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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK ---------------------------------------------------------x JUSTIN PIOTROWSKI, Plaintiff, MEMORANDUM AND ORDER v. 18-CV-6262 (RPK) (SIL) THE ROCKY POINT UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT; THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE ROCKY POINT UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT; JAMES MOELLER; MICHAEL GABRIEL; SUSANN CROSSAN; SUSAN SULLIVAN; SEAN CALLAHAN; GREG AMENDOLA; ED CASSWELL; JOSEPH CONIGLIONE; ANDREA MOSCATIELLO; KRISTEN WHITE; SUFFOLK COUNTY; and JESSIE MAYER, Defendants. ---------------------------------------------------------x RACHEL P. KOVNER, United States District Judge: Plaintiff Justin Piotrowski, a former student at Rocky Point High School, brings this action principally alleging that the school and its administrators failed to appropriately accommodate his diabetes and that the school unlawfully subjected him to discipline as a result. Plaintiff brings claims against the Rocky Point Union Free School District, the Board of Education of the Rocky Point Union Free School District, and Suffolk County under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. He also asserts claims against individual defendants James Moeller, Michael Gabriel, Susann Crossan, and Probation Officer Jessie Mayer under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and against all these defendants and several other School District and Board employeesâSusan Sullivan, Sean Callahan, Greg Amendola, Ed Casswell, Joseph Coniglione, Andrea Moscatiello, and Kristen Whiteâunder the New York State Human Rights Law (âNYSHRLâ), N.Y. Exec. Law § 296. Defendants have moved for summary judgment. For the reasons stated below, summary judgment is granted to defendants on all of Piotrowskiâs federal causes of action, and I decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Piotrowskiâs NYSHRL claim, which is dismissed without prejudice to refiling in state court. I likewise decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over defendantsâ cross-claims for indemnification and/or contribution. FACTUAL BACKGROUND The following facts are taken from the partiesâ Rule 56.1 Statements and relevant portions of the record and are undisputed unless otherwise noted. I. The District Makes Plans to Accommodate Piotrowskiâs Diabetes. Piotrowski suffers from Type 1 diabetes. Cnty. Defs.â Local Rule 56.1 Statement ¶ 7 (Dkt. #87-1) (âCnty. Defs.â Statementâ); Pl.âs Counterstatement in Oppân to Cnty. Defs.â Local Rule 56.1 Statement ¶ 7 (Dkt. #85-1) (âPl.âs Cnty. Statementâ). In 2013, Rocky Point School District established a plan to accommodate Piotrowskiâs Type 1 diabetes under the Rehabilitation Act. School Defs.â Local Rule 56.1 Statement ¶ 21 (Dkt. #81-1) (âSchool Defs.â Statementâ); Pl.âs Counterstatement in Oppân to School Defs.â Local Rule 56.1 Statement ¶ 20 (Dkt. #82-1) (âPl.âs School Statementâ).1 A Committee of Special Education later established an Individualized Education Program (âIEPâ) for Piotrowski. School Defs.â Statement ¶ 24; Pl.âs School Statement ¶ 23. The IEP went into effect on June 10, 2016, when Piotrowski was in middle school. See ibid. The IEP provided that if Piotrowski was late to class or absent due to a medical reason, he was to be excused. School Defs.â Statement ¶ 25; Pl.âs School Statement ¶ 24; IEP June 10, 2016, School Defs.â Ex. Q, at 8â 1 The first paragraph in plaintiffâs counterstatement in opposition to the School Defendantsâ Local Rule 56.1 statement is not numbered. See Pl.âs School Statement 2. As a result, all other paragraphs in plaintiffâs counterstatement are misnumbered, such that paragraph n in the School Defendantsâ Rule 56.1 statement corresponds to paragraph n â 1 in plaintiffâs counterstatement. 9 (ECF Pagination) (Dkt. #81-19) (â2016 IEPâ). It also provided that Piotrowski could test his blood glucose âat any time [and] within any place in the school,â that he was to have â[a]ccess to . . . [the] nurse at any time,â and that the nurse was to âkeep [a] log of all visits to the Health Officeâ and notify Piotrowskiâs parents if he was âexhibiting medical concerns related to diabetes.â 2016 IEP 8â9. II. Piotrowski Is Placed on Probation. Beginning in November 2015 and continuing through 2017, Piotrowski missed numerous days of school and was often late when he did attend. See, e.g., School Defs.â Statement ¶¶ 23, 28, 38, 55; Pl.âs School Statement ¶¶ 22, 27, 37, 54. The parties dispute why Piotrowski was late and absent: Piotrowski says his attendance issues were due to his diabetes; defendants say they were not. See, e.g., School Defs.â Statement ¶¶ 42, 51, 60; Pl.âs School Statement ¶¶ 45â48, 59. In June 2017, the Committee of Special Education met to make what the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (âIDEAâ), 20 U.S.C. § 1401 et seq., refers to as a âmanifestation determinationââa finding as to whether Piotrowskiâs absences and tardiness were caused by, or had a direct or substantial relationship to, his disability. 20 U.S.C. § 1415(k)(1)(E); see School Defs.â Statement ¶¶ 38â41; Pl.âs School Statement ¶¶ 37â40. The committee determined that Piotrowskiâs absences and tardiness were not a manifestation of his diabetes. See School Defs.â Statement ¶ 42; Pl.âs School Statement ¶ 41. According to Piotrowski, that determination was incorrect and contrary to his motherâs statements that his absences and tardiness were in fact due to his disabilities. See Pl.âs School Statement ¶¶ 45â48. Neither Piotrowski nor his mother administratively appealed the manifestation determination, as the IDEA permitted them to do. See 20 U.S.C. § 1415(k)(3)(A); School Defs.â Statement ¶¶ 50, 53; Pl.âs School Statement ¶¶ 49, 52. Following the manifestation determination, the District filed a petition in New York family courtâsigned by defendant James Moeller, a Rocky Point Assistant Principalâto have Piotrowski declared a Person In Need of Supervision (âPINSâ). School Defs.â Statement ¶ 54; Pl.âs School Statement ¶ 53; June 27, 2016 PINS Petition, Pl.âs Ex. 10, at 3 (Dkt. #82-12) (âPINS Petitionâ); James Moeller Dep. Tr., School Defs.â Ex. I, at 28:6â23 (Dkt. #81-11) (âMoeller Dep.â). The PINS petition alleged that Piotrowski had been truant during the 2016â17 school year in violation of Article 65 of New Yorkâs Education Law. See School Defs.â Statement ¶ 55; Pl.âs School Statement ¶ 54. The petition further noted that Piotrowski was failing all his main academic classes and alleged that his absences and tardiness were not a manifestation of his diabetes. School Defs.â Statement ¶¶ 56â57; Pl.âs School Statement ¶¶ 55â56. Piotrowski and his mother appeared in family court during the PINS proceeding, where they were represented by counsel. There, Piotrowski admitted that he â[d]id not attend school in accord with the provisions of part one of Art[.] 65 of the Education Law,â Order of Adjudication dated August 2, 2017, School Defs.â Ex. U, at 1â2 (Dkt. #81-23) (âFamily Court Orderâ); see School Defs.â Statement ¶ 60; Pl.âs School Statement ¶ 59, which requires regular attendance at school unless an absence is authorized by school rules, see N.Y. Educ. Law § 3210(1)(a), (2)(b). Based on that admission, the court adjudicated Piotrowski a Person In Need of Supervision and placed him on probation, ordering him to participate in psychotherapy, home-based social services, and regular drug testing. He was also required to obey a curfew. School Defs.