The case in summary Markus Hagen Calado (22) sued Kristiansand municipality to get a better offer for him who is dependent on breathing assistance, a wheelchair and people around him at all times due to a serious muscle disease. The family wanted to find out to what extent Markus himself has the right to decide where he wants to live and receive services from the municipality. The municipality has rejected his wish to live in his own apartment and receive the services he needs there, and now he is also not allowed to try his case in court. After the family took the municipality to court, Kristiansand municipality invalidated its own decision and made a new decision, which according to Markus, his parents and the family’s lawyer has the same content. The municipality added a sentence at the end to the effect that, according to section 27 b of the Public Administration Act, the decision cannot be taken to court. The family is determined to fight on for their son, and has complained about the municipality’s new decision. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – Despair is a word that describes how I feel. That’s what Markus Hagen Calado (22) writes in an SMS to news. He has a serious muscle disease that means he is dependent on breathing assistance, a wheelchair and people around him at all times. This spring, news reported that the family sued Kristiansand municipality to get a better offer for the 22-year-old. Now it is clear that his case will not be heard in court. The Agder district court has decided that. Among other things, the family wanted to find out to what extent Markus himself has the right to decide where he wants to live and receive services from the municipality. Must be in during the evening Markus currently lives in assisted living, but wants to live in his own apartment and receive the services he needs there, including full-time BPA. The municipality has rejected that, and now he is also not allowed to try his case in court this time around. – My head was filled with questions that I want to take on to the Prime Minister and the rest of the government at the Storting, writes the 22-year-old. Markus on his way to his room in the 24-hour staffed residence where he lives in Kristiansand. Photo: Espen Bierud / news Before, he could go out with an employee at any time of the day, but last autumn, according to the family, the offer was changed overnight. Today, Markus has the following offer: Six shifts a week. Never after 21.00 as the night watchmen cannot leave the home. X-linked myotubular myopathy A very rare muscle disease that Markus was born with. Only one percent of those affected live to reach the age of 10. The vast majority die as infants. Worldwide, approximately one hundred people are affected by the disease. Markus is the only one in Scandinavia who lives with this disease now and no one has lived as long with the disease as him in this part of the world. The municipality made a new decision After the family summoned the municipality to court this spring, Kristiansand municipality invalidated its own decision and made a new decision. According to Markus, his parents and the family’s lawyer, the new decision has exactly the same content. news has also seen these two decisions and that their content is the same. – They also added a sentence at the end to the effect that, according to section 27 b of the Public Administration Act, the decision cannot be taken to court. I perceive that as sneaky, childish and incredibly dirty, writes Markus and adds: – Where is the legal certainty? The municipality: – Expensive and resource-intensive Hans-Petter Breistein is unit manager for administration and coordination in Kristiansand municipality. In an e-mail to news, he says that the municipality is not trying to avoid court proceedings in the case. – Markus is not deprived of the opportunity to try the case. He has full access to appeal the municipality’s new decision to the State Administrator, says Breistein and adds: – We believe it was unnecessarily expensive and resource-intensive to take the case to court. We believe that the District Court is no better at dealing with the fundamental aspects of the case than the State Administrator. See the full response from Kristiansand municipality further down in the matter. Unit manager Hans-Petter Breistein in Kristiansand municipality. Photo: Kristiansand municipality The family’s lawyer Tor Omar Nyquist says the court’s decision goes against his general sense of justice. – It is a scary development if a municipality or state, in order to avoid court proceedings of a decision, can make new decisions that are similar in content, and then state that the citizens cannot try the old decision in court, he says. He believes the municipality’s new decision has the same content and provides the same services to Markus, but has a slightly more “pedagogical” rationale. Jan Fridthjof Bernt is a professor and expert in public administration. He believes that the municipality is absolutely right that when a new decision is made, it is this decision that must be tested in court and not the old one. – But if this bears the mark of coaching the case, then it is not acceptable and not in line with basic principles of good administrative practice, says Bernt. Professor Jan Fridhjof Bernt says the easiest thing is to submit a new complaint about the new decision and then the case must go to the state administrator. Photo: Åge Algerøy / news Markus’s mother Mai-Lis Hagen, who attends folk high school, finds it despairing to feel that the municipality is working against them. – We feel completely powerless by the way the municipality treats Markus. Now we will not get an answer as to what rights he has. Markus’s mother Mai-Lis Hagen says she was distraught when she realized there was no trial. Photo: Espen