Biggs v. Edgecombe Cnty. Pub. Sch. Bd. of Educ.
| Decision Date | 18 September 2018 |
| Docket Number | No. 4:16-CV-271-D,4:16-CV-271-D |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of North Carolina |
| Parties | KIMBERLY BIGGS, in her individual capacity and as guardian ad litem of L.B., and L.B., Plaintiffs, v. EDGECOMBE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS BOARD OF EDUCATION, et al., Defendants |
On November 1, 2016, L.B., a minor, ("L.B."), and Kimberly Biggs, in her individual capacity and as lawful guardian ad litem of L.B. ("K.B.") (collectively "plaintiffs") filed a complaint against the Edgecombe County Public School Board of Education ("Board"), John Farrelly, Superintendent of Edgecombe County Public Schools ("Farrelly"), Marc Whichard, Assistant Superintendent and Title IX Coordinator of Edgecombe County Public Schools ("Whichard"), Craig Harris, Southwest Edgecombe High School Principal ("Harris"), Billy Strother, Southwest Edgecombe High School Assistant Principal ("Strother"), Alyssa Parrish-Stafford, Southwest Edgecombe High School Teacher ("Parrish-Stafford"), Dara Harmon, Southwest Edgecombe High School Media Coordinator ("Harmon"), Miles Stafford, Edgecombe County Public School Teacher ("Stafford"), and Rebecca Sugg, Southwest Edgecombe High School Counselor ("Sugg"), alleging twelve causes of action arising out of disciplinary action taken against L.B. for her alleged sexual harassment of two male students [D.E. 1]. On January 19, 2017, before service on any defendant, plaintiffs amended their complaint [D.E. 10]. On March 6, 2017, the Board moved to dismiss the amended complaint for lack of jurisdiction and for failure to state a claim, [D.E. 37], and filed two affidavits regarding the Board's insurance coverage [D.E. 37-1, 37-2] and a memorandum in support [D.E. 38]. On the same day, Farrelly moved to dismiss the claims against him for lack of jurisdiction and for failure to state a claim [D.E. 39] and filed a memorandum in support [D.E. 40]. On March 27, 2017, Harmon, Harris, Parrish-Stafford, Ritter, Stafford, Strother, Sugg, and Whichard moved to dismiss the claims against them for lack of jurisdiction and for failure to state a claim [D.E. 45] and filed a memorandum in support [D.E. 46]. On May 17, 2017, plaintiffs responded in opposition to the three motions to dismiss, [D.E. 54], moved for leave to file a second amended complaint, [D.E. 55], attached a copy of their proposed second amended complaint [D.E. 55-1], and filed a memorandum in support [D.E. 56]. On May 31, 2017, the Board and Farrelly replied [D.E. 59]. Thereafter, the Board and Farrelly responded in opposition to the motion for leave to amend, [D.E. 60], as did Harris, Parrish-Stafford, Ritter, Stafford, Strother, Sugg, and Whichard [D.E. 61].
On August 14, 2017, the court granted plaintiffs' motion for leave to amend, and denied as moot the motions to dismiss the amended complaint [D.E. 62]. Plaintiffs filed their second amended complaint, adding G.W. Carver Elementary School Principal Shannon Castillo ("Castillo"), as a defendant in her individual and official capacities and alleging claims against the Board, Farrelly, in his individual and official capacities, Whichard, in his individual and official capacities, Harris, in his individual and official capacities, Strother, in his individual and official capacities, Ritter, in her individual and official capacities, Parrish-Stafford, in her individual and official capacities, Harmon, in her individual and official capacities, Stafford, in his individual and official capacities, and Sugg, in her individual and official capacities [D.E. 64].
On September 15, 2017, the Board moved to dismiss the second amended complaint for lackjurisdiction and for failure to state a claim [D.E. 67] and filed a memorandum in support [D.E. 68]. On the same day, Farrelly moved to dismiss the second amended complaint for lack of jurisdiction and for failure to state a claim [D.E. 69] and filed a memorandum in support [D.E. 70]. Also on the same day, Harmon, Harris, Parrish-Stafford, Ritter, Stafford, Stretcher, Sugg, and Whichard answered the second amended complaint [D.E. 71]. On October 6, 2017, plaintiffs responded in opposition to the motions to dismiss [D.E. 72, 73] and filed memoranda in support [D.E. 74, 75]. On October 20, 2017, the Board replied [D.E. 76]. On the same day, Farrelly replied [D.E. 77].