â Statement ¶ 61; Pl.âs School Statement ¶ 60; Cnty. Defs.â Statement ¶ 20; Pl.âs Cnty. Statement ¶ 20. III. Officer Mayer Alleges a Probation Violation. On November 24, 2017, Probation Officer Mayer filed a petition with the family court alleging that Piotrowski had violated the conditions of his probation. Specifically, Officer Mayer alleged that Piotrowski (1) reported to the probation department after 5 p.m., without being accompanied by a parent (as required if Piotrowski was out after curfew); and (2) violated Officer Mayerâs directiveâgiven after plaintiff had received a warning from the school regarding his cell phoneâto leave his cell phone at home for two weeks. See Cnty. Defs.â Statement ¶¶ 33â37; see also November 24, 2017 Violation of Probation Petition, Pl.âs Ex. 12, at 2â3 (Dkt. #82-14) (â2017 VOPâ). Piotrowski contends that, in fact, he arrived at the probation office more than half an hour before 5 p.m. See Pl.âs Cnty. Statement ¶ 33. As a result of this petition, the family court judge prohibited Piotrowski from having his phone at school, imposed a 3 p.m. curfew on school nights, and directed Piotrowski to attend a diabetes education class. Cnty. Defs.â Statement ¶ 42; Pl.âs Cnty. Statement ¶ 42; Family Court Order dated December 11, 2017, Cnty. Defs.â Ex. F (Dkt. #87-9). IV. Piotrowski Is Given 40 Minutes of Detention. In February 2018, Michael Gabriel, an assistant principal at Rocky Point, gave Piotrowski an after-school detention that lasted 40 minutes. School Defs.â Statement ¶ 89; Pl.âs School Statement ¶ 88. According to Gabriel, he noticed that Piotrowski would not immediately report to the nurse upon arriving at school but would instead spend time with his friends and girlfriend, proceeding to the nurseâs office only after his first-period class had begun. Gabriel told Piotrowski that his tardiness disturbed the class, so he needed to go to the nurse as soon as he arrived at school. After Piotrowski continued to be late to first period, Gabriel issued him a detention on the view that Piotrowski was âabusing his privilegesâ under the IEP with respect to his use of the nurseâs office. See School Defs.â Statement ¶¶ 90, 92; Michael Gabriel Dep. Tr., School Defs.â Ex. L, at 58:2â23, 66:5â68:21, 121:5â122:6, 124:5â10, 128:8â129:12 (Dkt. #81-14) (âGabriel Dep.â). Piotrowski acknowledges that he had enough time to get his blood sugar tested between the time he arrived at school and the start of first period. See Justin Piotrowski Dep. Tr., School Defs.â Ex. H, at 76:10â13 (Dkt. #81-10) (âJ.P. Dep.â). And while he denies in his Rule 56.1 statement that Gabriel disciplined him for being late to his first-period classâasserting that Gabriel actually disciplined him for being late to a class in the middle of the day, see Pl.âs School Statement ¶ 90 (citing Gabriel Dep. 122)âthe record evidence he cites does not substantiate that account, see Gabriel Dep. 122:3â6 (Gabrielâs statement that â[w]hen Justin was late to class again, he was given a day of detention to enforce the rule of going to the nurse first and being on time to class.â). Piotrowski also contends that Gabrielâs issuance of the detention was contrary to his IEP, which allowed him âto use the nurseâs office at any time throughout the day.â Pl.âs School Statement ¶ 90 (emphasis in original). V. The District Amends Piotrowskiâs IEP to Allow Use of a Cell Phone to Monitor Glucose Levels. On March 19, 2018, the Committee of Special Education met and generated an IEP for the rest of the 2017â18 school year. School Defs.â Statement ¶¶ 72, 74â75; Pl.âs School Statement ¶¶ 71, 73â74. Piotrowskiâs mother and his attorney asked that Piotrowski be permitted to use his cell phone at school to monitor his blood sugar levels. According to the committeeâs chairperson, plaintiffâs counsel stated at the committee meeting that plaintiffâs phone âcould be placed in the âtop right-hand corner of his desk because he would be able to see the screen or . . . whatever he needed to see, because it . . . would make a noise if levels were rising too quickly or falling too quickly.ââ School Defs.â Statement ¶78 (quoting Kristen White Dep. Tr., School Defs.â Ex J., at 79:2â7 (Dkt. #81-12)). The Committee amended Piotrowskiâs IEP to allow him to have âaccess to his cell phone for the purpose of monitoring blood sugar levels,â while adding that âall school rules and regulations in regards to cell phone use continue to apply.â IEP March 19, 2018, School Defs.â Ex. S, at 9â10 (ECF Pagination) (Dkt. #81-21) (â2018 IEPâ); see School Defs.â Statement ¶¶ 74â 76; Pl.âs School Statement ¶¶ 73â75. The revised IEP stated that â[i]f the cell phone is confiscated, Justin will remain in close proximity to the phone within the main office so that he can continue to monitor glucose levels.â 2018 IEP 10. According to Piotrowski, due to an administrative error, the IEP provision permitting him to have access to his cell phone while in school was not reproduced in his 2018â19 IEP. School Defs.â Statement ¶ 111; Pl.âs School Statement ¶ 110. Piotrowski did not begin using the blood-sugar monitoring application in March 2018, when the Committee of Special Education authorized its use, although Piotrowskiâs mother told school officials that he would begin using the cell phone to monitor his blood sugar levels âimminently.â School Defs.â Statement ¶¶ 109â10; Pl.âs School Statement ¶¶ 108â09. VI. Piotrowski Is Suspended and His Probation Term Is Extended. On May 10, 2018, Piotrowski received an out-of-school suspension for being disrespectful and disruptive on school property by mocking his teacher assistantâs accent, putting up his middle finger in class, and walking out of class without permission. Cnty. Defs.â Statement ¶ 46; Pl.âs Cnty. Statement ¶ 46. Because of that suspension, the family court found that Piotrowski had violated his probation, extended his term of probation to December 2018, and ordered the Probation Officer to file a violation of probation if Piotrowski received any new in-school or out- of-school suspensions. Cnty. Defs.â Statement ¶¶ 47â48; Pl.âs Cnty Statement ¶¶ 47â48. At some point during the 2018â19 school year, Piotrowski began using a phone application for monitoring blood-sugar levels. School Defs.â Statement ¶ 81; Pl.âs School Statement ¶¶ 83â 84. With the blood-sugar application in place, Piotrowskiâs phone would âvibrat[e] if [Piotrowskiâs] blood glucose levels were abnormal.â School Defs.â Statement ¶ 105; Pl.âs School Statement ¶ 104; see Dexcom User Guide, Pl.âs Ex. 31, at Ch. 10, pp. 133â71 (Dkt #82-33) (âDexcom Guideâ) (describing the various kinds of âalarmsâ and âalertsâ that cause the userâs phone to vibrate, including an âalarmâ when the userâs âglucose level is dangerously low,â but also several âalertsâ when the userâs glucose level is outside his âtarget rangeâ or when the level is rising or falling rapidly). Neither Piotrowski nor his mother notified the school when Piotrowski began using the software. Pl.âs School Statement ¶¶ 109, 110. VII. Piotrowski Is Suspended Again for One Day. On October 31, 2018, Principal Crossan and Assistant Principal Gabriel ordered Piotrowski to serve a one day in-school-suspension arising from an incident in class the previous day. School Defs.â Statement ¶ 94â95; Pl.