Sellers v. University of Rio Grande

838 F. Supp. 2d 677, 2012 WL 163806, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6334
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedJanuary 19, 2012
DocketCase No. 2:12-cv-0005
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 838 F. Supp. 2d 677 (Sellers v. University of Rio Grande) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sellers v. University of Rio Grande, 838 F. Supp. 2d 677, 2012 WL 163806, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6334 (S.D. Ohio 2012).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

TERENCE P. KEMP, United States Magistrate Judge.

On January 4, 2012, Plaintiff Dushawn Sellers filed this action against the university she currently attends, Rio Grande University, claiming a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In particular, she asserted that her dismissal, or impending dismissal, from the University’s nursing program resulted from the University’s failure to provide her with proper accommodations for her disabilities.

Two days later, The Honorable Edmund A. Sargus, Jr., the District Judge assigned to this case, issued a temporary restraining order under which Ms. Sellers could enroll in nursing courses for the current semester, although the University could choose not to allow her to participate in any direct patient care when on clinical rotation. That TRO expired by its terms on January 17, 2012, the day on which a further TRO hearing was scheduled. The parties consented to the Magistrate Judge’s conducting that hearing and making a final ruling on the question of whether the TRO should be extended.

The hearing was held as scheduled. Seven witnesses testified, and both parties introduced exhibits. At the end of the hearing, and after counsel argued the issue, the Court extended the TRO to the close of business on Friday, January 20, 2012, to give the Court time to decide whether any further extension might be justified. For the following reasons, the Court extends the TRO to January 31, 2012.

[680]*680I.

The legal test for issuing a temporary restraining order is well-known. The decision-making process involves balancing four factors-whether the plaintiff will suffer irreparable injury if relief is not granted, whether the plaintiff has shown a strong or substantial likelihood of success on the merits, and how the grant or denial of relief would affect both public and private interests. See, e.g., Workman v. Bredesen, 486 F.3d 896, 905 (6th Cir.2007) (describing the factors as “(1) whether the claimant has demonstrated a strong likelihood of success on the merits, (2) whether the claimant will suffer irreparable injury in the absence of a stay, (3) whether granting the stay will cause substantial harm to others, and (4) whether the public interest is best served by granting the stay”).

“No single factor will be determinative as to the appropriateness of equitable relief----” Six Clinics Holding Corp., II v. Cafcomp Systems, Inc., 119 F.3d 393, 400 (6th Cir.1997), citing In re DeLorean Motor Co., 755 F.2d 1223, 1229 (6th Cir. 1985). Rather, these factors are to be balanced, and “[a] finding that the movant has not established a strong probability of success on the merits will not preclude a court from exercising its discretion to issue a preliminary injunction if the movant has, at a minimum, *show[n] serious questions going to the merits and irreparable harm which decidedly outweighs any potential harm to the defendant if the injunction is issued.’ ” Gaston Drugs, Inc. v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 823 F.2d 984, 988 n. 2 (6th Cir.1987) (quoting Friendship Materials, Inc. v. Michigan Brick, Inc., 679 F.2d 100, 105 (6th Cir.1982)); see also Frisch’s Restaurants v. Elby’s Big Boy, 670 F.2d 642, 651 (6th Cir.1982). Nevertheless, “irreparable injury is generally required to warrant injunctive relief,” Kendall Holdings, Ltd. v. Eden Cryogenics LLC, 630 F.Supp.2d 853, 866 (S.D.Ohio 2008), so that if the injury which the plaintiff seeks to prevent is compensable by a monetary damages award, there is usually no basis upon which to grant any type of injunction, no matter how strong a showing of likelihood of success on the merits is made.

II.

There was a good deal of testimony given at the hearing. The Court summarizes the testimony here, and will comment afterward on some of the credibility issues which surfaced. It is important to note that, at this stage of the case, the Court does not necessarily have to resolve the conflicts, but rather must factor into its analysis the possibility that the ultimate trier of fact could choose to credit at least two different versions of the facts.

Ms. Sellers’ version of the facts, supported primarily by her own testimony, is as follows. As background to the current dispute, Ms. Sellers testified that she has been employed by the Veterans’ Administration as a licensed practical nurse. However, the VA decided to phase out its LPN positions and to employ only registered nurses at the facility where Ms. Sellers worked. In order to keep her job, she decided to enroll in an RN program. No slots were available in any of the programs near her home and workplace in Cincinnati. Therefore, she enrolled in the RN program at Rio Grande University. She signed a contract with the VA which enabled her to obtain scholarship assistance, but also obligated her to pay back some sum of money if she did not successfully complete her program of study. The contract (Exhibit PI) appears also to require that Ms. Sellers complete her studies within three years. She signed the contract on October 21, 2010, and the VA signed it on December 8, 2010.

Ms. Sellers was originally an on-line student. She suffers from certain medical [681]*681and psychological conditions, which she described as epilepsy, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, and depression. After successfully completing a number of courses, including some where she got in-person assistance from the instructor, she determined that she would be more likely to complete the degree program if she were an on-campus student. She successfully petitioned the University for permission to switch to being an on-campus student and began classes on campus in the summer of 2011. Rio Grande University is located more than 100 miles from Cincinnati, so she rented an apartment near campus, leaving her two minor sons in Cincinnati with their father.

Prior to the Fall, 2011 semester, Ms. Sellers had obtained help from professors informally, but had never declared her disabilities to the university in an official way. One of her courses in the Fall semester was Nursing V, team-taught by Professors Seagraves and McDonald. Professor Sea-graves taught the first portion of the course, which included units on cardiology, neurology, and the respiratory system. Ms. Sellers immediately began to have difficulty with this course, and, according to her testimony, went to Professor Sea-graves for assistance. Professor Sea-graves told her that she could not offer her any help or accommodations unless she obtained a certification of her need for such services from the University’s accessibility office. Ms. Sellers obtained copies of her medical records and, on September 8, 2011, the accessibility office issued her an Individual Accommodation Plan, or IAP. A copy of that plan was introduced as Exhibit P3. It entitled her to the following accommodation in each of her courses, including Nursing V: tutoring, drinks in the classroom, use of a tape recorder, extended test time (150%), least distractive environment, and an accommodation phrased as “may benefit from a note taker.”

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838 F. Supp. 2d 677, 2012 WL 163806, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6334, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sellers-v-university-of-rio-grande-ohsd-2012.