On February 7, 2018, the clerk of court notified plaintiffs that they failed to make service on Castillo within the 90 day limit [D.E. 80]. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(m). On February 21, 2018, plaintiffs responded [D.E. 81]. On March 19, 2018, Castillo moved to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction [D.E. 84] and filed a memorandum in support [D.E. 85]. On the same day, Castillo answered the second amended complaint [D.E. 86]. On April 3, 2018, plaintiffs moved to allow service after the deadline [D.E. 87] and filed a memorandum in support [D.E. 88]. On April 6, 2018, plaintiffs responded in opposition to Castillo's motion to dismiss [D.E. 89] and filed a memorandum in support [D.E. 90]. On April 20, 2017, Castillo responded in opposition to plaintiffs' motion to allow service after the deadline [D.E. 91]. On the same day, Castillo replied to plaintiffs' opposition to her motion to dismiss [D.E. 92].
As explained below, the court grants in part and denies in part the Board's motion to dismiss. Plaintiffs' Title IX claims against the Board and K.B.'s claim against the Board under the North Carolina Whistleblower Act survive. The court dismisses all other claims against the Board. The court grants in part and denies in part Farrelly's motion to dismiss. Plaintiffs' 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claims against Farrelly and K.B.'s claim against Farrelly under the North Carolina Whistleblower Act survive. The court dismisses all other claims against Farrelly. Finally, the court grants Castillo'smotion to dismiss, and denies plaintiffs' motion to allow service after the deadline.
L.B. is an academically gifted student at Southwest Edgecombe High School who achieved several honors, accolades, and awards including acceptance to North Carolina Governor's School, designation as Chief Junior Marshal in recognition of possessing the top grade point average in her class, and membership in the National Honor Society. See Sec. Am. Compl. [D.E. 64]. ¶¶ 49-55. "On May 12, 2016, L.B. embarked on a four day school-sponsored field trip to Washington, D.C." with the history club from Southwest Edgecombe High School. Id. ¶ 56. The chaperones on the field trip allowed the students to roam unsupervised at times during the trip. See id. ¶ 60. During some of this unsupervised time, three male students, obtained alcohol and tobacco. See id. ¶ 65. L.B. was concerned about the well being of her male friends because she believed they also intended to consume alcohol and purchase drugs. See id. ¶ 67. L.B. left her motel room to check on them. L.B. entered their room and saw those three males and two other male students drinking alcohol and some possessing marijuana. See id. After about an hour, the two other males left the room. Id. ¶ 68. L.B. stayed in the room with D.M., T.W., and Orozco because "her roommates were already asleep, and she was not provided a room key." Id. ¶ 69.
At about midnight, L.B. laid down on a bed alone and fully clothed and turned away from the others to go to sleep. Id. ¶ 70. Orozco attempted to remove L.B.'s clothing despite her protests, including a direct plea to D.M. See id. ¶¶ 70-73. Both D.M. and Orozco assaulted L.B. and removed "her clothing while she resisted and screamed to turn the lights off." Id. ¶ 74. Eventually L.B. was able to convince them to use protection, but was ultimately unable to escape or otherwise defuse the situation. Orozco and D.M. raped L.B. while T.W., "without L.B.'s knowledge or consent" used his phone to record the incident. See id. ¶¶ 75-76. T.W. distributed this video viaSnapchat, a phone application which allows users to share photos, text, and videos one-on-one or to publish content to a larger audience of peers. See id. ¶ 76. T.W. then announced "I'm next" and indicated his intention to assault L.B. See id. ¶ 77. "Shortly thereafter, one of the students actually assigned to the room knocked on the door" and L.B. was able to get dressed and leave. See id. ¶ 78.
Id. ¶ 79. That afternoon, school officials and local police in Virginia investigated "rumors of underage drinking." See id. ¶¶ 81-82. The local police cited D.M. and Orozco for underage possession of alcohol. See id. ¶ 82. School officials removed D.M. and Orozco from the field trip and suspended them for ten days. See id.
Once school administrators heard rumors about a sexual encounter, administrators began to investigate and questioned L.B. See id. ¶¶ 88-93. Administrators encouraged L.B. to "admit to any involvement in any sexual activity[,]" but did not inform L.B. that she was the target of the investigation. See id. ¶¶ 94-95. L.B. admitted that she engaged in sexual activity on the trip, and was left alone to write a statement, during which time L.B. contacted D.M. with a phone messaging application. See id. ¶¶ 96-99. In the statement, L.B. "paraphrased the events of the evening, while trying to protect the inebriated students who coerced her to have sex, recorded her without permission, and then published the video to her classmates." Id. ¶ 101. Plaintiffs allege that taking L.B.'s statement was the full extent of the investigation that school administrators conducted, that school administrators did not question or punish any of the male perpetrators, and that school administrators made no attempt to corroborate or to further investigate the incident. See id. ¶ 106. Whichard, who is the district ...
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