Doe v. Savannah-Chatham Cnty. Pub. Sch. Sys.
| Decision Date | 03 August 2021 |
| Docket Number | CV418-180 |
| Parties | JANE DOE II, as Administrator of the Estate of Jane Doe I; and JOHN DOE I Plaintiffs, v. SAVANNAH-CHATHAM COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM and MARVIN T. JOHNSON, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Georgia |
Before the Court is Defendant Marvin T. Johnson's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 39) and Defendant Savannah-Chatham County Public School System's ("the District") Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 43). For the following reasons, Defendant Johnson's motion (Doc. 39) is GRANTED and the District's motion (Doc. 43) is GRANTED.
BACKGROUND[1]
This case involves an alleged sexual assault of Plaintiff John Doe by his high school assistant principal, Defendant Johnson. The District hired Defendant Johnson in 1997 as the band director for Savannah High School and in 2017 the District promoted him to assistant principal. (Doc 49, Attach. 5 at 8.) At the time Defendant Johnson became an assistant principal, John Doe was a sophomore at Savannah High School. (Doc. 43, Attach. 7 at ¶ 12; Doc. 50 Attach. 9 at ¶ 12.)
On January 31, 2017, John Doe stayed after school for detention. (Doc. 43, Attach. 7 at ¶ 19; Doc. 50, Attach. 9 at ¶ 19.) Defendant Johnson was present at detention. (Doc 43, Attach. 7 at ¶ 20; Doc. 50, Attach. 9 at ¶ 20.) Defendant Johnson told John Doe that if he stayed late to help with after-school events that night, John Doe would not need to serve anymore detention. (Doc. 43, Attach. 7 at ¶ 21; Doc. 50, Attach. 9 at ¶ 21.) John Doe called his mother and she gave him permission to stay late. (Doc. 43, Attach. 7 at 11 22; Doc. 50, Attach. 9 at ¶ 22.) After the events ended, Defendant Johnson asked John Doe if he wanted a ride home. (Doc. 43, Attach. 7 at ¶ 26; Doc. 50, Attach. 9 at ¶ 26.) John Doe accepted Defendant Johnson's offer. (Doc. 43, Attach. 7 at ¶ 26; Doc. 50, Attach. 9 at ¶ 26.)
Instead of taking John Doe directly home, Defendant Johnson told John Doe that he needed to first drop off files at his house. (Doc. 43, Attach. 7 at ¶ 32; Doc. 50, Attach. 9 at ¶ 32.) When they arrived at Defendant Johnson's house, Defendant Johnson walked inside and told John Doe to follow him. (Doc. 4 9, Attach. 3 at 120.) John Doe followed Defendant Johnson into the house and then realized that he had forgotten his glasses in Defendant Johnson's car. (Id. at 121.) John Doe went back outside to the car to retrieve his glasses and, when John Doe returned to the house, Defendant Johnson had taken off his pants. (Id.) Defendant Johnson told John Doe to take his pants off and John Doe complied. (Id.) Defendant Johnson then gestured for John Doe to perform oral sex on him and John Doe proceeded to do so. (Id. at 125-126.) While in the house, Defendant Johnson also forcibly penetrated John Doe. (Id. at 127.)[2]
After the assault, Defendant Johnson drove John Doe home. (Id. at 128.) During the car ride, Defendant Johnson asked John Doe repeatedly whether he was going to ''tell." (Id.) Defendant Johnson and John Doe had no other sexual encounters after this incident. (Id. at 48.)
In approximately February or March of 2017, John Doe wrote Defendant Johnson a letter, wherein John Doe stated that he had slept with another teacher and that the teacher paid him $600 to "keep [his] mouth shut . . . . "[3] (Doc. 43, Attach. 1 at 16-17, 66.) John Doe also requested that Defendant Johnson buy him an iPhone for $769.99. (Id.) After receiving John Doe's letter, Defendant Johnson gave John Doe an unknown amount of cash. (Doc. 4 9, Attach. 3 at 50.)
In April 2017, John Doe noticed a rash forming on his body.[4](Doc. 43, Attach. 1 at 20-21.) On April 28, 2017, John Doe emailed Defendant Johnson and asked Defendant Johnson if he had HIV or AIDS. (Doc. 50, Attach. 7 at 19.) Defendant Johnson responded, "Boy this is my work email and no." (Id. at 19.) John Doe then replied that Defendant Johnson was "the only person [he] had sex with . . . ." (Id. at 16.) Defendant Johnson replied, "When I get back in town I'm going to get tested[, ] if something anything [sic] comes back we [are going to] have a problem." (Id. at 14.)
On Sunday, April 30, 2017, John Doe told his mother about the January 31 incident with Defendant Johnson. (Doc. 43, Attach. 7 at ¶ 47; Doc. 50, Attach 9 at ¶ 47.) Prior to telling his mother, John Doe had not disclosed the incident to anyone else. (Doc. 49, Attach. 3 at 65-66.) The next day, Monday, May 1, 2017, John Doe's mother and stepfather went to Savannah High School to speak with Defendant Johnson. (Doc. 50, Attach. 1 at 17-18.) When John Doe's parents approached Defendant Johnson, he called Tammy Broadnax, the principal of Savannah High School, and told her she needed to come speak with John Doe's parents. (Id. at 18.) When Broadnax reached John Doe's parents, they were very upset and told her that Defendant Johnson had been "messing with [their] son." (Id.)
