Buettner-Hartsoe v. Balt. Lutheran High Sch. Ass'n
| Decision Date | 23 June 2021 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. RDB-21-0691,Civil Action No. RDB-20-3267,Civil Action No. RDB-20-3214,Civil Action No. RDB-20-3132,Civil Action No. RDB-20-3229 |
| Parties | DONNA BUETTNER-HARTSOE, et al., Plaintiffs, v. BALTIMORE LUTHERAN HIGH SCHOOL ASSOCIATION, d/b/a/ CONCORDIA PREPARATORY SCHOOL, Defendant. JENNIFER PULLEN, Plaintiff, v. BALTIMORE LUTHERAN HIGH SCHOOL ASSOCIATION, d/b/a/ CONCORDIA PREPARATORY SCHOOL, Defendant. ANDREA CONRAD, et al., Plaintiffs, v. BALTIMORE LUTHERAN HIGH SCHOOL ASSOCIATION, d/b/a/ CONCORDIA PREPARATORY SCHOOL, and LUTHERAN CHURCH-MISSOURI SYNOD, SOUTHEASTERN DISTRICT, Defendants. ARIANA GOMEZ, Plaintiff, v. BALTIMORE LUTHERAN HIGH SCHOOL ASSOCIATION, d/b/a/ CONCORDIA PREPARATORY SCHOOL, and LUTHERAN CHURCH-MISSOURI SYNOD, SOUTHEASTERN DISTRICT, Defendant. SELENA BARBER, et al., Plaintiffs, v. BALTIMORE LUTHERAN HIGH SCHOOL ASSOCIATION, d/b/a/ CONCORDIA PREPARATORY SCHOOL, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Maryland |
These five cases are brought by five different women, all former students of Concordia Preparatory School, previously known as Baltimore Lutheran High School, who make identical allegations of sexual assault and verbal sexual harassment by male students at the school dating back to 2016. They allege that the school failed to adequately address their numerous complaints or take any meaningful action and, indeed, cultivated a "hyper-sexualized culture" at the school. In these series of cases, three minors, N.H., H.C., and A.G., through their respective mothers, Donna Buettner-Hartsoe, Andrea Conrad, and Selena Barber, and two adults, Jennifer Pullen and Ariana Gomez (collectively, "Plaintiffs"), bring federal and state claims against Defendant Baltimore Lutheran High School Association, now doing business as Concordia Preparatory School ("CPS"), and Defendant Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Southeastern District ("LCMS").1 Both Defendants have filed a series of Motions to Dismiss these cases. These defense motions shall be generally DENIED.
In each of these cases, Plaintiffs allege a violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 ("Title IX"), 20 U.S.C. § 1681, et seq. (Count I); negligent supervision and retention (Count II); negligence (Count III); premises liability (Count IV); intentional infliction of emotional distress (Count V); and negligent infliction of emotional distress (Count VI)2. (Case No. RDB-20-3132, Compl., ECF No. 1; Case No. RDB-20-3214, Compl., ECF No. 1; Case No. RDB-20-3229, Am. Compl., ECF No. 24; Case No. RDB-20-3267, Am. Compl., ECF No. 26.) Only Plaintiff H.C., through her mother Andrea Conrad, and Plaintiff Gomez bring claims against Defendant Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod on Counts II, III, V, and VI.3 (See Case No. RDB-20-3229, Am. Compl., ECF No. 24; Case No. RDB-20-3267, Am. Compl., ECF No. 26; Case No. RDB-21-0691, Compl., ECF No. 1.) For the reasonsthat follow, the Motions of CPS to Dismiss the Title IX, negligent supervision, negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims of all five Plaintiffs set forth in Counts I, II, III, and V, are DENIED. Similarly, the Motions of LCMS to Dismiss negligent supervision and negligence claims of two of the Plaintiffs, set forth in Counts II and III, are DENIED. Pursuant to a Separate Scheduling Order to follow, discovery shall proceed in these cases.
The following Motions are presently pending in these cases: Defendant CPS's Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings with Regard to Counts II, IV, V, and VI (Case No. RDB-20-3132, ECF No. 34); Defendant CPS's Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings with Regard to Counts II, IV, V, and VI (Case No. RDB-20-3214, ECF No. 36); Defendant LCMS's Motion to Dismiss (Case No. RDB-20-3229, ECF No. 37); Defendant CPS's Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings with Regard to Counts I, II, IV, V, and VI (Case No. RDB-20-3229, ECF No. 38); Defendant CPS's Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings with Regard to Counts I, II, IV, V, and VI (Case No. RDB-20-3267, ECF No. 79); Defendant LCMS's Motion to Dismiss (Case No. RDB-20-3267, ECF No. 80); and Defendant CPS's Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim as to Counts I, II, IV, V, and VI (Case No. RDB-21-0691, ECF No. 9).
