Doug C. v. Department of Education, 720 F.3d 1038 (9th Cir. 2013)
Jun 13, 2013OUTCOME: The Ninth Circuit reversed in favor of the parents and child.
Represented a parent and his autistic child who challenged a federal court’s finding that the Department did not deny the child a FAPE and thus did not violate the Individuals with Disabilities Educati ... on Act (IDEA) by holding an annual IEP meeting without the parent. The court reversed the lower court's judgment because the Department violated the IDEA's explicit parental participation requirements and denied the student a FAPE by holding a student's annual IEP meeting without the parent even though the parent actively sought to reschedule the meeting in order to participate. Over one dozen federal courts have cited and relied upon this decision as support for their decisions in later cases.