âs School Statement ¶ 93â94. On October 30, 2018, Piotrowski took out his cell phone during his geometry class. Piotrowskiâs teacher directed him to put the phone away, telling him â[i]tâs a warning.â School Defs.â Statement at ¶ 97; Pl.âs School Statement ¶ 96. In response, Piotrowski âbecame argumentative,â and told the teacher that she could not give him a warning. Ibid. He did not, however, tell her at that time that he was using his phone to check his blood-sugar levels. School Defs.â Statement ¶ 113; Pl.âs School Statement ¶ 112. Plaintiff does not dispute that his teacher âasked [him] to leave the classroom as [Piotrowski] being argumentative was disrupting the classroom.â School Defs.â Statement ¶ 98; Pl.âs School Statement ¶ 97; see In-School Suspension Letter dated November 2, 2018, School Defs.â Ex. AA, at 1 (Dkt. #81-29) (âSuspension Letterâ). Eventually, Gabriel and another school administrator came to the classroom to escort Piotrowski away. School Defs.â Statement ¶ 99; Pl.âs School Statement ¶ 98. Piotrowski was given a one-day in-school suspension. School Defs.â Statement ¶ 114; Pl.âs School Statement ¶ 113. On November 2, 2018, the School District sent a letter to Piotrowskiâs parents stating that he had received this suspension for insubordination. Suspension Letter 1. The letter stated that Piotrowski told his teacher she could not give him a warning, and that he had âbecome argumentative with his teacherâ and ârefused toâ leave the class when asked, after which administrators were called to the classroom to have him removed. Ibid. Piotrowski states that his mother informed Assistant Principal Gabriel a short time after he was removed from class on October 30 that he had been using his cell phone to check his blood sugar, though he acknowledges that he did not contemporaneously tell his teacher that fact. Pl.âs School Statement ¶ 100. VIII. Officer Mayer Reports a Violation of Probation. Gabriel notified Officer Mayer about Piotrowskiâs in-school suspension. Cnty. Defs.â Statement ¶ 50; Pl.âs Cnty. Statement ¶ 50. He provided Officer Mayer with a letter indicating that Piotrowski had been suspended for insubordination when he became argumentative and refused to follow directions. Cnty. Defs.â Statement ¶¶ 53â54; Pl.âs Cnty. Statement ¶¶ 53â54. Officer Mayer then reported a violation of probation to the family court. Cnty. Defs.â Statement ¶ 60; Pl.âs Cnty. Statement ¶ 60. She submitted a statement explaining that Piotrowski had violated his probation because he had received a one-day in-school suspension for insubordination and because Piotrowski had continued to be truant. See 2018 Violation of Order of Probation Petition, Pl.âs Ex. 17, at 1â3 (Dkt. #82-19) (â2018 VOPâ). According to Piotrowski, before Officer Mayer filed the violation, Piotrowskiâs mother told Officer Mayor that Piotrowskiâs IEP permitted him to use his cell phone to manage his diabetes, and that Piotrowski had been using his cell phone on the date in question for medical purposes. See Pl.âs Cnty. Statement ¶¶ 60â61, 77, 80, 82, 84, 94â95. On December 5, 2018, the family court judge ordered Piotrowski to be evaluated at Sagamore Childrenâs Psychiatric Center. The evaluator recommended an intensive day-treatment program that would last thirty days. The judge then ordered Piotrowski to attend that program. Cnty. Defs.â Statement ¶ 68; Pl.âs Cnty. Statement ¶ 68; Pl.âs School Statement ¶ 115. IX. Piotrowski Graduates. Sometime later, Piotrowski and his mother voluntarily enrolled Piotrowski at Sequoya High School, where he remained for a year. Pl.âs School Statement ¶ 122; School Defs.â Statement ¶ 122. Piotrowski then returned to Rocky Point High School, from which he graduated. School Defs.â Statement ¶¶ 123â26; Pl.âs School Statement ¶¶ 123â26. PROCEDURAL HISTORY The operative pleading in this case is plaintiffâs second amended complaint (âSACâ). See SAC (Dkt. #30). Defendants moved to dismiss the SAC in full. Judge Mauskopf, the then-assigned district judge, granted the motion in part and denied it in part. She allowed the following claims to proceed: (1) a claim under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794, against the District, the Board, and Suffolk County; (2) a claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq., against the District, the Board, and Suffolk County; (3) claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Moeller, Gabriel, Crossan, and Mayer; and (4) a claim under the New York State Human Rights Law (âNYSHRLâ) against all defendants. See Memorandum and Order dated May 28, 2020, at 27 (Dkt. #50) (âPrior Orderâ). Along with their answer to the SAC, the County and Officer Mayer (collectively, the âCounty Defendantsâ) filed a cross-complaint against the District, the Board, and all the named individual school-employee defendants (collectively, the âSchool Defendantsâ) for indemnification and/or contribution. See Cnty. Defs.â Answer to SAC & Crossclaims ¶ 169 (Dkt. #53) (âCnty. Defs.â Answerâ). The School Defendants did the same. See School Defs.â Answer to SAC & Crossclaims ¶ 171 (Dkt. #55) (âSchool Defs.â Answerâ). After discovery, both sets of defendants moved for summary judgment as to all of plaintiffâs remaining claims. See School Defs.â Mot. for Summary Judgment (Dkt. #81) (âSchool Defs.â Mot.â); Cnty. Defs.â Mot. for Summary Judgment (Dkt. #87) (âCnty. Defs.â Mot.â). The County Defendants also sought summary judgment on the School Defendantsâ cross-claims, see Cnty. Defs.â Mot. 24â25, but the School Defendants did not similarly move. STANDARD OF REVIEW Summary judgment is appropriate when âthere is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.â Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). âAn issue of fact is genuine if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.â Frost v. N.Y.C. Police Depât, 980 F.3d 231, 242 (2d Cir. 2020) (quoting SCR Joint Venture L.P. v. Warshawsky, 559 F.3d 133, 137 (2d Cir. 2009)). âA fact is material if it might affect the outcome of the suit under governing law.â Ibid. The movant bears the burden of âdemonstrat[ing] the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.â Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323 (1986). Where âthe burden of persuasion at trial would be on the non-moving party,â the movant âmay satisfy his burden of productionâ either â(1) by submitting evidence that negates an essential element of the non-moving partyâs claim, or (2) by demonstrating that the non-moving partyâs evidence is insufficient to establish an essential element of the non-moving partyâs claim.â Nickâs Garage, Inc. v. Progressive Cas. Ins. Co., 875 F.3d 107, 114 (2d Cir. 2017) (citation omitted). In assessing the record, courts consider cited âdepositions, documents, electronically stored information, affidavits or declarations, stipulations . . . , admissions, [and] interrogatory answers[.]â Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(1)(A). Courts view âthe evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and draw all reasonable inferences in that partyâs favor.â Tracy v. Freshwater, 623 F.3d 90, 95 (2d Cir. 2010). âIt is a settled rule that credibility assessments, choices between conflicting versions of the events, and the weighing of evidence are matters for the jury, not for the court on a motion for summary judgment.â McClellan v. Smith, 439 F.3d 137, 144 (2d Cir. 2006) (citation, quotation marks, and alterations omitted). âA court is not required to consider what the parties fail to point out in their Local Rule 56.1 statements.