The parties' submissions have been reviewed, and no hearing is necessary. See Local Rule 105.6 (D. Md. 2018). For the reasons that follow, Defendant CPS's Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings with Regard to Counts II, IV, V, and VI (Case No. RDB-20-3132, ECF No. 34); Defendant CPS's Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings with Regard to Counts II, IV, V, and VI (Case No. RDB-20-3214, ECF No. 36); Defendant LCMS's Motion to Dismiss (Case No. RDB-20-3229, ECF No. 37); Defendant CPS's Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings with Regard to Counts I, II, IV, V, and VI (Case No. RDB-20-3229, ECF No. 38); Defendant CPS's Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings with Regard to Counts I, II, IV, V, and VI (Case No. RDB-20-3267, ECF No. 79); Defendant LCMS's Motion to Dismiss (Case No. RDB-20-3267, ECF No. 80); and Defendant CPS's Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim as to Counts I, II, IV, V, and VI (Case No. RDB-21-0691, ECF No. 9) are generally DENIED, but GRANTED IN PART as to some claims. Specifically, Count V (intentional infliction of emotional distress) in Case Numbers RDB-20-3229 and RDB-20-3267 is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE AS TO DEFENDANT LCMS ONLY; and Counts IV (premises liability) and VI (negligent infliction of emotional distress) are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE in all five cases. The remaining motions are denied and this case shall proceed with respect to Counts I, II, III, and V against the Defendant CPS, and Counts II and III against the Defendant LCMS.
In ruling on a motion to dismiss, this Court "accept[s] as true all well-pleaded facts in a complaint and construe[s] them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff." Wikimedia Found. v. Nat'l Sec. Agency, 857 F.3d 193, 208 (4th Cir. 2017) (citing SD3, LLC v. Black & Decker (U.S.) Inc., 801 F.3d 412, 422 (4th Cir. 2015)).
The Plaintiffs in these cases comprise three minor women, N.H., H.C., A.G., their mothers, Donna Buettner-Hartsoe ("Ms. Buettner-Hartsoe"), Andrea Conrad ("Ms. Conrad"), and Selena Barber ("Ms. Barber"), and two adult women, Jennifer Pullen ("Ms. Pullen") and Ariana Gomez ("Ms. Gomez"). Plaintiffs N.H., H.C., A.G., Ms. Pullen, and Ms. Gomez are all former students of Defendant Concordia Preparatory School ("CPS"). (Id.) CPS, originally known as Baltimore Lutheran High School, is a co-educational parochial secondary school for grades 6 through 12. (Id.) CPS is operated by the Baltimore Lutheran High School Association, Inc., which is an organization of Lutheran churches in the Baltimore area. (Id.) In addition, CPS is overseen by the regional Southeastern District of the Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod ("LCMS"), which is the governing body of the Lutheran Church. (Id.)
Plaintiffs allege that CPS has cultivated a "hyper-sexualized culture" since at least 2016 and that "the concept of CPS students engaging in sexual behavior on CPS property, often during the school day, has long been part of CPS's ethos." (Id.) Each individual Plaintiff alleges she has experienced some form of unwelcome sexual conduct by male students at CPS, ranging from verbal sexual harassment to rape. They assert that CPS has consistently failed to investigate, report, or take any meaningful action to address incidences of sexual harassment and assault on its campus. This failure, Plaintiffs allege, resulted in multiple sexual assaults that are the subject of Plaintiffs' respective cases, and which are described in further detail below.
In or around 2017, Plaintiffs allege that a female psychologist abruptly left her position at CPS after CPS's Headmaster, Brent Johnson, refused to allow the psychologist to implement mandatory reporting policies for sexual assault cases. The same year, Plaintiffs also allege that a group of CPS teachers, including Plaintiff Ms. Pullen's mother, went to CPS administration to complain about the sexual assault and harassment occurring on the campus. (Id.) This group of teachers also allegedly raised their concerns at the all-faculty meetings. These concerns were allegedly dismissed by CPS administration and no action was taken in response. (Id.)
During the 2018-2019 academic year, Defendant LCMS allegedly dispatched a "crisis management team" to CPS to address the growing number of sexual assault allegations at the school. (Id.) This team included Sally Hiller, LCMS's Executive Director for Congregational Outreach and District Operations. (Id.) Plaintiffs allege that Ms. Hiller met with faculty during the 2018-2019 school year "to institute intimidating gag orders and quash the faculty's push for the administration to implement more stringent policies concerning sexual assault and harassment." (Id.) Several faculty members allegedly left their positions at CPS after that school year "in protest" over the administration's treatment of sexual assault and harassment issues at the school. (Id.)
Plaintiff minor N.H., through her mother, Ms. Buettner-Hartsoe, alleges that she enrolled at CPS in the fall of 2017, when she was fourteen years old. In or around January 2018, N.H. allegedly began a friendship with a CPS classmate, "John." (Id. ¶ 38.) She alleges that John engaged in a series of...
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