Jones v. Illinois Department of Rehabilitation Services

504 F. Supp. 1244, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10318
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedJanuary 12, 1981
Docket79 C 5396
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 504 F. Supp. 1244 (Jones v. Illinois Department of Rehabilitation Services) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jones v. Illinois Department of Rehabilitation Services, 504 F. Supp. 1244, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10318 (N.D. Ill. 1981).

Opinion

*1246 MEMORANDUM OPINION

FLAUM, District Judge:

This matter comes before the court on cross-motions for summary judgment. For the reasons set forth below, each motion is granted in part and denied in part.

The parties have stipulated to the facts. Plaintiff is a deaf person and therefore is a handicapped individual within the meaning of section 7(7) 1 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. §§ 701-794 (1976), as amended by Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1974, Pub.L.No. 93-516, 88 Stat. 1617 (codified in scattered sections of 29 U.S.C. (1976)), Rehabilitation Act Extension of 1976, Pub.L.No. 94-230, 90 Stat. 211 (codified in scattered sections of 29 U.S.C. (1976)), Rehabilitation, Comprehensive Services, and Developmental Disabilities Amendments of 1978, Pub.L.No. 95-602, 92 Stat. 2955 (codified in scattered sections of 29 U.S.C. (Supp.1980)) (the “Act”), and is a qualified handicapped person within the meaning of 45 C.F.R. § 84.3(k) (1979): 2 Defendant Illinois Department of Rehabilitation Services (“IDRS”) is the agency of the state of Illinois which administers that state’s vocational rehabilitation program and receives financial assistance from the Rehabilitation Services Administration 3 in order to carry out the state vocational rehabilitation program. Defendant James S. Jeffers (“Jeffers”) is the Director of IDRS and as such is responsible for the direction and administration of IDRS. Defendant Illinois Institute of Technology (“IIT”) is a not for profit corporation under the laws of the state of Illinois and is a postsecondary educational institution. IIT is a recipient of federal financial assistance and has agreed to comply with section 504 of the Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794, 4 and its implementing regulation, 45 C.F.R. §§ 84.41-84.47, as a condition of receiving such financial assistance. Defendant Dr. Thomas L. Martin, Jr. (“Martin”), is the President of IIT and as such is responsible for the administration of IIT.

Plaintiff, who is a student at IIT majoring in mechanical engineering, must have the services of a qualified interpreter in order to effectively participate in and benefit from his classes and to complete his academic program at IIT. IDRS has determined that plaintiff is eligible 5 for voca *1247 tional rehabilitation services, 6 as those terms are used in 45 C.F.R. § 1361.1.

On August 10,1979 Jeffers advised IIT in writing that IDRS could not legally assume the cost of interpreter services for plaintiff’s classes at IIT which were to begin in the Fall of 1979. On August 27,1979 plaintiff began his mechanical engineering classes at IIT and IIT provided a qualified sign language interpreter for plaintiff. On October 4, 1979 IIT wrote Jeffers stating that IIT would not continue to provide interpreter services to plaintiff. IDRS provided interpreter services to plaintiff from October 8,1979 until October 26,1979 when Jeffers finally determined that IDRS would make no further payments for interpreter services for plaintiff. On October 29, 1979 IIT resumed providing interpreter services for plaintiff and continued to do so until the end of his first semester on December 18, 1979. On December 11, 1979 IIT informed plaintiff that IIT would not provide interpreter services for plaintiff’s second semester classes. Subsequently, IDRS and IIT agreed to share the cost of interpreter services for plaintiff pending determination of the cross-motions for summary judgment.

Plaintiff contends that the failure of IDRS and Jeffers to provide plaintiff with interpreter services violates section 103(a)(6) of the Act, 29 U.S.C. § 723(a)(6), 7 and the regulation promulgated thereunder, 45 C.F.R. § 1361.1(ee); 8 section 504 of the Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794, 9 and the regulations promulgated thereunder, 45 C.F.R. §§ 84.4 10 and 84.52; 11 and the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution. 12 Plaintiff contends that the failure of IIT and Martin to provide plaintiff with interpreter services violates section 504 of the Act 13 and the regulation promulgated thereunder, 45 C.F.R. § 84.44(d). 14 IIT and Martin contend *1248 that the primary obligation for provision of interpreter services to plaintiff is imposed upon IDRS, relying upon the Analysis of the Final Regulations, 45 C.F.R. pt. 84, app. A, ¶ 31. 15 With respect to the claim under section 103(a) of the Act, IDRS and Jeffers contend that there is no private right of action under title I of the Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 720-751, that plaintiff failed to exhaust his administrative remedies, that the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction, and that claims for monetary relief against IDRS and Jeffers are barred by the eleventh amendment to the United States Constitution. 16 With respect to the claims under section 504 of the Act, IDRS and Jeffers contend that sections 101(a)(8), 101(a)(12), and 103(a)(3) of the Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 721(a)(8), 721(a)(12) 17 and 723(a)(3), 18 prohibit IDRS from providing interpreter services to plaintiff, that IIT and Martin do not have standing, and that claims for monetary relief against IDRS and Jeffers are barred by the eleventh amendment.

The court will first address plaintiff’s claim under title I of the Act.

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Bluebook (online)
504 F. Supp. 1244, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10318, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jones-v-illinois-department-of-rehabilitation-services-ilnd-1981.