Bierud / news Hagen believes the most frightening thing is that the municipality does not see the individual, and that they do not include them in the design of the services that should be around them. – I think the municipality has a conscious strategy that they want to get as many people with disabilities into institutional-like housing as possible. Markus attends Folkehøyskole in Kristiansand three days a week. Here he is with his friends from last year when he was also a student at the folk high school. Photo: Heidi Ditlefsen / news Markus has now started his second year as a student at a folk high school in Kristiansand. In order for him to get to know the new pupils, the parents are there every single evening. – Yesterday I was there until half past one in the morning while Markus and the others played billiards. He is the only one who has to bring his parents with him. How much fun is it, asks stepfather Anders Pettersen rhetorically. The mother and stepfather must now continue to take responsibility for the son being able to live a social life also in the afternoons and evenings. Will fight on Mai-Lis Hagen asks herself how sustainable it is when relatives are made to do so much. – And what are we going to do on the day Markus wants out of working life? How is he going to achieve that without assistance from us as relatives, she asks. Markus with his mother Mai-Lis Hagen inside the room in the staffed residence where he lives. The picture was taken on an earlier occasion. Photo: Espen Bierud / news The family is determined to fight on for their son. They have complained about the municipality’s new decision from this summer. The outcome of this determines what they do next. – I cannot watch my fun-loving and sociable 22-year-old boy being “stewed away” from society. I will never give up fighting for his rights, says Mai-Lis Hagen. For financial reasons, the family has not yet decided whether they will appeal the ruling from the Agder District Court. The response from Kristiansand municipality – Lawyer Tor Omar Nyquist, Markus and his parents believe that Kristiansand municipality is trying to avoid court proceedings by invalidating the decisions taken before the court and making a new, almost identical decision. What is your comment on this? The parents wonder what legal security their son has when it is possible for the municipality to do this. What is your comment on this? – Kristiansand municipality is not trying to avoid court proceedings in this case, and Markus is not deprived of the opportunity to have the case tried. He has full access to appeal the municipality’s new decision to the State Administrator. If he is not approved by the State Administrator, he can still bring the State Administrator’s decision before the court, says unit manager for administration and coordination in Kristiansand municipality Hans-Petter Breistein. – Kristiansand municipality has presented its view on the case and the court has issued its ruling. We believe it was unnecessarily expensive and resource-intensive to take the case to court. We believe that the District Court is no better at dealing with the fundamental aspects of the case than the State Administrator. The municipality complies with decisions made by the State Administrator. – Markus’s mother, Mai-Lis Hagen, believes that the municipality has a conscious strategy that they want to get as many people with disabilities into institutional-like housing as possible. What is your comment on this? – Kristiansand municipality is a home service municipality which for several years has cultivated a conscious strategy of making arrangements for everyone to be able to live at home for as long as possible. This does not only apply to our elderly. This applies to all residents who need health or care services. In this strategy there is also a certainty that for some the daily challenges are too great to be handled in an ordinary home. Then the municipality’s solution is various forms of co-located housing or institutions. With several users gathered around our professional staff, we ensure that the user gets a good place to live, we ensure access to necessary services when needed, and that we use the community’s resources in a way that is sustainable. – Mai-Lis Hagen believes the most frightening thing is that Kristiansand municipality does not see the individual. Nor do they include them in the design of the services that will be around them? – Our task is to ensure that all users – from the oldest to the youngest in the entire municipality – receive necessary and sound health and care services. We must ensure that everyone has their rights safeguarded. Each application is assessed individually and the individual’s wishes and needs are assessed. With a demanding economy and with fewer hands to share the tasks, it entails priorities. We believe we manage this great responsibility in a good way. But we can well understand that some users who are having a hard time experience disappointment and frustration. If someone thinks we are making a mistake, we want them to use the complaint options available. That way, we either get confirmation that we have put ourselves at the right level, or we get to know that we have to change our offer. – The family has complained about the new decision. Do you know anything more about when this complaint will be processed? – The complaint is being processed by Kristiansand municipality and will be processed within 1-2 weeks. If the municipality’s decision is upheld, the case will be sent to the State Administrator for final processing, Hans-Petter Breistein. Published 10.09.2024, at 05.45 Updated 10.09.2024, at 12.27
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Markus Hagen Calado had the lawsuit against Kristiansand municipality dismissed – news Sørlandet – Local news, TV and radio
