Barnett v. Baldwin Cnty. Bd. of Educ.
| Decision Date | 07 October 2014 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 13–0470–KD–M. |
| Parties | Alec David BARNETT, Jr., et al., Plaintiffs, v. BALDWIN COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Alabama |
Eric Tavaris Hutchins, Alexander City, AL, for Plaintiffs.
Robert C. Campbell, III, Campbell Duke Law Firm, Mobile, AL, James R. Seale, Hill, Hill, Carter, Franco, Cole & Black, P.C., Montgomery, AL, Mark S. Boardman, Katherine H. Watkins, Boardman, Carr, Bennett, Watkins, Hill & Gamble, P.C., Chelsea, AL, for Defendants.
This action is before the Court on the motion for judgment on the pleadings filed by defendants Baldwin County Board of Education, Superintendent Dr. Alan T. Lee, Board President Norman Moore, Board Vice President Robert Callahan, Jr., Board Member David Cox, Board Member David Tarwater, Board Member Elmer McDaniel, Board Member Angie Swiger, Board Member Shannon Cauley, Principal Lee Mansell and Principal Chuck Anderson (docs. 29, 30); the response filed by Alec David Barnett, Jr. as parent and next friend of R.P., a minor, Sidney Pennington as parent and next friend of D.P., a minor, Lenora Chapman as parent and next friend of D.C., a minor, Renee Williams as parent and next friend of A.W., a minor, Andre Stephenson as parent and next friend of L.S., a minor, Isabelle Martinez as parent and next friend of C.M., a minor, and Lenza Lampkin as parent and next friend of R.L., a minor (doc. 32); and the defendants' reply (doc. 33). Upon consideration and for the reasons set forth herein, the motion is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.
Plaintiffs are the parents or next friends of minor children who attend Foley Intermediate School and Central Baldwin Middle School. R.P., D.P., D.C., L.S., C.M., and R.L. attend Foley Intermediate. Student A.W. attends Central Baldwin. They allege that “[d]efendants have engaged in and continue to systematically engage in a racist and discriminatory pattern [policy or custom] of placing the overwhelming majority of African–American, Hispanic, bi-racial, Caucasian students with friends of color, and children whose family members are in inter-racial relationships in On Campus Suspension” in either an enclosed cubicle, the “black box”, pushed against a wall or in a locked closet as punishment or discipline. Plaintiffs allege that while the students are confined, they are separated from their learning environment, are allowed to leave only for lunch and bathroom breaks which results in instances of the students soiling their clothes with urine, defecation or menstruation, or having to smell the stench of other students who previously occupied the “black box”, and “as additional punishment” they are not allowed to have a snack.
Plaintiffs allege that defendants were put on notice of this corporal punishment and discipline of the students in February 2012 when plaintiff Barnett and members of the NAACP met with Principal Mansell and Superintendent Lee at Foley Intermediate. Plaintiffs allege that Defendants continue to utilize the cubicles and locked closets after this meeting.
Plaintiffs also allege that this race-based use of the cubicle and a locked closet denies these students and others similarly situated with access to equal educational opportunity and that while they are confined in the cubicle or closet “they did not receive sufficient educational instruction.” Plaintiffs also allege that using the cubicle or a locked closet to isolate the students from the classroom and academic environment in either the hallway, in the classroom, in a separate facility, or at the front of the school near the principal's office, was extreme and inhumane, humiliating and intimidating, and subjected the students to ridicule.
Plaintiff Barnett alleges that R. P., a student with an individualized education program (IEP) for Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder
(ADHD) and Emotional Disturbance Disorder (EDD), was placed in a cubicle “in isolation from his classroom and academic environment ... next to the principal's office at the front of the school ... in order to punish, humiliate, and intimidate R.P.” and subject R.P. to ridicule. (Doc. 3, p. 11) Barnett also alleges that R.P. was placed in the cubicle without his consent and was not free to leave or use the bathroom without approval of administrators or employees of Foley Intermediate. (Doc. 3, p. 16) There is no allegation as to R.P.'s race.