â 24/7 Recs., Inc. v. Sony Music Ent., Inc., 429 F.3d 39, 46 (2d Cir. 2005) (quoting Holtz v. Rockefeller & Co., Inc., 258 F.3d 62, 73 (2d Cir. 2001)) (quotation marks omitted). But â[t]he local rule does not absolve the party seeking summary judgment of the burden of showing that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, and a Local Rule 56.1 statement is not itself a vehicle for making factual assertions that are otherwise unsupported in the record.â Giannullo v. City of N.Y., 322 F.3d 139, 140 (2d Cir. 2003) (quoting Holtz, 258 F.3d at 74) (quotation marks omitted). DISCUSSION For the reasons below, summary judgment is granted to defendants on Piotrowskiâs federal claims. Piotrowskiâs state claims are dismissed without prejudice to refiling in state court. I. ADA and Rehabilitation Act Claims Piotrowski seeks money damages under the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. He alleges that the District, Board, and County violated those statutes through three instances of discrimination. See Pl.âs Consolidated Oppân to Defs.â Mots. For Summ. J. 19 (Dkt. ##82, 85) (âPl.âs Oppânâ). First, he contends, those defendants violated the ADA and Rehabilitation Act by causing him to be put on probation after his diabetic conditions made him repeatedly late to, and absent from, class. Ibid. Second, those defendants allegedly violated those statutes because Piotrowski received a forty-minute detention based on his use of the nurseâs office. Ibid. Third, the District, Board, and County allegedly violated those statutes because Piotrowski received a one-day in-school suspension in connection with an incident in which he was using his cell phone to monitor his glucose levels in class. Ibid. For the reasons explained below, the District, Board, and County are entitled to summary judgment on these claims. A. Legal Background To establish a prima facie case of discrimination under either the ADA or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, a plaintiff must show that â(1) plaintiff is a qualified individual with a disability; (2) plaintiff was excluded from participation in a public entityâs services, programs or activities or was otherwise discriminated against by the public entity; and (3) such exclusion or discrimination was due to plaintiffâs disability.â B.C. v. Mount Vernon Sch. Dist., 837 F.3d 152, 158 (2d Cir. 2016) (citation, quotation marks, and alterations omitted). As to the second element, as relevant to Piotrowskiâs claims, â[e]xclusion or discrimination may take the form of disparate treatment, . . . or failure to make a reasonable accommodation.â Ibid. (citation omitted). Disparate treatment. Under both the ADA and Rehabilitation Act, claims of disparate treatmentâthat is, intentional discriminationâare analyzed under the burden-shifting framework originally established in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973). See Regâl Econ. Cmty. Action Program v. City of Middletown, 294 F.3d 35, 48â49 (2d Cir. 2002), superseded by statute on other grounds as stated in Jackson v. N.Y.C. Depât of Educ., 768 F. Appâx 16, 17 (2d Cir. 2019); Gentleman v. State Univ. of N.Y. Stony Brook, No. 21-1102-CV, 2022 WL 1447381, at *3 (2d Cir. May 9, 2022). Under that framework, â[a] plaintiff must establish a prima facie case; the [defendant] must then offer through the introduction of admissible evidence a legitimate non-discriminatory reason for the [action]; and the plaintiff must then produce evidence and carry the burden of persuasion that the proffered reason is a pretext.â McBride v. BIC Consumer Prod. Mfg. Co., Inc., 583 F.3d 92, 96 (2d Cir. 2009) (ADA discrimination) (citation omitted). Failure to accommodate. A plaintiff may also bring a claim for failure to accommodate under both the ADA and Rehabilitation Act. Dean v. Univ. at Buffalo Sch. of Med. & Biomedical Scis., 804 F.3d 178, 186â87 (2d Cir. 2015) (citation and quotation marks omitted). In reviewing a failure-to-accommodate claim, a court âask[s] whether a plaintiff with disabilities âas a practical matterâ was denied âmeaningful accessâ to services, programs or activities to which he or she was âlegally entitledââ due to a failure to offer reasonable accommodations for a disability. Hamilton v. Westchester Cnty., 3 F.4th 86, 91 (2d Cir. 2021) (quoting Wright v. N.Y.S. Depât of Corr., 831 F.3d 64, 72 (2d Cir. 2016)); see Dean, 804 F.3d at 187. Moreover, because the ADA and Rehabilitation Act âaddress discrimination against disabled students, rather than incorrect or erroneous special education treatments,â Scaggs v. N.Y. Depât of Educ., No. 06-CV-799 (JFB) (WP), 2007 WL 1456221, at *15 (E.D.N.Y. May 16, 2007), a plaintiff challenging a school districtâs response to his disability can succeed only by âdemonstrate[ing] that a school district acted with bad faith or gross misjudgment,â French v. N.Y.S. Depât of Educ., 476 F. Appâx 468, 472â73 (2d Cir. 2011) (citation and quotation marks omitted); see Wenger v. Canastota Cent. Sch. Dist., 979 F. Supp. 147, 152 (N.D.N.Y. 1997) (âThat a court may . . . come to the conclusion that an incorrect evaluation has been made, and that a different placement must be required under [the IDEA], is not necessarily the same thing as a holding that a [disabled] child has been discriminated against solely by reason of his or her [disability].â) (citation omitted; brackets and ellipses in original), affâd, 181 F.3d 84 (2d Cir. 1999), and affâd, 208 F.3d 204 (2d Cir. 2000). âCourts have equated gross misjudgment with deliberate or reckless indifference.â J.L. on behalf of J.P. v. N.Y.C. Dep't of Educ., 324 F. Supp. 3d 455, 468 (S.D.N.Y. 2018) (collecting cases). Money damages. Deliberate indifference or intentional wrongdoing is similarly required in any lawsuitâlike this oneâin which the remedy the plaintiff seeks under the ADA and Rehabilitation Act is money damages. Specifically, the Second Circuit has stated that a plaintiff may recover money damages under the ADA and Rehabilitation Act âonly upon a showing of an intentional violation.â Loeffler v. Staten Island Univ. Hosp., 582 F.3d 268, 275 (2d Cir. 2009) (emphasis in original) (citing Bartlett v. N.Y.S. Bd. of Law Examiners, 156 F.3d 321, 331 (2d Cir. 1998), abrogated on other grounds by Sutton v. United Air Lines, Inc., 527 U.S. 471 (1999), and judgment vacated, 527 U.S. 1031 (1999)). An intentional violation âmay be inferred when a policymaker acted with at least deliberate indifference to the strong likelihood that a violation of federally protected rights will result from the implementation of the challenged policy.â Loeffler, 582 F.3d at 275 (citation, quotation marks, and alterations omitted); Feltenstein v. City of New Rochelle, 254 F. Supp. 3d 647, 657 (S.D.N.Y. 2017) (âTo recover compensatory damages under the ADA or the Rehabilitation Act, a plaintiff must prove that the defendant exhibited âdeliberate indifferenceâ as to the âstrong likelihoodâ that its actions were unlawful under the statutes.â) (quoting Loeffler, 582 F.3d at 275). B. The IDEAâs Exhaustion Requirement Does Not Bar Plaintiffâs Claims Defendants first argue that they are entitled to summary judgment on all of plaintiffâs ADA and Rehabilitation Act claims because he failed to comply with the IDEAâs exhaustion requirement. See School Defs.