Batnard v. Malone, 00-2340
| Decision Date | 06 June 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. 00-2568,No. 00-2340,No. 00-2341,No. 00-2569,00-2340,00-2341,00-2568,00-2569 |
| Citation | 268 F.3d 228 |
| Parties | (4th Cir. 2001) JACKSON BAYNARD, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CATHERINE MALONE, former principal of the Charles Barrett Elementary School, Defendant-Appellant, and CRAIG J. LAWSON; ALEXANDRIA CITY SCHOOL BOARD, a body corporate; PAUL MASEM, individually and in his official capacity as former Superintendent of Schools, Alexandria City Public Schools; O.F. DUTCH BECKHOFF, individually and in his official capacity as former Assistant Superintendent of Alexandria City Public Schools; MAXINE J. WOOD, individually and in her official capacity as Assistant Superintendent of Alexandria City Public Schools; SPORTS INTERNATIONAL, INCORPORATED, a Maryland corporation; CONWAY SCHOOL BOARD, a New Hampshire regional school board; ROBERT KAUTZ, individually and in his official capacity as former Superintendent of Conway School Board, Defendants. JACKSON BAYNARD, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. ALEXANDRIA CITY SCHOOL BOARD, a body corporate; PAUL MASEM, individually and in his official capacity as former Superintendent of Schools, Alexandria City Public Schools; O.F. DUTCH BECKHOFF, individually and in his official capacity as former Assistant Superintendent of Alexandria City Public Schools, Defendants-Appellees, and CATHERINE MALONE, former principal of the Charles Barrett Elementary School; CRAIG J. LAWSON; MAXINE J. WOOD, individually and in her official capacity as Assistant Superintendent of Alexandria City Public Schools; SPORTS INTERNATIONAL, INCORPORATED, a Maryland corporation; CONWAY SCHOOL BOARD, a New Hampshire regional school board; ROBERT KAUTZ, individually and in his official capacity as former Superintendent of Conway School Board, Defendants. JACKSON BAYNARD, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CATHERINE MALONE, former principal of the Charles Barrett Elementary School, Defendant-Appellant, and CRAIG J. LAWSON; ALEXANDRIA CITY SCHOOL BOARD, a body corporate; PAUL MASEM, individually and in his official capacity as former Superintendent of Schools, Alexandria City Public Schools; O.F. DUTCH |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit |
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Leonie M. Brinkema, District Judge.
[Copyrighted Material Omitted]
[Copyrighted Material Omitted] COUNSEL ARGUED: William T. Bennett, BURCH & CRONAUER, P.C., Washington, D.C., for Appellants. Stephen C. Glassman, GLASSMAN & BULLOCK, Vienna, Virginia; Francis Joseph Prior, Jr., SICILIANO, ELLIS, DYER & BOCCAROSSE, Fairfax, Virginia, for Appellees. ON BRIEF: Larry N. Burch, Tobi Burch-Rates, BURCH & BURCH-RATES, L.L.C., Greenbelt, Maryland, for Appellee Baynard. William J. Carter, Thomas L. McCally, Tina M. Maiolo, CARR GOODSON, P.C., Washington, D.C., for Appellee Masem.
Before WILKINS and MICHAEL, Circuit Judges, and Irene M. KEELEY, Chief United States District Judge for the Northern District of West Virginia, sitting by designation.
Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Wilkins wrote the majority opinion, in which Chief Judge Keeley joined. Judge Michael wrote an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part.
Jackson Baynard brought this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C.A. S 1983 (West Supp. 2000) and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, see 20 U.S.C.A. SS 1681-88 (West 2000), against Catherine Malone, Otto Beckhoff, Paul Masem, and the Alexandria City School Board ("the ACSB"). Malone appeals an order of the district court denying her motion for judgment as a matter of law. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 50. Baynard cross-appeals orders of the district court granting judgment as a matter of law to Beckhoff, Masem, and the ACSB. We affirm all rulings of the district court.
