Robert K. ex rel. T.K. v. Cobb County Sch. Dist., No. 07-14137 (11th Cir. May 28, 2008)
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (AL, FL, GA) has affirmed a U.S. district court order denying a request for attorney’s fees under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA). T.K. is an autistic, special education student in Georgia’s Cobb County School District (CCSD), and his parents reached an amended settlement agreement with CCSD in March 2004 requiring CCSD to provide for a functional behavior analysis of T.K. at a behavioral clinic. When CCSD sought to return T.K. to a local high school in December 2004, T.K.’s parents requested an IDEA due process hearing. They alleged that (1) the proposed removal would breach the settlement claim because T.K.’s functional behavior analysis was incomplete; and (2) T.K. should remain at the behavioral clinic throughout the hearing under IDEA’s “stay-put” provision. An administrative law judge found for T.K. and his parents, who then filed an action for attorney’s fees under the IDEA. In this action the district court granted summary judgment in favor of CCSD.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed. The appeals court concluded that while a prevailing party in an IDEA administrative action may recover attorney’s fees, T.K. and his parents did not qualify as a “prevailing party,” because neither of their two claims was brought “under” the IDEA. First, the breach of settlement claim did not require “any adjudication of … rights under the IDEA or any consideration of the text of the IDEA.” Second, the claim under the “stay-put” provision of the IDEA is not merits-based, and therefore cannot support an award of attorney’s fees.
Robert K. ex rel. T.K. v. Cobb County Sch. Dist., No. 07-14137 (11th Cir. May 28, 2008)