â Mot. 6â14. That argument fails. The IDEAâs exhaustion requirement does not apply to any of plaintiffâs ADA or Rehabilitation Act claims. The IDEA âcompels exhaustion when a plaintiff seeks âreliefâ that is âavailableâ under the IDEA.â Fry v. Napoleon Cmty. Schs., 580 U.S. 154, 166 (2017) (quoting 20 U.S.C. § 1415(l)). â[R]elief is âavailableâ . . . when it is accessible or may be obtained.â Ibid. (citations and quotation marks omitted). The Supreme Court recently clarified the application of this provision to damages claims, by holdingâcontrary to suggestions in earlier Second Circuit case lawâthat because money damages are not available under the IDEA, claims for money damages alone are not subject to IDEA exhaustion. Luna Perez v. Sturgis Pub. Schs., 143 S. Ct. 859, 864 (2023). Accordingly, because plaintiff seeks only money damages, see SAC ¶¶ BâC, the exhaustion requirement in Section 1415(l) does not apply. See ibid. Accordingly, plaintiff was not required to exhaust his administrative remedies before filing suit under the ADA and Rehabilitation Act. C. Defendants Are Nevertheless Entitled to Summary Judgment on Plaintiffâs ADA and Rehabilitation Act Claims Plaintiff asserts that various actions taken against him violated his rights under the ADA and Rehabilitation Act. Broadly speaking, plaintiffâs claims fall into three buckets: (1) claims arising from the truancy determination entered against plaintiff; (2) claims arising from plaintiffâs forty-minute after-school detention; and (3) claims arising from plaintiffâs one-day in-school suspension. Defendants are entitled to summary judgment on each of these claims. 1. Truancy Determination The School District, Board, and County are entitled to summary judgment on Piotrowskiâs claim that they discriminated against him because they ârefused to forgive absences and episodes of lateness resulting from [p]laintiffâs diabetic condition and in fact punished him for alleged truancy.â Pl.âs Oppân 19; see SAC ¶¶ 97, 112. These claims relate to the school districtâs June 6, 2017 finding that plaintiffâs âabsences and tardiness were not related to his Type 1 Diabetes.â School Defs.â Statement ¶ 42; Pl.âs School Statement ¶ 41. Under the IDEA, the school was required to make such a finding, known as a âmanifestation determination,â before disciplining plaintiff for his attendance record. See 20 U.S.C. § 1415(k)(1)(E)(i)(I) (requiring a school seeking to âchange the placement of a child with a disability because of a violation of a code of student conductâ to determine whether âthe conduct in question was caused by, or had a direct and substantial relationship to, the childâs disabilityâ). After making that determination, the District filed a petition with the New York family court to have Piotrowski declared a Person In Need of Supervision based on his truancy. School Defs.â Statement ¶ 54; Pl.âs School Statement ¶ 53. And in that PINS proceeding, the family court adjudged plaintiff truant on the basis that plaintiff âvoluntarily, intelligently and knowingly admitted in open courtâ that he â[d]id not attend school in accord with the provisions of part one of Art[.] 65 of the Education Lawââi.e. that his unexcused absences were not related to his disability. Family Court Order 1â2; School Defs.â Statement ¶¶ 60â61; Pl.âs School Statement ¶¶ 59â60. Even without considering plaintiffâs admission to truancy in the PINS proceeding, on the facts here, no reasonable jury could conclude that any of the defendants acted with the deliberate indifference required for plaintiff to prove âan intentional violationâ of the ADA or Rehabilitation Act in making the manifestation determination or instituting the PINS proceeding. Loeffler, 582 F.3d at 275. Plaintiff takes issue with the Committee of Special Educationâs rejection of his motherâs submission at the June 6, 2017 meeting that â[p]laintiff had been absent from and late to school for reasons directly connected to [p]laintiffâs diabetic condition.â Pl.âs School Statement ¶ 45; see Pl.âs Oppân 19; Merideth Piotrowski Dep. Tr., School Defs.â Ex. G, at 72:2â5 (Dkt. #81- 9) (âM.P. Dep.â) (âQ: You were never prevented from talking at this meeting? A: No. They let me talk but they dismissed what I said.â). But plaintiff has submitted no evidence permitting a factfinder to make the sizable leap from the fact that the Committee disagreed with plaintiffâs mother to the conclusion that doing so reflected âat least deliberate indifference to the strong likelihood thatâ doing so violated plaintiffâs âfederally protected rights.â Loeffler, 582 F.3d at 275. Plaintiffâs mother did not submit any medical evidence to the Committee. See School Defs.â Statement ¶¶ 47â49; Pl.âs School Statement ¶¶ 46â48. And while plaintiff argues that âpursuant to the Rocky Point UFSD Attendance Regulations, a statement from a parent or guardian informing the school that a student is late or absent due to âsickness of a childâ is considered a âlegal excuseââ for an absence, Pl.âs School Statement ¶¶ 46â48, what the regulations actually say is that students who are absent âare required on their return to school to bring written excuses from parents or guardians in every case of absence or tardiness,â Rocky Point UFSD District Information Sheet, Pl.âs Ex. 29, at 2â3 (Dkt. #82-31); see Rocky Point High School Student Handbook, Pl.âs Ex. 30, at 7 (Dkt. #82-32) (âRocky Point Handbookâ) (requiring a parent to notify the school âwithin 24 hours of the absence AND to provide a written excuse upon the studentâs return to schoolâ) (emphasis in original). There is no evidence in the record suggesting that plaintiff submitted the required written excuses for any of the â26 full daysâ during which plaintiff was truant in eighth grade, see School Defs.â Statement ¶ 55; Pl.âs School Statement ¶ 54, and nothing in the record to indicate that, when making its manifestation determination, the Committee of Special Education was required to accept plaintiffâs motherâs after-the-fact representations as to the legality of his absencesâmuch less that by failing to do so the defendants intentionally violated the ADA or the Rehabilitation Act.2 Defendants are accordingly entitled to summary judgment on these claims. 2. Forty-Minute After-School Detention The School District, Board, and County are entitled to summary judgment on Piotrowskiâs claim that they violated the ADA and Rehabilitation Act based on a forty-minute detention Piotrowski received for being late to classâon Piotrowskiâs account, because he was visiting the nurse. See Pl.âs Oppân 19; Pl.âs School Statement ¶¶ 86, 88â92. Piotrowski has not established a prima facie case that he was subjected to disparate treatment on the basis of his disability, because he has not offered evidence that any other student was repeatedly late to class without being subject to discipline. See, e.g., Froio v. Monroe- Woodbury Cent. Sch. Dist., No. 17-CV-604 (CS), 2020 WL 2731970, at *8 (S.D.N.Y. May 26, 2 In addition, as a result of the determination that Piotrowski was truant in the PINS proceeding, Piotrowski is likely barred by collateral estoppel from contending that his absences were the result of his diabetes. âCollateral estoppel, or issue preclusion, prevents parties or their privies from relitigating in a subsequent action an issue of fact or law that was fully and fairly litigated in a prior proceeding.