A.B. v. Vineland Bd. of Educ.
| Decision Date | 27 June 2018 |
| Docket Number | Civil No. 17-11509 (RBK/KMW) |
| Parties | A.B., as guardian ad litem for her minor child, C.D., Plaintiff, v. VINELAND BOARD OF EDUCATION, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey |
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
This matter comes before the Court on Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Complaint. (ECF No. 9.) Defendant has challenged Plaintiff's complaint with several immunity defenses and also moves for dismissal for failure to state a claim. Because Plaintiff's complaint contains procedural defects that obscure what claims are in the complaint, the Court declines to address most of Defendants' immunity arguments at this time. However, Defendants' motion is GRANTED IN PART with respect to Plaintiff's emotional distress claims.
Plaintiff A.B. brings this action on behalf of her minor daughter, C.D. During the 2015-2016 school year, C.D., then thirteen and in the eighth grade, was enrolled in Rossi Intermediate School (the "School"), which is operated by the Vineland Board of Education (the "Vineland Board"). (Compl. at ¶ 14.)
This case is about improper sexual contacts between a teacher and his thirteen-year-old student. Richard Super, an adult man, had been one of C.D.'s teachers at the School for at least two years. (Compl. at ¶ 55.) During the 2015-2016 school year, Super used his school-issued email to transmit thousands of sexually explicit email messages to C.D. (Compl. at ¶ 56.) The relationship between Super and C.D. was so conspicuous that other students were aware of it during the 2015-2016 school year and often made comments about the relationship in the hallways in class and to C.D. (Compl. at ¶ 63.) For instance, one asked C.D., about "the Super thing . . . if you don't wanna talk about it fine but is it getting better"? (Id. at ¶ 64.)
(Compl. at ¶ 63.) Several exchanges were of a sexual nature. For example:
(Compl. at ¶ 98.) Plaintiff's complaint contains several other disconcerting exchanges. (Id.) These messages were sent at virtually all times, through the late hours of the night and early hours of the morning. (Id. at ¶¶ 70, 73.) On one Friday they exchanged 287 messages. (Id. at ¶ 73.)
This relationship was not limited to texting: C.D. would draw Super pictures and bring him snacks and breakfast. (Id. at ¶¶ 68-69.) C.D. once kissed him on the cheek, and they exchanged a pair of t-shirts as gifts at one point. (Id. at ¶ 67.)
Plaintiff claims numerous individuals were aware of these interactions. She has sued the Vineland Board of Education, which owns and operates the Rossi Intermediate School, as well as that school's superintendent, Dr. Mary Gruccio; principal, Tammy Monahan; and assistant principal, Michael Sullivan. Defendants are alleged to have the authority and responsibility to address discrimination and harassment in the school. They are also alleged to have had actual knowledge of such harassment and to have failed to adequately respond to it. Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants knew of Super's tendency to (a) bring C.D. breakfast; (b) sit with C.D. at lunch; (c) visit C.D.'s gym class; (d) step out of class to talk to C.D. in the hallway; (e) talk to C.D. via email; and (f) give C.D. extra attention during class time. (Compl. at ¶ 41.) Plaintiff alleges these activities violated the Vineland Board's policies.
Plaintiff maintains that Defendants should have been aware of Super's misconduct and harassment of a middle-school girl because of its conspicuous nature, and that through their inaction this was allowed to occur. For example, during a January 14, 2016 deposition, Dr. Gruccio stated:
(Compl. at ¶ 50; Gruccio Dep. 64:13-17.) It is further alleged—without specific textual support—that Superintendent Dr. Gruccio had previously averred that a young male student could be a "willing" participant in sexual activities with a staff member, thereby making a "choice" to participate in sexual activity with a teacher. (Compl. at ¶ 52.)
Principal Monahan observed Super's relationship with C.D. and spoke to an officer of the Vineland Police Department ("VPD") about it on June 2, 2016. (Id. at ¶ 103.) She noted that shehad called Super into her office on May 3, 2016 to speak to him about his meetings with C.D. on two separate occasions during lunch. (Id.) She also told Super that the interactions were not "normal" and that she instructed Super to cease interacting with C.D. (Id.) She stated to another detective that she had a "hunch" and a "feeling" that something was awry. (Id. at ¶ 104.) Monahan stated she had spoken to Super about this on two separate occasions. (Id. at ¶ 105.)
Other teachers noticed worrying behavior. One teacher in the school, Stephanie Coia, had noticed that C.D. was not doing her work in class but was instead vigorously typing. (Id. at ¶ 109.) Every time Coia or an assistant would try to see who C.D. was talking to, she would close the computer. (Id.) Coia also noticed that Super had formerly spent his free period with the other teachers, but that instead of doing so he spent it in the gymnasium weight room. (Id. at ¶ 112.) This free period coincided with C.D.'s gym period. (Id.) Other teachers made the same observation. (Id.) Coia also observed that C.D. always ate popcorn in class, and although C.D. stated it was her mother who gave it to her, Coia later heard C.D. mention to another classmate that it was Super who gave her the popcorn. (Id. at ¶ 113.)
C.D.'s math teacher, Natalie Quackenbush, also noted some irregularities. Super's classroom was adjacent to hers, and C.D. would always spend time with Super in the hallway between classes. (Id. at ¶ 115.) Quackenbush had noticed that C.D. would ask to use the restroom during class, apparently an excuse for her to step out to meet Super. (Id.) She once heard a student exclaim one day that C.D. was chatting with Super over her computer during class. (Id.) After asking C.D. and Super about this, they both denied the claim. (Id.) She, as well as Coia, observed that Super had ceased eating lunch with the other teachers and had started to each lunch with C.D. and the other students, where he sometimes sat with C.D. (Id.) She remembers having to tell C.D. to get to class and stop talking to Super. (Id.)
An aide from Super's classroom also noticed that C.D. and Super had a different handshake than the ones he and other students exchanged. (Id. at ¶ 116.)
Things began to transition to crisis on May 29, 2017. At a parent-teacher meeting, A.B., C.D.'s mother, met with several teachers—Andrea Massaro, Natalie Quackenbush, Stephanie Coia, and another—to discuss C.D.'s poor performance in school. (Id. at ¶ 106.) Towards the end of the meeting the women asked Super to come into the room and asked why C.D. was doing poorly in all her classes save his. A.B. and Coia later recalled that Super was nervous and would not make eye contact. (Id.) It appears he lacked a good explanation and that this may have alarmed him, as a few days later on a field trip, Coia observed that Super was walking around like a "lost puppy" during an 8th grade class trip to Wildwood, New Jersey on June 2, 2016. (Id. at ¶ 110.) She noted that Super was avoiding his colleagues, instead of his usual friendliness. (Id.)
Although not perfectly clear in the complaint, this eventually came to the attention of the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office. Its investigation revealed criminal...
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