C.P. Class Action - NJ 45 Day Class Action Settlement

For privacy reasons, and because the B2 Class membership changes daily, Class Counsel do not have a list of class members. If you want to receive regular updates by email, please send an email to info@nj45dayclassaction.com to be added to a mailing list.

In 2019, a group of parents filed a class action lawsuit against the New Jersey Department of Education because special education hearings were taking far too long. Federal rules give the state a deadline. Once a case is sent to the the Office of Administrative Law, or NJOAL, the state has 45 calendar days to give a decision. The only way to get more time is for one side to ask for it and the judge in the case to say yes.

The Court approved two separate classes, the first class is the “23(b)(2) class.” Here is how the court defined that Class:

“All persons who, pursuant to the IDEA, have filed or will file during the period of time that the Court retains jurisdiction, a due process petition with NJDOE, and whose cases are pending in the New Jersey Office of Administrative Law.”

In plain words, you are in the Rule 23(b)(2) (“B2”) Class if:

You filed a special education case raising claims under IDEA, and
Your case is still open at NJOAL.

The group is always changing. Every day, new parents file cases — and they join the group. Every day, other cases get decided, settled, or dropped — and those parents leave the group. The group is never the same list of people for long.

You cannot opt out of this group. “Opt out” means leaving the group on purpose. In some class actions, you can do that. Not in this one. Why? Because what this group gets — the system changes — helps every class member at the same time. You can’t pick and choose. If the system gets faster, it gets faster for everyone.

One important note about mediation. If the only step you took was mediation, you were never in this group. The 45-day timeline starts when a case is transmitted from NJDOE to NJOAL for a due process hearing. Even if your mediation was conducted by an Administrative Law Judge, that was not a transmittal for a due process hearing, so you would not be a member of the B2 Class. This Class only includes people whose cases were transmitted to NJOAL as a due process hearing and are still open there.

HOW DO YOU GET NOTICE IF YOU ARE IN THE CLASS?

The 23(b)(2) Class Members become members of the Class when their case is transmitted from NJDOE to NJOAL for a due process hearing (not for mediation). At the time of transmittal, they receive notice that they are in the Class by a notice on the transmittal paperwork set apart in a black box, in 1 point larger font than the rest of the writing, that says:

CLASS ACTION NOTICE

Due to the entry of a Consent Order in a Class Action, a federal court has appointed a Compliance Monitor to oversee the timely resolution of special education due process hearings. If you believe that your due process petition is not being resolved in a timely manner, you can contact the Special Master at 45days@doe.nj.gov. You can contact Class Counsel at info@NJ45dayclassaction.com with questions or concerns regarding the Consent Order, which is explained here.

The court also approved a “23(b)(3) Issues Class”. Here is how the court defined it:

“All persons who, pursuant to IDEA, filed due process petitions with NJDOE on or after May 23, 2016, who, after their due process petition was transmitted to the NJOAL, did not receive a decision within the timeline as defined in 34 C.F.R. § 300.515(a), (c) and the violation occurred prior to April 11, 2024, the date of approval of the Original Consent Order.”

In plain words, you were in this Class if all five of these are true:

You filed a special education case under IDEA.
You filed your case on or after May 23, 2016.
Your case was sent to the NJOAL.
The state did not give you a decision within the 45-day deadline (taking into account extension requests).
The delayed decision happened before April 11, 2024.

About those two dates:

May 23, 2016 is the earliest day a case can count for this group. Cases filed before that day are not included.
April 11, 2024 is the day the court approved the Original Consent Order. This relief only for covers delayed decisions that happened before that day.

Unlike the 23(b)(2) Class, which keeps changing, the 23(b)(3) Class was fixed. It was defined by things that already happened in the past. Once your facts fit the rules above (or didn’t), that never changed.

What the 23(b)(3) Issues Class got from the settlement: two extra years to file an individual claim in court for relief related to the delays under IDEA. That extra window ran from April 11, 2024 to April 11, 2026, and is now closed. This Class did not get monetary damages or any other relief.

The 23(b)(3) Issues Class received Notice in 2024. When the court approved the April 2024 Consent Order, every 23(b)(3) Class member was sent a notice. The notice explained what the settlement said and what each member’s rights were.

The notice also gave each Rule 23(b)(3) member a chance to opt out by a set deadline in 2024. “A person who opted out did not get the extended deadline to bring claims. A person who did nothing stayed in the group.

That opt-out deadline passed back in 2024. After it passed, no one else could leave the group.

NOTICE OF PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO CONSENT ORDER AFFECTING 23(b)(2) CLASS

On April 11, 2024, in C.P., et al. v. New Jersey Department of Education, the Court approved a Consent Order affecting the rights of the Rule 23(b)(2) Class and the Rule 23(b)(3) Class.

Class Counsel and NJDOE have agreed to a proposed Amended Consent Order in C.P. et al. v. NJDOE. The Court has not yet approved the amendment. The rights of the Rule 23(b)(3) Issues Class are not affected by this amendment.

You may review the proposed Amended Consent Order here and Memorandum of Law here.

You can view the response to the proposed Amended Consent Order filed on April 19, 2026 here and supplemental materials filed on April 26, 2026 here.