â Marvel Characters, Inc. v. Simon, 310 F.3d 280, 288 (2d Cir. 2002) (citations omitted). The doctrine âapplies when: â(1) the identical issue was raised in a previous proceeding; (2) the issue was actually litigated and decided in the previous proceeding; (3) the party had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue; and (4) the resolution of the issue was necessary to support a valid and final judgment on the merits.ââ Id. at 288â89 (citation omitted). Piotrowski pleaded guilty to truancy in violation of Article 65 of the New York Education Law in his PINS proceeding. See Family Court Order 1â2. Doing so entailed admitting, contrary to Piotrowskiâs position here, this Piotrowskiâs absences were not simply due to diabetes. While Article 65 requires regular attendance at school, it permits absences allowed by school rules, see N.Y. Educ. Law § 3210(1)(a), (2)(b), and Piotrowskiâs school allowed absences due to âillness,â see Rocky Point Handbook 7; see also Union Middle School Attendance Policy, Pl.âs Ex. 33, at 2 (Dkt. #82-35). Accordingly, whether Piotrowskiâs absences were caused by diabetes appears to have been determined in Piotrowskiâs PINS proceeding, where Piotrowski had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue, as well as essential to the judgment in that proceeding. 2020) (âAbsent evidence that [a teacher] would not have taken the same actions if a non-disabled student engaged in the same conductâwhich Plaintiff has not producedâ[the teacherâs] actions cannot be said to be due to Plaintiffâs disabilities.â). Piotrowski has also failed to offer evidence from which a factfinder could infer that defendants failed to accommodate his disability by virtue of this forty-minute detention. As an initial matter, Piotrowski has failed to put forward evidence that as a result of the detention, he âas a practical matter was denied meaningful access to services, programs or activities to which he . . . was legally entitled.ââ Hamilton, 3 F.4th at 91 (quotation marks omitted). The Second Circuit has found this deficiency fatal to similar claims. See Tylicki v. St. Onge, 297 F. Appâx 65, 67 (2d Cir. 2008) (affirming dismissal of ADA and Rehabilitation Act claims that challenged a school suspension based on failure to accommodate, on the ground that the plaintiff âhas failed to allege that he was denied access to [the schoolâs] programs, for though he was suspended from the school, he had originally been admitted and had attended classes, and his complaint does not allege that he attempted to re-enroll but was denied admission due to his disabilityâ). In any event, a plaintiff can prevail under the ADA and Rehabilitation Act only if he demonstrates that the denial of access to services resulted from a failure to reasonably accommodate his disability. Piotrowski has not put forward evidence from which a reasonable factfinder could find that here. Plaintiff himself acknowledges that he would arrive at school with enough time to go to the nurseâs office to check his blood sugar before the beginning of his first class. J.P. Dep. 76:10â13. Piotrowski thus has not shown that Assistant Principal Gabriel failed to reasonably accommodate his disability by instructing him to go to the nurseâs office upon arriving at schoolârather than socializing with friends upon arrival and going to the nurseâs office only once class was beginningâor by giving him a detention for violating this directive. See School Defs.â Statement ¶¶ 90, 92; Gabriel Dep. at 121:5â122:6, 124:5â125:10, 128:8â129:12. Instead of making that case, Piotrowski asserts in his briefing that the detention he received was actually based on his going to the school nurseâs office later in the dayâas opposed to his making a belated trip before first period. See Pl,âs School Statement ¶ 90 (citing Gabriel Dep. 122); Pl.âs Oppân 8 (citing M.P. Dep. 167â69, 171â72). But plaintiff does not cite record materials that substantiate that claim. See pp. 5â6, supra. Accordingly, plaintiff has not put forward evidence from which a jury could find that defendants failed to reasonably accommodate his disability based on this forty-minute detentionâlet alone evidence from which a jury could find the issuance of this forty-minute detention reflected the type of intentional denial of an accommodation, or deliberate indifference, necessary to sustain his damages claim. 3. One-Day In-School Suspension The School District, Board, and County are also entitled to summary judgment on Piotrowskiâs ADA and Rehabilitation Act claims based on his one-day in-school suspension, because Piotrowski has not set forth evidence from which a factfinder could conclude that the suspension reflected either disparate treatment or a failure to accommodate giving rise to a damages claim under these statutes. Piotrowski has not established a prima facie case of disparate treatment based his one-day suspension after a confrontation with his teacher over cell phone use in class. He has not offered evidence that other students were permitted to use their phones in class in a manner that was prohibited for him. Instead, Piotrowski acknowledges that while all students were permitted to use their phones for the limited purpose of listening to music while completing worksheets, his teacher instructed him to put the phone away after observing him using an application on the phoneâan activity that was off-limits to the other students in the class. See J.P. Dep. 87:12â90:7; see also Pl.âs School Statement ¶ 101. Nor has he set forth evidence that other students were not disciplined for failing to obey a teacherâs instructionsâhere, directions to put his phone away, and then to leave the classroom. See School Defs.â Statement ¶ 95; Suspension Letter 1. Piotrowski has also failed to put forward evidence to support a failure-to-accommodate claim based on this one-day in-school suspension for insubordination. As with his detention-based claim, Piotrowski has not put forward evidence that he âas a practical matter was denied meaningful access to services, programs or activities to which he or she was legally entitled,â Hamilton, 3 F.4th at 91, because he was suspended, in-school, for one day, see Tylicki, 297 F. Appâx at 67. While a family court judge later directed Piotrowski to undergo a mental health evaluation and then to attend a 30-day intensive day-treatment program after Piotrowski received that second suspension, plaintiff has not put forward evidence from which a factfinder could find decisions of an independent judicial authorityâa family court judgeâwere proximately caused by the School District, Board, or County. Nor has Piotrowski put forward evidence from which a reasonable factfinder could determine that by suspending him for one day based on insubordination, defendants failed to accommodate Piotrowskiâs diabetesâlet alone did so in a manner that was deliberately indifferent to, or intentionally violative of, his statutory rights. Piotrowski was suspended after he defied a teacherâs instruction that he put his phone away and then disobeyed her instruction to leave the classroom, departing only after administrators came to escort him away. Piotrowski has not put forward evidence from which a reasonable finder of fact could determine that imposing penalties for flatly disobeying a teacherâs instructionsâwithout suggesting to anyone at the time that his phone use on the occasion in question was connected to a medical needâdenied plaintiff a reasonable accommodation for his medical condition. And he certainly has not put forward evidence from which a jury could find that the District, Board of Education, or County intentionally violated the ADA or Rehabilitation Act by suspending plaintiff for one day based on insubordination, on a deliberate indifference theory or otherwise. Piotrowski offers no compelling argument otherwise. Piotrowski makes much of the fact that at some point after he was removed from class, his mother asserted to administrators that he had been using his cell phone to check his blood sugar. But that fact does not go to the insubordination rationale for the one-day suspensionâand plaintiff has never disputed defendantsâ assertion that he was argumentative with his teacher. Piotrowski also contends that whether he was actually suspended based on insubordination âis a statement of opinionâ or an issue as to which âthere exists a genuine issue of fact to be tried.