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WHITALL v. CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION (2021)

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.2021-07-26No. No. 20-16415

Summary

Holding. The appellate court reversed the district court's dismissal and remanded the case for further proceedings on Whitall's disability accommodation and deliberate indifference claims.

Raymond Whitall, a California state prisoner, sued the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and individual officials under federal disability and civil rights laws, claiming they failed to provide him with a functional hearing aid despite his repeated requests and their knowledge of his need for accommodation. The district court dismissed his claims for failure to state a cause of action. The appellate court disagreed, finding that Whitall had alleged sufficient facts to proceed. Specifically, he claimed the defendants knew about his hearing aid needs but failed to provide working devices or batteries on multiple occasions, and that officers ignored his requests while he was held in administrative segregation, leaving him unable to communicate. These allegations, when read generously, were adequate to require the defendants to file a response rather than dismiss the case outright.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Whether failure to provide timely hearing aid accommodation states an ADA/RA claim
  • Whether ignoring repeated requests for hearing aid batteries states a deliberate indifference claim
  • Standards for pleading intentional discrimination and notice of accommodation needs
  • Sufficiency of allegations at the motion-to-dismiss stage

Procedural posture

A prisoner appealed the district court's dismissal of his civil rights and disability discrimination action.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

California state prisoner Raymond Richard Whitall appeals from the district courts judgment dismissing his action alleging claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and the Rehabilitation Act (“RA”). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo a dismissal under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. Wilhelm v. Rotman, 680 F.3d 1113, 1118 (9th Cir. 2012). We reverse and remand.

The district court dismissed Whitalls ADA and RA claims against defendant California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (“CDCR”) for failure to state a claim. However, Whitall alleged that the CDCR knew of Whitalls need for a functional hearing aid, and on three separate occasions failed to provide a functional hearing aid in a timely manner despite multiple requests for replacement devices and batteries. See Duvall v. County of Kitsap, 260 F.3d 1124, 1135, 1138-39 (9th Cir. 2001) (setting forth elements of an ADA and RA failure-to-accommodate claim; to recover monetary damages under the ADA and RA, a plaintiff must show intentional discrimination; intentional discrimination can be demonstrated if defendant had notice of the need for accommodation and failed to take necessary action despite repeated requests). The district court also dismissed Whitalls deliberate indifference claims against the individual defendants for failure to state a claim. However, Whitall alleged that these defendants ignored repeated requests to provide him with replacement batteries for his hearing aid, resulting in him being unable to function while in administrative segregation. See Wilhelm, 680 F.3d at 1123 (unnecessary delay in implementing prescribed treatment sufficient to plead deliberate indifference). The allegations against the CDCR and the individual defendants, liberally construed, are “sufficient to warrant ordering [the defendants] to file an answer” as to these claims. Id. at 1116. We reverse the judgment, and remand for further proceedings on these claims only.

REVERSED and REMANDED.