Plaintiff Pennington alleges that D.P., a student with an IEP for ADHD and Irritable Bowel
Syndrome (IBS), was placed in a cubicle “in isolation from the classroom and academic environment ... next to the principal's office at the front of the school ... to punish, humiliate, and intimidate D.P.” and subject D.P. to ridicule. Pennington also alleges that on “numerous occasions”, D.P. was “placed in the corner of the classroom in a desk with the desk against the wall and his face facing the wall” and that he “did not receive adequate or any instruction from his teacher” and was ridiculed and ostracized. On one occasion, D.P. was forced to use sandpaper to scrub a word from a brick, which resulted in his hand becoming sore, worn and bleeding.1 Pennington alleges that D.P. “suffered severe pain when he was not allowed to use the bathroom.” (Doc. 3, p. 12) Pennington also alleges that D.P. was placed in the cubicle without his consent and was not free to go to the bathroom, despite his IBS. (Doc. 3, p. 16) There is no allegation as to D.P.'s race.
Plaintiff Chapman alleges that D.C. was placed in a cubicle “in isolation from the classroom and academic environment ... next to the principal's office at the front of the school ... in order to punish, humiliate, and intimidate” her and subject her to ridicule. Chapman also alleges that D.C. was not allowed to leave the cubicle, and “on a few occasions,” ... Chapman had to bring a change of clothes because D.C. had urinated and once because of menstruation.
(Doc. 3, p. 13) Chapman also alleges that D.C. was placed in the cubicle without consent and was not free to leave or to go to the bathroom without approval of administrators or employees of Foley Intermediate. (Doc. 3, p. 16) There is no allegation as to D.C.'s race.
Plaintiff Williams alleges that A.W., a student with an IEP for ADHD, was placed in a cubicle “in isolation from the classroom and academic environment ... in a separate facility at Central Baldwin ... in order to punish, humiliate and intimidate A.W.” (Doc. 3, p. 13) Williams also alleges that A.W. was placed in the cubicle without consent and was not free to go to the bathroom without approval of administrators or employees of Central Baldwin. There is no allegation as to A.W.'s race.
Plaintiff Stephenson alleges that L.S., a student with an IEP for Apraxia
, was placed in a cubicle “in isolation from the classroom and academic environment ... next to the principal's office at the front of the school ... in order to punish, humiliate, and intimidate” L.S. L.S. could “smell the stench of urine ... from previous students[.]” (Doc. 3, p. 14) Plaintiff Stephenson also alleges that on “numerous occasions”, L.S. was placed in a locked closet and that while confined L.S. could not go to the bathroom without the permission of administrators.” (Id.) Plaintiff Stephenson alleges that Principal Mansell was aware of this “extremely stressful condition that L.S. had to endure physically and mentally.” (Id.) There is no allegation as to L.S.'s race.
Plaintiff Martinez alleges that C.M., a student with an IEP for Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD) and ADHD, was placed in a cubicle “in isolation from the classroom and academic environment ... in the front of the school next to the principal's office ... in order to punish, humiliate, and intimidate C.M.” and subject C.M. to ridicule. (Doc. 3, p. 15) Martinez also alleges that Principal Mansell “would single C.M. out and search her backpack each day when she got off her bus[.]” (Id.) Martinez also alleges that C.M. was placed in the cubicle for “nearly half of the 182 day school year” and “did not receive adequate and sufficient academic instruction.” (Id.) Martinez also alleges that C.M. was placed in the cubicle without consent and was not free to leave or go to the bathroom without approval of administrators or employees of Foley Intermediate. (Doc. 3, p. 17) There is no allegation as to C.M.'s race.
Plaintiff Lampkin alleges that R.L. was placed in a cubicle “next to the principal's office at the front of the school ... in order to punish, humiliate, and intimidate R.L.” and to subject R.L. to ridicule. (Doc. 3, p. 15) Lampkin alleges that this happened during the fourth, fifth and sixth grades and that his teacher “prohibited R.L. from observing the blackboard as well [as] refused to instruct R.L. academically.” (Id). Lampkin also alleges that R.L. was “placed in a locked closet for multiple days at a time throughout his time at the Foley Intermediate School.” (Id.) Lampkin also alleges that R.L. was placed in the cubicle and the locked closet without consent and that “[f]or a period of three consecutive months R.L. was placed” in the cubicle “[w]hile his teacher instructed his fellow students.” (Doc. 3, p. 17) R.L. is alleged to be bi-racial.
Pursuant to Rule 12(c), a party may move for judgment on the pleadings, after the pleadings are closed. Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(c). Interline Brands, Inc. v. Chartis Specialty Ins. Co., 749 F.3d 962, 965 (11th Cir.2014) (citing Cunningham v. Dist. Attorney's Office for Escambia Cnty., 592 F.3d 1237, 1255 (...
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