â Pl.âs School Statement ¶¶ 95â96. But plaintiffâs Rule 56.1 statement cites no record evidence establishing a dispute about the reason for his suspension. The closest Piotrowski comes is a citation in his brief to a sentence in his own deposition in which Piotrowski asserts that school officials had âsaid I shouldnât have took my phone out,â as an explanation of why he was âinsubordinateââapparently to suggest that school officials suspended him simply for accessing his phone. Pl.âs Oppân 10 (citing J.P. Dep. 97). But Piotrowski immediately made clear that his information about the basis for his suspension came from âa letter from an individual, some paper saying something about . . . the suspension.â J.P. Dep. 97:16â20. The suspension letter, in turn, states that Piotrowski was deemed insubordinate because, after he was warned by his teacher about the cell phone use, he âstated, âYou canât give me a warning,ââ and âbecame argumentative,â before ârefus[ing]â âto leave the classroom.â Suspension Letter 1. And Piotrowski separately affirmed in a sworn declaration that he was informed that the insubordination penalty related to his response to the teacherâs direction to put his phone away, rather than the mere fact that he had used his phone. See J.P. Aff., Pl.âs Ex. 2, at ¶ 36 (Dkt. #82-4) (stating that school officials âstated that they suspended me for being âinsubordinateâ because I objected to the teacher telling me to put my phone away by telling her that she could not give me a warning for having it out.â). Piotrowskiâs statements, taken in context, do not generate a material dispute of fact about whether he was suspended for disobeying his teacherâs instructions. In sum, the School District, Board, and County are entitled to summary judgment on Piotrowskiâs ADA and Rehabilitation Act damages claims based on a one-day in-school suspension, both because Piotrowski has not put forward facts suggesting he âas a practical matter was denied meaningful accessâ to school services as a result of the suspension, Hamilton, 3 F.4th at 91, and because he has not put forward facts suggesting that his suspension for insubordination reflected a deliberately indifferent or otherwise purposeful failure to accommodate his diabetes. II. Section 1983 Claims Defendants Moeller, Gabriel, Crossan, and Mayer are likewise entitled to summary judgment on plaintiffâs claims under Section 1983 against them. A. Claims against Moeller, Gabriel, and Crossan Plaintiffâs Section 1983 claims against defendants Moeller, Gabriel, and Crossan may not proceed to trial. Plaintiffâs Section 1983 theory is hard to parse: he asserts that âpursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, defendants Moeller, Gabriel, and Crossan violated [his] 14th Amendment rights to equal protection under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.â Pl.âs Oppân 17 (capitalization altered). And plaintiffâs briefing on the matter makes clear that these Section 1983 claims concern the same instances of alleged disability-based discrimination that underlie his ADA and Rehabilitation Act claims: the truancy determination, the forty-minute detention, the one-day suspension, and more generally the Districtâs purported failure to provide plaintiff with âreasonable and necessary accommodationsâ for his disability. Id. at 20â22. These claims fail for two independent reasons. At the outset, the law in this Circuit is clear that âneither Title II of the ADA nor § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act provides for individual capacity suits against state officials.â Garcia v. S.U.N.Y. Health Scis. Ctr. of Brooklyn, 280 F.3d 98, 107 (2d Cir. 2001); see J.L., 324 F. Supp. 3d at 467 n.4 (âThere is no individual liability under the ADA or § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.â); M.K. ex rel. Mrs. K. v. Sergi, 554 F. Supp. 2d 175, 194 n.11 (D. Conn. 2008) (collecting cases for the same proposition). And while â[t]he Second Circuit has not yet decided whether § 1983 can be used as a backstop to create individual liability under the Rehabilitation Actâ or the ADA, âevery court of appeals to consider this issue, as well as a majority of district courts in this Circuit, have rejected this approach and concluded § 1983 is not available to provide a remedy for alleged violations of rights under Section 504â or the ADA. Steele v. Success Acad. Charter Schs., Inc., No. 19-CV-5659 (AJN), 2020 WL 6424566, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 1, 2020) (collecting cases from seven Courts of Appeals). The Court finds this majority approach persuasive. â[B]oth the Rehabilitation Act and the ADA provide extensive, comprehensive remedial frameworks that address every aspect of [a plaintiffâs claim] under section 1983,â so permitting a plaintiff to sue for violations of the ADA and Rehabilitation Act under Section 1983 âwould be duplicative at best; in effect such a holding would provide the plaintiff with two bites at precisely the same apple.â Id. at *4 (quoting Lollar v. Baker, 196 F.3d 603, 610 (5th Cir. 1999)). Accordingly, because both the ADA and Rehabilitation Act create âcomprehensive remedial scheme[s] that permit[] disabled individuals (and their representatives) to vindicate their rights,â I adopt the unanimous view of the Courts of Appeals that âplaintiff cannot bring an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against a state official in her individual capacity for violations ofâ the ADA or Rehabilitation Act. Steele, 2020 WL 6424566, at *4. Even if Section 1983 could be used in such a fashion, however, plaintiffâs claims would fail because plaintiffâs claims against Moeller, Gabriel, and Crossan are all premised on the same conduct as underlies plaintiffâs claims against the School District, Board, and County. Since plaintiff cannot show that any of those actions violated his rights under either ADA or Rehabilitation Act, see pp. 16â23, supra, defendants Moeller, Gabriel, and Crossan are entitled to summary judgment on plaintiffâs Section 1983 claims predicated on violations of those two laws. B. Claims against Mayer Plaintiffâs Section 1983 claims against defendant Mayer fail for substantially the same reasons. Plaintiff claims that Mayer, his probation officer, was deliberately indifferent to the likelihood that, by filing the violation of probation petitions against plaintiff in 2017 and 2018, she was âviolat[ing] . . . the ADA and/or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.â Pl.