Drudge v. City of Kissimmee

• Decision Date: 25 September 2008
• Docket Number: Case No. 6:07-cv-452-Orl-28GJK.
• Citation: 581 F.Supp.2d 1176
• Parties: Sonia DRUDGE, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF KISSIMMEE and Norman Lanphere, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Florida

581 F.Supp.2d 1176

Sonia DRUDGE, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF KISSIMMEE and Norman Lanphere, Defendants.

Case No. 6:07-cv-452-Orl-28GJK.

United States District Court, M.D. Florida, Orlando Division.

September 25, 2008.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Keith R. Mitnik, William Clay Mitchell, Jr., Morgan & Morgan, PA, Orlando, FL, for Plaintiff.

Cindy Ann Townsend, Dale A. Scott, Douglas J. Petro, Law Office of Douglas J. Petro, Michael J. Roper, Bell, Roper & Kohlmyer, PA, Bruce R. Bogan, Deborah I. Mitchell, Hilyard, Bogan & Palmer, PA, Orlando, FL, for Defendants.

ORDER

JOHN ANTOON II, District Judge.

In May 2003, the Kissimmee Police Department ("KPD") presented an arrest affidavit to a state court judge and obtained a warrant for the arrest of Plaintiff, Sonia Drudge ("Ms. Drudge"), for failure to report suspected child abuse, a first-degree misdemeanor under Florida law. A few weeks later, the state attorney's office filed an information charging Ms. Drudge with that offense. In April 2004, however, a county judge dismissed the charge upon concluding that the Florida statute under which Ms. Drudge was charged did not apply to the circumstances of the case.

After the criminal case against her was dismissed, Ms. Drudge filed this lawsuit¹ seeking damages against the City of Kissimmee ("the City") and three of its police officers, contending that her arrest was in violation of the United States Constitution and state law. Ms. Drudge has voluntarily dismissed her claims against two of the police officers, leaving Sergeant Norman Lanphere² and the City as the remaining Defendants. This cause is currently before me on the motions for summary judgment (Docs. 41 & 44) filed by the Defendants.³ Ms. Drudge has filed memoranda in response to the motions (Docs. 52 & 54), and Defendants, with permission of the Court, have filed replies (Docs. 61 & 62) thereto. Having considered the parties' submissions and pertinent law, I conclude that Defendants' motions must be granted as to all of Ms. Drudge's remaining claims.

I. Background

On Monday, May 12, 2003, the father of a second-grader at Kissimmee Elementary School made a complaint to the principal, Dr. Kenneth Meyers, about a game that his daughter's teacher, Matthew Rossillo, had been playing with his daughter and some other students. (Meyers Dep. at 26-30). The father told Dr. Meyers that he liked Mr. Rossillo and did not want to get him in trouble, but the father wanted the game to stop. (Id. at 28). The game involved Mr. Rossillo instructing each student to close her eyes, hold Mr. Rossillo's fingers, and guess how many fingers she was holding. (Id. at 28-29).

Dr. Meyers talked to two of the students, and they confirmed that this game had taken place after school while they were waiting to be picked up. (Id. at 31-32). One of the girls used the term "wiener" in describing the game (id. at 32), and one said she heard a sound like a zipper during the game (id. at 33). After interviewing these two students, at approximately 2:00 p.m. that day Dr. Meyers called the Osceola County Human Resources ("HR") Department and told Lissa Bobet, the Director of HR, that he had received a complaint from a parent about Mr. Rossillo that involved a game being played after dismissal that the father thought seemed unconventional. (Id. at 33-34; Bobet Dep. at 11, 18-19).⁴

In accordance with the procedure that she had been trained to follow, Ms. Bobet notified the associate superintendent of school operations, who directed Ms. Bobet to gather more information regarding the parent's complaint. (Bobet Dep. at 28-30). Pursuant to instructions from the associate superintendent, Ms. Bobet told Dr. Meyers to send Mr. Rossillo to the media center—at the district office, not at the elementary school—while the investigation was being conducted. (Id. at 34-35; see also Meyers Dep. at 37-38).⁵ The associate superintendent also asked that Dr. Meyers and Student Services investigate the complaint. (Bobet Dep. at 34). Ms. Bobet then advised Ms. Drudge, who worked in Student Services as a School Relations Specialist, of the complaint and asked her to investigate it. (Id. at 38-40).

Ms. Drudge first learned of the complaint on Tuesday, May 13th, when Ms. Bobet contacted her about it. (Drudge Dep.⁶ at 39-40, 52-53). Initially, Ms. Drudge did not know specifically what allegation had been made against Mr. Rossillo; Ms. Bobet did not tell her that there was issue regarding potential sexual abuse. (Id. at 53-54). Ms. Drudge then spoke to Dr. Meyers on the phone, and he told her a parent had come to him with some questions about a game that Mr. Rossillo was playing with the students; Dr. Meyers did not describe the game more specifically. (Id. at 54-55).

