(BJM)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 128 F. Supp. 3d 458 (Fortes-Cortes v. Garcia-Padilla) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fortes-Cortes v. Garcia-Padilla, 128 F. Supp. 3d 458, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97118, 2015 WL 4487694 (prd 2015).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

BRUCE J. McGIVERIN, United States Magistrate Judge.

Nilda Fortes-Cortes (“Fortes”), personally and on behalf of her daughter, DRF (“plaintiffs”), sued Alejandro Garcia-Padilla (“Garcia”) in his official capacity as Governor of Puerto Rico, Rafael Roman Melendez (“Roman”) in his official capacity as Secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Education (“DOE”), and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (the “state”) (“defendants”). Plaintiffs alleged that defendants have failed to provide DRF with a free appropriate public education (“FAPE”) as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”), 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq., and seek preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, attorney’s fees, and costs. Docket No. 1 (“Compl.”) ¶¶ 1-2. Before the court is defendants’ motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim and lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Docket No. 20 (“Mot.”). Plaintiffs opposed. Docket No. 21 (“Opp.”). The case is before me by consent of the parties. Docket No. 40. For the following reasons, defendants’ motion is denied.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (“Rule”) 12(b)(1), a defendant may move to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Courts are obligated to address questions of subject matter jurisdiction before the merits of a case. “[T]he party invoking the jurisdiction of a federal court carries the burden of proving its existence.” Johansen v. United States, 506 F.3d 65, 68 (1st Cir.2007) (citing Murphy v. United States, 45 F.3d 520, 522 (1st Cir.1995)). Where the movant challenges the plaintiffs assertion of subject matter jurisdiction solely on the pleadings, the court takes the complaint’s jurisdictionally significant facts as true and assesses “whether the plaintiff has propounded an adequate basis for subject matter-jurisdiction.” Valentin v. Hosp. Bella Vista, 254 F.3d 358, 362 (1st Cir.2001).

Similarly, when faced with a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6), the court “accept[s] as true all well-pleaded facts alleged in the complaint and draw[s] all reasonable inferences therefrom in the pleader’s favor” to determine whether the complaint states a claim for which relief can be granted. Santiago v. Puerto Rico, 655 F.3d 61, 72 (1st Cir.2011). These facts and inferences may be augmented “with data points gleaned from documents incorporated by reference into the complaint, matters of [462]*462public record, and facts susceptible to judicial notice.” Haley v. City of Boston, 657 F.3d 39, 46 (1st Cir.2011).

Dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) is inappropriate if the complaint provides “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Ocasio-Hernandez v. Fortuno-Burset, 640 F.3d 1, 11 (1st Cir.2011) (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2)). “A short and plain statement needs only enough detail to provide a defendant with ‘fair notice of what the ... claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.’ ” Id. at 12 (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). This requires that the complaint contain sufficient facts “to raise a right to relief above the speculative level on the assumption that all the allegations in the complaint are true.” Id. “Where a complaint pleads facts that are ‘merely consistent with’ a defendant’s liability, it ‘stops short of the line between possibility and plausibility of entitlement to relief.’ ” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 677, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557, 127 S.Ct. 1955).

In making this determination, courts employ a two-pronged approach, first identifying and disregarding statements in the complaint that offer “legal conclusion^] couched as ... fact[ ]” or “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of action.” Ocasio-Hernandez, 640 F.3d at 12 (quoting Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937) (alteration in original). All non-conclusory factual allegations are treated as true, “even if seemingly incredible.” Id. at 12 (citing Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 680-81, 129 S.Ct. 1937). If the complaint’s properly pleaded factual content, read as a whole, “ ‘allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged’, the claim has facial plausibility.” Id. (quoting Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937).

BACKGROUND

DRF is registered with the DOE as a student with disabilities. Compl. ¶ 10. She suffers from mental retardation, Down Syndrome, chronic hidradenitis, and other ailments affecting her educational needs. Id. ¶¶ 8, 56. She resides with Fortes, her mother and legal guardian. Id. ¶¶ 7, 9.

In 2005, Fortes filed an administrative complaint against the DOE, requesting transportation reimbursement for driving DRF to school. Id. ¶¶ 22-23. In 2007, the complaint was resolved by stipulation; the DOE agreed to reimburse Fortes for transportation costs incurred driving DRF to school at $20.00 per roundtrip. Id. ¶ 24. A few months later, Fortes filed another administrative complaint, complaining that the DOE had not provided a FAPE to DRF and requesting that the DOE also reimburse transportation costs for driving DRF to therapy sessions. Id. ¶¶ 26-28. In September, after a hearing, an administrative law judge (“ALJ”) ordered that Fortes be reimbursed at rates certified by the Puerto Rico Public Service Commission (“PSC”), that the DOE purchase placement for DRF at Colegio de Rehabili-tación Integral (“CODERI”), and that DRF had the right to an individualized learning system in a classroom of ten students or fewer. Id. ¶¶ 29-32.

On May 4, 2011, an Individualized Educational Plan (“IEP”) Team Meeting was held. Id. ¶45. An IEP is a document that sets out the needs of and services required for a special education student for the school year. Id. ¶46. The IEP developed at the meeting provided that DRF would be enrolled at CODERI for the following year. Id. ¶ 49. Upon arriving at CODERI, plaintiffs were informed that DRF was no longer part of CODERI due to complaints Fortes had made the previous year. Id. ¶¶ 52-54. The DOE informed Fortes that it would find another [463]*463placement for DRF. Id. ¶¶ 60-61. After several months visiting different schools, only the Efraín Sánchez Hidalgo School (“ESH”) had a classroom size of ten or fewer, but it lacked electricity or an air conditioner, which DRF required due to her chronic hidradenitis. Id. ¶¶ 74-77. Fortes filed another administrative complaint requesting that the DOE provide a FAPE for DRF and reimburse transportation costs in accordance with the 2007 settlement agreement. Id.

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128 F. Supp. 3d 458, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97118, 2015 WL 4487694, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fortes-cortes-v-garcia-padilla-prd-2015.