âs Oppân 25 (capitalization altered). Here again plaintiff seeks to leverage Section 1983 as a workaround to the bar on individual liability under the ADA and Rehabilitation Act, and that effort fails for the same reasons just discussed, see p. 24, supra. Even if such claims were cognizable under Section 1983, however, qualified immunity precludes a finding of liability here. Plaintiff identifies no cases clearly establishing the principle that Mayer violated the ADA or Rehabilitation Act by filing violations of probation either (1) based on plaintiffâs late arrival to a probation meeting and use of a cell phone in violation of Mayerâs directive, as in the case of the 2017 VOP, or (2) based on Gabrielâs report that plaintiff had received a one-day in-school suspension for insubordination and continued to be truant, as in the case of the 2018 VOP. Most of plaintiffâs arguments center around allegations that Mayer knew that plaintiff was permitted to use his phone in school to monitor his glucose levels, such that Mayer could not in good faith have filed a violation report based on plaintiffâs use of a phone. But plaintiffâs IEP was not amended to permit in-school use of a phone until March of 2018, compare 2016 IEP 8â9, with 2018 IEP 9â10, four months after Mayer filed the 2017 VOP based in part on plaintiffâs use of a phone. And while the 2018 VOP post-dated the addition of certain phone privileges to plaintiffâs IEP, it is undisputed that the stated reason for plaintiffâs one-day suspension was âinsubordinationâ stemming from Piotrowskiâs repeated failure to follow his teacherâs directives. School Defs.â Statement ¶ 97; Suspension Letter 1; 2018 VOP 1. While plaintiffâs mother attests that she notified Mayer prior to her filing the 2018 VOP that plaintiff âwas in fact using his cell phone for diabetes purposesâ at the time of the incident giving rise to his suspension, Decl. of Meridith Piotrowski, Pl.âs Ex. 3, at ¶ 31 (Dkt. #82-5) (âM.P. Decl.â), that assertionâeven if Mayer credited itâwould not establish that plaintiff had not engaged in insubordination. Plaintiff identifies no clearly established law putting Mayer on notice that she would violate the ADA or Rehabilitation Act by filing a probation violation under these circumstances. Indeed, throughout his briefing on the subject plaintiff cites no cases at all for the proposition that Mayer would not be shielded by qualified immunity for her actions relating to the 2017 and 2018 VOPs. See Pl.âs Oppân 26â28. Accordingly, Mayer is entitled to summary judgment on plaintiffâs Section 1983 claims against her. C. Standalone Section 1983 Claims for Violations of the Equal Protection Clause Finally, to the extent plaintiff seeks to press a standalone Section 1983 claim against any of these individual defendants for violations of plaintiffâs rights under the Equal Protection Clause separate from any alleged violations of the ADA and Rehabilitation Act, such a claim is âso underdeveloped that the Court deems it waived.â Molina v. Faust Goetz Schenker & Blee, LLP, 230 F. Supp. 3d 279, 287 n.39 (S.D.N.Y. 2017). While plaintiffâs briefing contains several passing references to the Equal Protection Clause, see Pl.âs Oppân 12, 17, 28, in substance his arguments proceed entirely within the framework of the ADA and Rehabilitation Act, see, e.g., id. at 17 (arguing that defendants âviolated plaintiffâs 14th Amendment rights to equal protection under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Actâ) (capitalization altered and emphasis added). Additionally, the School Defendantsâ summary judgment motion argues that, to the extent plaintiff asserts a âclass of oneâ equal protection claim, he has failed to meet his burden to identify a similarly situated comparator who was not subject to discrimination. See School Defs.â Mot. 22 (citing Ruston v. Town Bd. for the Town of Skaneateles, 610 F.3d 55, 58 (2d Cir. 2010)). Plaintiffâs opposition makes no effort to rebut this argument, and the Second Circuit has made clear that a âcourt may infer that claims not defended on summary judgment are abandoned.â Shalom v. Hunter Coll. of City Univ. of N.Y., 645 F. Appâx 60, 63 (2d Cir. 2016) (citing Jackson v. Fed. Exp., 766 F.3d 189, 198 (2d Cir.2014)). III. NYSHRL Claims With Piotrowskiâs federal claims dismissed, the Court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over his one remaining state-law claim for disability discrimination in violation of the NYSHRL against all individual defendants. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c)(3), a district court âmay decline to exercise supplemental jurisdictionâ over state-law claims if it âhas dismissed all claims over which it has original jurisdiction.â Four factors bear on whether it is appropriate to exercise supplemental jurisdiction: âjudicial economy, convenience, fairness, and comity.â Catzin v. Thank You & Good Luck Corp., 899 F.3d 77, 81 (2d Cir. 2018). As a general matter, where âa plaintiffâs federal claims are dismissed before trial, the state claims should be dismissed as well.â Brzak v. United Nations, 597 F.3d 107, 113â14 (2d Cir. 2010) (citation and quotation marks omitted); see Pension Benefit Guar. Corp. ex rel. St. Vincent Catholic Med. Ctrs. Ret. Plan v. Morgan Stanley Inv. Mgmt. Inc., 712 F.3d 705, 727 (2d Cir. 2013). Plaintiff did not address supplemental jurisdiction in his briefing, let alone provide a persuasive reason to depart from the usual practice of declining to exercise supplemental jurisdiction once federal claims are dismissed. Accordingly, I decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over plaintiffâs claim for disability discrimination under the NYSHRL. IV. Defendantsâ Cross-Claims for Contribution and Indemnification The School Defendants and County Defendants filed cross-claims against each other for indemnification and/or contribution. See Cnty. Defs.â Answer ¶ 169; School Defs.â Answer ¶ 171. These claims appear to rest on state law, because they do not invoke any federal source of law. See Cnty. Defs.â Answer ¶ 169 (specifying that indemnification and contribution are sought with respect to plaintiffâs NYSHRL claim, based on âcarelessness, recklessness, negligence . . . and/or breach of warranty and/or breach of contract and/or strict or statutory liabilityâ); School Defs.â Answer ¶ 171 (invoking the same concepts without specifying the claims as to which indemnification is sought). Such claims are âcontingent on [some defendant] being liable to [the plaintiff] in the first instance.â Junger v. Singh, 393 F. Supp. 3d 313, 325 (W.D.N.Y. 2019) (citing Klein v. City & Cnty. Paving Corp., No. 16-CV-2264 (NRB), 2018 WL 4265885, at *7 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 5, 2018)). Having declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over plaintiffâs remaining claims under the NYSHRL, I decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the related state- law questions of indemnification and contribution for the same reasons. See p. 27, supra. CONCLUSION For the reasons explained above, defendantsâ motions for summary judgment are granted as to Piotrowskiâs federal claims, and the Court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over plaintiffâs NYSHRL claim and defendantsâ cross-claims. The Clerk of Court is respectfully directed to enter judgment in favor of defendants and close the case. SO ORDERED. /s/ Rachel Kovner RACHEL P. KOVNER United States District Judge Dated: March 30, 2023 Brooklyn, New York
Case Information
- Court
- E.D.N.Y
- Decision Date
- March 30, 2023
- Status
- Precedential