Hall v. Minnesota Board of Physical Therapy

CourtDistrict Court, D. Minnesota
DecidedDecember 27, 2023
Docket0:23-cv-00665
StatusUnknown

This text of Hall v. Minnesota Board of Physical Therapy (Hall v. Minnesota Board of Physical Therapy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hall v. Minnesota Board of Physical Therapy, (mnd 2023).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA

Tatum E. Hall, Case No. 23-cv-0665 (WMW/LIB)

Plaintiff, ORDER v.

Minnesota Board of Physical Therapy,

Defendant.

This matter is before the Court on Defendant Minnesota Board of Physical Therapy’s motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. (Dkt. 6.) For the reasons addressed below, the Court grants Defendant’s motion and dismisses the action with prejudice. BACKGROUND Plaintiff Tatum Hall (“Hall”), a resident of Lake Park, Minnesota, has a graduate degree in physical therapy from the University of North Dakota. Defendant Minnesota Board of Physical Therapy (the “Board”) is an agency of the State of Minnesota and is responsible for responding to accommodation requests related to the physical therapy licensure examination. Hall had brain surgery in 2009 to treat a tumor. The tumor and the surgery impaired many of Hall’s learning-related skills. As a result, Hall experienced slower language processing, a shortened attention span, increased fatigue and diminished concentration and cognition. Hall received accommodations for exams during her undergraduate studies, but not during her graduate program. After obtaining her master’s degree in physical therapy, Hall took the licensure examination in Wisconsin three times without accommodations and

did not pass. Applicants are limited to six attempts to pass the examination. Hall cannot practice physical therapy until she passes the licensure examination. Hall then decided to take the licensure examination in Minnesota and to request testing accommodations from the Board. Hall consulted her doctor who recommended the following accommodations: hardcopy exam materials, an individual testing room, extended time, an additional day of testing and elimination of unscored experimental

questions. The Board granted some of Hall’s accommodations.1 Hall took the examination twice “partially accommodated” and failed to pass. After the two failed attempts to pass the examination in Minnesota, the Minnesota Disability Law Center sent a letter to the Board on Hall’s behalf requesting that Hall receive every accommodation. The Board approved all of Hall’s requested accommodations and informed Hall that she had three

remaining opportunities to pass the examination.2 Hall has not taken the examination since receiving approval for all of the accommodations.

1 The complaint does not explain which requested accommodations the Board granted, but the Board’s filings suggest that the only accommodation that was not granted was Hall’s request to take the examination over two days. 2 The complaint maintains that the Board did not void any previous attempts, so it is unclear how the parties arrive at this number of remaining attempts. Nevertheless, Hall alleges— and the Board does not dispute in its filings—that the Board is providing Hall three more opportunities to take the examination. Hall submitted two requests to the Board under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. The Board ultimately provided 52 pages of documents in response, but Hall

alleges that the response was incomplete. Hall alleges that the Board discriminated against her on the basis of her disability in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12182 and 12189, and that the Board might continue to discriminate against her because the Board lacks a lawful administrative process for granting accommodation requests. Hall also alleges that she has a property interest in sitting for the examination fully accommodated and that the Board’s

actions constitute a denial of due process under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the due process provisions of the Minnesota Constitution, Art. 1 §§ 2 and 7. Finally, Hall alleges that the Board violated the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, Minn. Stat. § 13.04, by withholding information from her request under that law.

ANALYSIS Hall’s complaint comprises four claims: a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution; a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act; a violation of the due process clauses of the Minnesota Constitution; and a violation of the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. The Board moves to dismiss the complaint,

arguing that the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over each of Hall’s claims. Hall opposes the motion as to each claim. A court must dismiss an action over which it lacks subject-matter jurisdiction. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(h)(3). A defendant may challenge a plaintiff’s complaint for lack of subject- matter jurisdiction either on its face or on the factual truthfulness of its averments. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1); Titus v. Sullivan, 4 F.3d 590, 593 (8th Cir. 1993). In a facial

challenge, as presented here, the nonmoving party “receives the same protections as it would defending against a motion brought under Rule 12(b)(6).” Osborn v. United States, 918 F.2d 724, 729 n.6 (8th Cir. 1990). Under Rule 12(b)(6), a complaint must allege sufficient facts that, when accepted as true, state a facially plausible claim to relief. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). When determining whether the complaint states such a claim, a district court accepts as true all factual allegations in the complaint

and draws all reasonable inferences in the plaintiff’s favor. Blankenship v. USA Truck, Inc., 601 F.3d 852, 853 (8th Cir. 2010). Sovereign immunity is a threshold jurisdictional matter, properly addressed at any time. Lors v. Dean, 746 F.3d 857, 861 (8th Cir. 2014). A. Section 1983 Claims Under the Fourteenth Amendment

Hall’s first claim is that the Board violated her rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and she brings this claim through Section 1983. The Board argues that Minnesota has not waived its sovereign immunity to suit under Section 1983 and, therefore, this Court lacks jurisdiction over the case. In response, Hall contends that she has a protected interest in taking the examination with full

accommodations because the examination is the conclusion of her course of study. The Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that “[t]he Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against any one of the United States by Citizens of another State . . . .” U.S. Const. amend. XI. The Eleventh Amendment establishes a general prohibition against lawsuits in federal court by citizens of a state against their state or an

officer or agency of that state. 281 Care Comm. v. Arneson, 638 F.3d 621, 632 (8th Cir. 2011). Such immunity extends to state-established boards. See Ashby v. Minn. Bd. on Judicial Standards, No. 08-4691, 2008 WL 5236023, at *3 (D. Minn. Dec. 15, 2008) (concluding that complaint against Minnesota Board on Judicial Standards must be dismissed on immunity grounds). But Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity is not absolute. Doe v.

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Hall v. Minnesota Board of Physical Therapy, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hall-v-minnesota-board-of-physical-therapy-mnd-2023.