United States Sixth Circuit

In a suit brought by the parents of a minor disabled child against a private school and others for expelling their son, district court's decision following an administrator's final decision dismissing the school as an improper party to the action is affirmed where: 1) the school has failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA); 2) the State Level Appeals Officer correctly concluded that the school's improper service claim was moot because all substantive claims against it were dismissed; 3) district court was correct in concluding that it was not authorized to award attorney's fees under either section 1988 or the Rehabilitation Act; and 4) district court was correct in concluding that even though it has inherent authority to award attorney's fees in exceptional cases before it, the inherent authority of a court to award attorney fees applies only to those matters originally heard by that court.

Appellate Information

• Argued 06/16/2010
• Decided 07/16/2010
• Published 07/16/2010

Judges

• SILER, J.

Court

• United States Sixth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• S. Adele Shank, Kathi J. Machle