Legal Rights of Children with Epilepsy in School & Child Care

Dispute Resolution and Legal Remedies
Urban v. Jefferson County School District R-1, 89 F.3d 720 (10 th Cir. 1996)
The purpose of the exhaustion rule is to permit agencies to exercise discretion and apply
their expertise, to develop the record before judicial review, to prevent parties from
avoiding the process established by Congress and to give the agency an opportunity to
correct errors and, therefore, avoid unnecessary judicial decisions. Exhaustion is excused
when administrative remedies would be futile, when they would fail to provide relief or
when an agency has adopted a policy or practice of general applicability that is contrary
to the law.
M.T.V. v. DeKalb County Sch. Dist., Case. No. 05-15258 (11 th Cir. 2006)
Failure to exhaust administrative remedies defeats a claim of retaliation, which could
have been raised under the IDEA.
Association for Retard Citizens of Alabama, Inc. v. Teague, 830 F.2d 158 (11 th Cir. 1987)
Class action nature of lawsuit does not excuse exhaustion of administrative remedies.
Cox v. Jenkins, 878 F.2d 414, 419 (D.C. Cir. 1989)
Plaintiffs must first exhaust the state administrative remedies provided under the statute
before bringing an action in federal court, unless exhaustion would be futile or
inadequate.
Expert Fees:
Arlington Central School District Board of Education v. Murphy, 548 U.S. ___(2006)
The IDEA does not permit parents who prevail in a case to recover the costs of their
experts.
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