You can review the reply in support of approval of the Amended Consent Order, filed on April 27, 2026 here, the Declaration of Judith Gran here, and the Declaration of Catherine Merino Reisman here.

NOTICE to Rule 23(b)(2) Class Members Regarding NJDOE’s Non-Compliance With April 11, 2024 Consent Order

C.P., et al. v. New Jersey Department of Education, et al. Case No. 1:19-cv-12807-ESK-MJS (D.N.J.)

This Notice is for all members of the Rule 23(b)(2) Class in C.P., et al. v. New Jersey Department of Education, et al. You are a member of the Rule 23(b)(2) class if you currently have a special education due process case pending in the New Jersey Office of Administrative Law.

On October 20, 2025, Class Counsel formally notified NJDOE of its failure to comply with the Consent Order entered by the federal court on April 11, 2024. This notification was made pursuant to Paragraph 35 of the Consent Order, which authorizes the Class to seek appropriate relief, including a finding of contempt, if NJDOE fails to meet the requirements in the Consent Order. Our October 20, 2025 correspondence is available here.

The violations we identified include:

Failure to meet the required 95% compliance rate for timely issuance of Final Decisions after full hearings. Only 15% of such cases were compliant during the most recent monitoring period.

Inability to measure compliance at all for “Pending Cases” and “Final Decision – No Full Hearing” cases due to inadequate data collection and recordkeeping.

Failure to implement and properly use the required Adjournment Form, which is essential for tracking hearing extensions.

Failure to put in place an electronic case file system to facilitate tracking of cases, despite prior commitments and allocations of state funds.

Failure to provide action plans for remedying noncompliance in each monitoring period, as required by the Consent Order.

Resulting continued systemic violation of federal regulations requiring final decisions within 45 days.

The Consent Order requires that, before filing a motion for contempt, Class Counsel must provide notice of the violations to NJDOE with proposed remedial action. NJDOE has 30 days to respond and then the parties must meet and confer for 30 days after that response. After the 60-day period has passed, if the parties have not reached an agreement, Class Counsel can file a motion for contempt with the Court and seek relief directly from the Judge.

Given NJDOE’s persistent and systemic noncompliance, Class Counsel has proposed the appointment of a Special Master – a neutral third party with significantly more authority than the Compliance Monitor – to oversee implementation of the Consent Order. The Special Master would report directly to the Court and make recommendations for Orders to ensure compliance. If we cannot reach agreement on our request for a Special Master during the meet-and-confer process mandated by the Consent Order, Class Counsel will proceed with a motion for contempt.

We remain committed to protecting the rights of students with disabilities and ensuring that NJDOE fulfills its legal obligations consistent with the procedures in the April 11, 2024 Consent Order. To that end, please contact us, or, if you are represented by counsel, have your attorney contact us, at info@nj45dayclassaction.com if you experience 45 day rule violations in your case.

This NOTICE and the October 20, 2025 demand letter to NJDOE’s attorneys are available to download here: NOTICE | Letter

Compliance Stage

On April 11, 2024, the federal court for the District of New Jersey approved a Consent Order and Settlement Agreement in C.P. et al. v. New Jersey Department of Education, et al., No. 19-cv-12807. The Original Consent Order provided for a Compliance Monitor.

The Compliance Monitor was only an adviser.

She could watch what the state was doing.
She could collect data about how many cases were on time and how many were late.
She could report on whether the state was getting better.
She could suggest ways for the state to do better.

But here is the key point: she could not make the state do anything. If the state ignored her advice, there was no penalty. The Monitor could write a report. She could say, “I think you should try this.” Then the state got to decide for itself if it wanted to listen. The Monitor’s role was non-coercive – she could not force anything.

The state did try many of her ideas. But after almost two years, the state still was not meeting the 45-day deadline. The Monitor’s reports made one thing clear: just giving advice was not enough.

The Compliance Monitor’s Reports are available here:

The Revised Amended Consent Order provides for appointment of a Special Master as opposed to a Compliance Monitor.

She can do everything the Monitor could do — watch, collect data, and suggest — plus she can make things happen:

She will write a Compliance Plan. The Plan lists what the state must do, by what date, to hit 95% on-time decisions.
The Judge will sign the Plan as a Court Order.
If the state does not follow the Plan, it is violating a Court Order. The Special Master can go straight back to the Judge. That was NOT an option during the initial monitoring period.
The Judge can then issue new orders to push the state harder.
The Special Master can run random checks on cases, do private interviews with parents, and tell the state to fix specific problems.

You can reach Class Counsel by email at info@nj45dayclassaction.com

The Class is currently represented by Catherine Merino Reisman and Judith Gran of Reisman Gran Zuba LLP; Elizabeth Athos and Jessica Levin of Education Law Center; David Giles of the Law Office of David R. Giles; Denise Lanchantin Dwyer of the Law Office of Denise Lanchantin Dwyer LLC; Gregory Little and Jeffrey Wasserman of Wasserman Little LLC.

If your case has been sent to an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) and you need to adjourn the hearing, please use this form to request the adjournment. FORM

If you believe that the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) in your case is violating the Consent Order / Settlement, please send your information to the Court Appointed Monitor at this email address: 45days@doe.nj.gov and Class Counsel at info@nj45dayclassaction.com