Broadnax directed Defendant Johnson to wait in his office while she spoke with John Doe's parents and Broadnax called the school's resource officer. (Id.) John Doe's mother then told Broadnax and the resource officer about the January 31 incident between John Doe and Defendant Johnson. (Id. at 19.) John Doe's stepfather retrieved John Doe from class and John Doe told Broadnax and the resource officer about the incident between he and Defendant Johnson. (Id.) Right away, the resource officer called the Metro Police Department. (Id.)
Officers from the Metro Police Department came to the school and obtained a statement from John Doe. (Id. at 19-20.) After John Doe spoke with Metro officers, the District arranged for John Doe and his family to meet with Dr. Quentina Miller-Fields. (Doc. 43, Attach. 7 at ¶ 54; Doc. 50, Attach. 9 at ¶ 54.) Dr. Miller-Fields promptly arranged for Doe to be transferred to another school. (Doc. 43, Attach. 7 at ¶ 54; Doc. 50, Attach. 9 at ¶ 54.)
Broadnax listened to John Doe give his statement to the officers and then immediately called her supervisor, Aretha Rhone-Bush, and the District's director of risk management, Rob Gordon. (Doc. 4 3, Attach. 7 at ¶ 53; Doc. 50, Attach. 9 at ¶ 53; Doc. 50, Attach. 1 at 20.) Broadnax also called the Savannah High School social worker so that she could contact the Department of Family and Child Services. (Doc. 43, Attach. 7 at ¶ 53; Doc. 50, Attach. 9 at ¶ 53; Doc. 50, Attach. 1 at 20.) Gordon instructed Broadnax to meet with Defendant Johnson and ascertain his version of the incident. (Doc. 50, Attach. 1 at 20.) In his office, Defendant Johnson told Broadnax that there were "two sides to the story." (Id.) Defendant Johnson claimed that, at some point that year, John Doe came into his office, tried to kiss Defendant Johnson and bit Defendant Johnson on the lip. (Id.) Broadnax asked Defendant Johnson why he did not report this incident earlier, to which Defendant Johnson replied, (Id.) Broadnax then told Defendant Johnson to refrain from telling her any more information about the incident. (Id.)
Later that morning, Defendant Johnson met with Gordon and the District's Chief Human Resources Officer, Ramon Ray. (Doc. 43, Attach. 7 at ¶ 56; Doc. 50, Attach. 9 at ¶ 56.) During that interview, Defendant Johnson denied having an inappropriate relationship with John Doe and gave Ray and Gordan the letter that John Doe had written Defendant Johnson requesting money for a new cellphone. (Doc. 43, Attach. 7 at ¶ 56; Doc. 50, Attach. 9 at ¶ 56.) After this meeting, District officials prohobited Defendant Johnson from having access to students. (Doc. 43, Attach. 7 at ¶ 59; Doc. 50, Attach. 9 at ¶ 59.)
Either late in the afternoon on May 1 or on May 2, District officials searched Defendant Johnson's school email account and discovered the April 2017 email exchange between he and John Doe. (Doc. 43, Attach. 7 at ¶ 60; Doc. 50, Attach. 7 at ¶ 60.) After reviewing the emails and the letter from John Doe to Defendant Johnson, District officials internally decided not to renew Defendant Johnson's employment contract. (Doc. 50, Attach. 8 at 22.) Ray testified that the decision to not renew a teacher's contract is required by statute and is "in effect, a termination." (Doc. 50, Attach. 8 at 15.) He also testified that this decision was the most efficient way to terminate Defendant Johnson considering that the District was required to decide whether to renew all teachers' contracts by May 15 and that terminating Defendant Johnson immediately would have required additional procedures. (Doc. 43, Attach. 5 at 4-5.)
On May 11, 2017, the District notified Defendant Johnson that his contract would not be renewed and that his employment with the District would terminate on June 30, 2017. (Doc. 43 Attach. 5 at 36.) On May 15, 2017, Defendant Johnson requested a hearing under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-942 regarding the nonrenewal of his contract.[5] (Id. at 55.) In response, the District scheduled a hearing for August 9, 2017 and sent Defendant Johnson a letter explaining the reasons for his nonrenewal. (Id. at 57-59.) In the letter, the District explained that it recommended Defendant Johnson's contract for nonrenewal because he "failed to report suspected child abuse as a mandatory reporter" and because he "intentionally provided untruthful testimony during an administrative inquiry . . . ." (Id. at 57.) The District explained that Defendant Johnson had a duty to report John Doe's claim in the letter that John Doe had slept with another teacher and that Defendant Johnson failed to discharge this duty. (Id. at 57-58.) The District also explained that Defendant Johnson, in his email exchange with John Doe, seemed to acquiesce to John Doe's...
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