It’s a real dilemma for the Dawg when a court case pits a school district against one of his canine friends. The Dawg loves school districts. But how can the Dawg go against his fellow dawg? Especially when that dawg’s name is Wonder. Thus the Dawg was conflicted while reading about the case of Wonder the service dawg and the school district in Michigan.
The parents of a little girl in Michigan wanted to have Wonder at school with her, to serve as her service animal. The little girl had significant disabilities, and Wonder was trained to assist her. But the school district was already providing a human being as an aide for the little girl, and thus deemed Wonder unnecessary. The school turned down the request.
The parents filed suit, even though they had moved their little girl to another district which welcomed Wonder. They sued the original district, alleging that its refusal to allow Wonder to help out was illegal. They sought money damages, among other things, for the violation of their daughter’s rights. Since the suit was based on Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) the lawyers evidently thought that they did not have to go through the special education due process hearing system. They went right to court, without requesting a special education due process hearing.
That turned out to be a mistake. The school district filed a Motion to Dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the parents were required to “exhaust administrative remedies.” That’s legalese for “you have to get a special ed due process hearing first. You can’t go to court until you do that.”
The 6th Circuit agreed with the school district, and tossed the case out of court.
This case sheds no light on the issue of when a school is obligated to permit a service animal to accompany a student to school. The decision is purely procedural, and thus will be of more interest to the lawyers than the educators.
Nevetheless, the Dawg finds this very satisfying. The court did not have anything bad to say about the school or Wonder. It did not say that the school violated the law. Nor did it say that Wonder was anything other than wonder-ful. It just said that the parents failed to jump through one of the procedural hoops you have to jump through.
Got a service animal question? Call your lawyer. The case is Fry v. Napoleon Community Schools, decided by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals on June 12, 2015.
DAWG BONE: EVEN WHEN YOU SUE UNDER 504, YOU MIGHT NEED TO ASK FOR A SPECIAL ED HEARING FIRST.