Sanches v. Carrollton–farmers Branch Indep. Sch. Dist.

Decision Date13 July 2011
Docket NumberNo. 10–10325.,10–10325.
Citation270 Ed. Law Rep. 417,647 F.3d 156
PartiesSamantha SANCHES, Plaintiff–Appellant,v.CARROLLTON–FARMERS BRANCH INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, Defendant–Appellee.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

Harold Dean Jones (argued), Jessica Renee Brown Wilson (argued), Littler Mendelson, P.C., Dallas, TX, for PlaintiffAppellant.Cynthia L. Hill (argued), Henslee Schwartz, L.L.P., Fort Worth, TX, Donald G. Henslee, Henslee Schwartz, L.L.P., Austin, TX, Meredith Prykryl Walker, Henslee Schwartz, L.L.P., Dallas, TX, for DefendantAppellee.Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.Before SMITH, DeMOSS and OWEN, Circuit Judges.JERRY E. SMITH, Circuit Judge:

Samantha Sanches appeals summary judgment on her claims of sex discrimination and retaliation under 20 U.S.C. § 1681(a) (title IX) and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Reduced to its essentials, this is nothing more than a dispute, fueled by a disgruntled cheerleader mom, over whether her daughter should have made the squad. It is a petty squabble, masquerading as a civil rights matter, that has no place in federal court or any other court. We find no error and affirm.

I.

Sanches was a student, and sometimes a cheerleader, at Creekview High School (“Creekview”), in the Carrollton–Farmers Branch Independent School District, from 2005 to 2009. She alleges that during the spring of her junior year in 2008, she was sexually harassed by J.H., who was a Creekview senior and female cheerleader.

J.H. and Sanches's problems began in March 2008, when J.H. was suspended from cheerleading for one week for posting inappropriate Facebook photos. J.H. believed that Sanches's mother, Liz Laningham, had turned over the photos to Creekview administrators, so J.H. threatened to get back at Sanches. On March 12, Laningham warned Cyndi Boyd, Creekview's principal, about J.H.'s comments. Boyd directed Lisa Leadabrand, an assistant principal, to set up a conference with J.H. and her mother to discuss J.H.'s actions.

The same day that Laningham emailed Boyd and Leadabrand about J.H.'s threats, Laningham sent three additional emails—two of which are germane1—describing what she characterized as violations of Sanches's rights. The first email accused another senior cheerleader, K.O., of hazing because K.O. had read a letter to the cheer class that discussed her frustration with the team and some of the cheerleaders' parents.2 Laningham thought the letter was directed at Sanches and her. The second email accused three senior cheerleaders—K.O., M.W., and J.H.—of hazing because they announced that they would make the 2008–09 cheerleader tryouts “as hard as possible so the juniors won't make it.”3 The seniors' plan was not, however, a response to the March Facebook incident: Laningham complained as early as February that the seniors were “going to make the dance extremely hard so the current juniors won't make it.”4

On March 26, J.H. saw Sanches walking down the hall with J.H.'s ex-boyfriend, C.P., and discovered that Sanches had been dating C.P. since spring break. 5 J.H. was upset, and as she walked into the sixth period class she shared with Sanches, J.H. said loudly to her friends that she was in the presence of a “ho” and “would beat her ass if it weren't for cheerleading.” Sanches knew that J.H. was referring to her, and Sanches left sixth period class to call her mother. Laningham immediately contacted the administration, and within two hours Leadabrand assured Laningham that she was investigating the incident. Leadabrand interviewed and took statements from J.H., Sanches, two students who overheard the comments, and the sixth-period teacher. They gave conflicting accounts about what was said, but all agreed that there was visible tension between J.H. and Sanches. Leadabrand switched J.H. to a different sixth period class within five days.

Laningham was worried that the senior girls would try to disadvantage her daughter in the upcoming cheerleader tryouts on April 18; she was upset at what she believed to be the administration's preferential treatment of the senior cheerleaders over Sanches. As a result, Laningham's lawyer wrote a six-page letter to the superintendent, Annette Griffin, complaining of a range of activity: Laningham's belief that Creekview favored J.H., K.O., and M.W. over Sanches; problems with the booster club; Laningham's conflict with the administration over the end-of-year video; and other alleged wrongs.6

In her letter, Laningham spent two sentences discussing the “ho” incident but consumed four paragraphs complaining about the booster club's dissolution and a full page discussing her affront at being asked to turn over production of the end-of-year video to others. Laningham asked for the following relief: (1) that the current junior cheerleaders, including Sanches, be permitted to skip tryouts and automatically be placed on the varsity squad; (2) that Boyd, Leadabrand, and McAtee “be held accountable for their actions and inaction”; and (3) legal costs. Laningham did not ask for any remedy for harassment, nor did she describe the “ho” incident as sexual harassment.

