On October 15, 2012, an administrative law judge (ALJ) ruled against the District, holding that it had responded in a deliberately indifferent manner to the Student’s complaint. On December 9, 2013, King County Superior Court Judge Jim Rogers overturned the ALJ’s decision “for incorrect application of the standard herein.” Judge Rogers also noted, however, that the student had suffered “severe and pervasive” harm, referred to the District’s handling of the complaint (in particular, its insistence that the complaint be submitted on a particular form) as “absurd,” and wrote that “Our school districts need to simplify their procedures for parents and students and respond more quickly. Cases like this should be resolved rapidly without several years of litigation, in the best interests of the students involved.”
On April 13, 2015, Division One of the Court of Appeals overturned Judge Rogers’s decision. The Court examined both the question as to whether “deliberate indifference” was the correct legal standard to apply in administrative cases, and found that it was not. According to the appellate court, the lower courts should have applied the less-stringent standard articulated by the Office of Civil Rights (“OCR Standard”). Nevertheless, the Court examined the facts under the “deliberate indifference” standard and affirmed Judge Mentzer’s original decision that the higher standard had been met.
The rulings that have been issued may be found below in PDF form.