Ms. Drudge went to the school, arriving sometime after noon on Tuesday, May 13th. (Id. at 55). Dr. Meyers gave Ms. Drudge the names of the students alleged to be involved in the game, and Ms. Drudge began interviewing them at the school. (Id. at 58-59). The first student that Ms. Drudge interviewed told her that during the game, Mr. Rossillo sat in his desk chair and asked her to stand with her back to him; he then would place different fingers in her hand and ask her to guess how many fingers he had placed there. (Id. at 60). The student stated that it did not feel like fingers. (Id.). This student did not use the word "penis," but Ms. Drudge does not recall whether she used the word "wiener." (Id.). In any event, this student's statements caused Ms. Drudge concern and prompted her to continue asking questions to ascertain what was involved in the game. (Id. at 61). After this first interview, Ms. Drudge told Ms. Bobet what this child had said and that she was concerned; Ms. Bobet instructed her to continue interviewing the children who had already been named. (Id. at 67, 69; see also Bobet Dep. at 44-45).

Ms. Drudge interviewed two more students on Tuesday, one of whom did not claim that anything other than fingers were ever placed in her hand and one of whom did, using the word "wiener." (Drudge Dep. at 62-65). This statement concerned Ms. Drudge. (Id. at 66). By then, the school dismissal bell had rung for the day, and when Ms. Drudge tried to reach Ms. Bobet by telephone afterward, Ms. Bobet's secretary informed her that Ms. Bobet had already left her office for the day. (Id. at 67, 73). As she left the Kissimmee Elementary campus that afternoon, Ms. Drudge asked Dr. Meyers to contact the parent who had made the initial complaint to have him bring his child— who had been absent from school on both Monday and Tuesday—to school the following day so that Ms. Drudge could speak with her. (Id. at 67).

On Wednesday, May 14th, Ms. Drudge arrived at the school at around 8:00 a.m and spoke to the child of the parent who had initially complained. (Id. at 67, 79). This child told Ms. Drudge that she had played the game with Mr. Rossillo and was suspicious about what Mr. Rossillo was putting in her hand, using the word "wiener." (Id. at 79-80). This child also said she might have felt Mr. Rossillo's zipper. (Id. at 81).

When Ms. Drudge finished interviewing this fourth child, several of the parents of the children involved were waiting for Ms. Drudge at the office and she met with each of them individually. (Id. at 83). These meetings took the rest of the day, and at the end of the day she spoke to Dr. Meyers and his assistant principal. (Id. at 85). Together, they called Ms. Bobet on the phone, and Ms. Bobet told Ms. Drudge to report to Ms. Bobet's office immediately so that they could meet with the superintendent. (Id.). Ms. Drudge arrived at Ms. Bobet's office at around 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 14th; together, they walked over to the superintendent's office and informed him of Ms. Drudge's findings. (Id. at 85-86). The superintendent was very upset and asked Ms. Drudge and Ms. Bobet to immediately contact law enforcement. (Id. at 86; see also Bobet Dep. at 59-60).

By then, it was after 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 14th. (Drudge Dep. at 87). Ms. Drudge and Ms. Bobet walked back to Ms. Bobet's office, and Ms. Bobet called Deputy Derek Harvey of the Osceola County Sheriff's Office. (Id. at 87-88; Bobet Dep. at 68-69). In Ms. Drudge's presence, Ms. Bobet told Detective Harvey that she had a case involving allegations of inappropriate behavior by a teacher towards children at Kissimmee Elementary School (Drudge Dep. at 88-89; Bobet Dep. at 80). Upon receipt of the report, Detective Harvey told Ms. Bobet that the school was not in the jurisdiction of the sheriff's office and she would need to report the matter to the school resource officer. (Bobet Dep. at 80-81). Accordingly, Ms. Bobet began trying to reach Dr. Meyers, and as she did so Ms. Drudge left Ms. Bobet's office. (Drudge Dep. at 89). Ms. Bobet tried to contact the school resource officer throughout Wednesday evening but was unable to reach him, despite attempts to obtain a number for him from the associate superintendent and Dr. Meyers. (Bobet Dep. at 81-82). The next morning, Thursday, May 15th, Dr. Meyers made contact with the school resource officer, Chad Durham, who in turn contacted his investigative unit with KPD. (See Drudge Dep. at 90-91). Ms. Bobet summoned Ms. Drudge to the school, and the KPD officers who were there arranged for Ms. Bobet and Ms. Drudge to conduct a secretly-recorded interview of Mr. Rossillo that afternoon as part of the investigation of Mr. Rossillo. (Id. at 91-93, 98-99, 114-15).

The following week, arrest affidavits were presented to a state court judge, and arrest warrants were issued for Mr. Rossillo on child abuse charges and for Dr. Meyers, Ms. Bobet, and Ms. Drudge on charges of failure to report child abuse in violation of section 39.205, Florida Statutes. At that time, that section provided in pertinent part: "A person who is required to report known or suspected child abuse, abandonment, or neglect and who knowingly and willfully fails to do so, or who...