The school district responded to Laningham's letter on April 17, the day before tryouts, through its attorney. The letter noted that [t]he District takes all such allegations seriously, and, with advice and assistance from this firm, intends in due course to fully and thoroughly review such matters and the requested categories of relief.” Preliminarily, however, it notified Laningham that the tryouts would proceed as scheduled. The district believed that the process was fair and impartial: Unbiased judges unaffiliated with Creekview scored the participants, and even if the routine was excessively difficult, it was equally difficult for all the girls.

Before the district sent that response, however, Creekview made changes to the cheerleader tryouts of its own accord. The week of April 14–18 consisted of a clinic at which the students who wanted to try out for the squad learned the routines and practiced with the guidance of the seniors and coaches. On Monday night, after the first night of the clinic, J.H., K.O., and M.W. drove by Sanches's house intending to run up to the front door, ring the doorbell, and run away. But as the girls sat in their car parked outside the house, Laningham saw the girls and chased them away.

The girls voluntarily told Leadabrand what they had done, and Leadabrand in turn reported their actions to Boyd. After investigating the incident further, Boyd notified the girls and their parents on Wednesday, April 16, that they would not be allowed to participate in the clinic for the rest of the week. Boyd explained that such action was necessary “to protect the cheer process, make it equitable to all, and remove any possible threat of perceived intimidation.” In response to that punishment, nine of the ten varsity cheerleaders quit the team.

Ultimately, Sanches did not make the varsity squad. She argues that her scores were suspiciously lower than prior years' tryouts, but she has not pointed to any evidence that the outside judges were partial in any way. There is also no evidence that any senior cheerleader was present during tryouts.

Sanches was allegedly devastated by not making the squad. It was at that point that Laningham began to escalate her complaints against J.H. On April 23, Laningham sent three emails to Boyd complaining of sexual harassment against Sanches. She claimed (1) that on April 11, J.H. had overheard Sanches in the locker room discussing a rash on Sanches's breast, then J.H. started a rumor that Sanches “had a hickey on her boob”; (2) that on April 15, J.H. “cornered” Sanches in the hallway during a passing period, “told [her] that she [J.H.] was having sex with [C.P.],” and “physically touched her by wiping the tears from [Sanches's] eyes”; and (3) that on April 22, J.H. slapped C.P.'s buttock as she walked by Sanches and C.P. and stated that “your ass is so cute and you and [Sanches] are so cute!” Laningham made sure to point out in her emails that the first incident occurred on “the last school day prior to tryout week,” the second on “the second day of tryout week.”

Boyd investigated all three incidents and took statements from the parties involved. She discovered that J.H. was not in the locker room when Sanches discussed the mark on her breast, so J.H. could not have overheard Sanches. J.H. also completely denied the allegation. Further, Sanches was the one who began openly discussing the rash in front of many girls. Regarding the hallway incident, J.H. admitted to talking to Sanches and wiping away her tears but said she was doing so to comfort Sanches because she understood that C.P. was “playing” both of them. Regarding the butt-slap incident, J.H. again admitted to her actions, but C.P. did not find the slap offensive, so no action was taken.

On April 29, while Creekview was investigating Laningham's three complaints, J.H.'s parents wrote Boyd a letter describing their “formal complaint for harassment of [their] daughter” by Laningham and Sanches for bringing unsubstantiated and frivolous complaints against J.H. They stated that the administration was unfairly “allow[ing] one parent to drive an entire program and influence decision making,” and they believed that removing J.H. from the tryout process was unreasonable. Further, they noted that J.H. was taking anti-anxiety medication because of Laningham's actions and because of false rumors in the student body that J.H. had vandalized the Laninghams' home. They requested that the administration uphold its “obligation to protect all students” equally.

After completing the investigation, Creekview decided not to take further action against Sanches or J.H. The administration was receiving conflicting reports about the incidents from both girls and their parents, and by that point in the school year, J.H. had quit cheerleading...

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