Prior to and during the 1990-91 school year, Craig J. Lawson was employed by the ACSB as a sixth-grade teacher at Charles Barrett Elementary School, where Malone was the principal. 1 In March 1990, a former student of Lawson's, Steven Leckie, met with Malone and informed her that he had been sexually molested by Lawson when he (Leckie) was a sixth-grade student, some 15 years earlier. Leckie warned Malone that Lawson was a pedophile and advised her to watch out for certain behavior by Lawson, such as spending extra time with a student. Leckie stated, however, that he was not interested in pressing charges against Lawson. The following day, Leckie's mother telephoned Malone and confirmed her son's story. Malone took no action after receiving this information and did not relay the information to anyone. She did not report the alleged incident to Child Protective Services (CPS) because of Leckie's unwillingness to become involved in a police investigation. Later that spring, an unidentified woman informed Malone during a school function that Lawson had sexually molested a student. Malone did not take the woman's name or make any record of this conversation.
In the fall of 1990, Baynard transferred to Charles Barrett Elementary and was assigned to Lawson's classroom. Lawson began to molest Baynard almost immediately, and the abuse continued until Baynard entered college. The abuse occurred on school grounds before, during, and after school hours; Lawson also abused Baynard during camping trips and at Lawson's home.
In November 1990, the school librarian, Lillian Newman, visited Lawson's classroom before school hours and observed Baynard sitting on Lawson's lap ("the lap-sitting incident "). Lawson's arm was around Baynard's shoulders, and their faces were very close together. When Lawson saw Newman he jumped up, spilling Baynard to the floor. Newman thought the behavior was inappropriate and related the incident to Malone later that morning. Malone spoke with Lawson, who apparently convinced her that what Newman had observed was an innocent "father-son chat." J.A. 166. Malone advised Lawson that she had observed excessive physical contact between Baynard and Lawson, which she characterized as being initiated by Baynard. Malone counseled Lawson to limit physical contact with students, and Lawson promised to admonish Baynard to behave more appropriately. Malone took no further action at that time.
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, a teacher at Barrett, Rosemary Herman, reported to Malone that a neighbor had informed her that Lawson abused children. Malone responded that "she couldn't tell [Herman] not to say anything about this, because it was out in the neighborhood." Id. at 368. According to Malone's testimony, it was not until this point that she perceived a danger to Lawson's students. In January 1991, she contacted Beckhoff, the ACSB's personnel director. Malone told Beckhoff about the accusation made by Leckie in March 1990 and Herman's report and informed Beckhoff that Lawson was very physical with the students. However, Malone did not mention Baynard or tell Beckhoff about the lap-sitting incident.
Beckhoff immediately began an investigation. He instructed Malone to keep records of any and all complaints from parents and to monitor Lawson's activities. Malone complied with the latter request by walking the halls of the school several times a day, being sure to stop at Lawson's classroom. She also tried to watch Lawson at recess and observed his interactions with students. Although Baynard often stayed after school with Lawson--sometimes for as long as one and one-half hours--and Lawson frequently gave Baynard a ride home, Malone testified that she never observed them together during the course of her monitoring efforts.
Beckhoff's part of the investigation involved interviewing Leckie and his parents and the husband of the neighbor who had spoken to Herman.2 Beckhoff also examined Lawson's personnel file and contacted Lawson's former school district in New Hampshire. As a result of his investigation, Beckhoff came to believe that Leckie had been abused by Lawson. Beckhoff contacted CPS, which informed him that it could not investigate Leckie's allegations because Leckie was an adult. Beckhoff then involved the Alexandria City Police Department. Leckie cooperated with the police investigation but refused to initiate a tape-recorded telephone conversation with Lawson. As a result, the investigation was closed for lack of evidence.
Soon after the police investigation was closed, Lawson resigned from Barrett. He nevertheless continued to abuse Baynard until Baynard was a freshman in college. Baynard finally reported the abuse, and Lawson was arrested and convicted.
In April 1999, Baynard brought this action alleging, as is relevant to...
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