Kline ex rel. Arndt v. Mansfield

• Decision Date: 29 September 2006
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 03-4006.
• Citation: 454 F.Supp.2d 258
• Parties: Heather A. KLINE, by and through her Parent and Natural Guardian, Stephanie J. ARNDT, Plaintiffs, v. Troy Paul MANSFIELD, Hamburg Area School District, and Joseph Padasak, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania

454 F.Supp.2d 258

Heather A. KLINE, by and through her Parent and Natural Guardian, Stephanie J. ARNDT, Plaintiffs, v. Troy Paul MANSFIELD, Hamburg Area School District, and Joseph Padasak, Defendants.

Civil Action No. 03-4006.

United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania.

September 29, 2006.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

John J. Speicher, Leisawitz Heller, Wyomissing, PA, for Plaintiffs.

Troy Paul Mansfield, Graterford, PA, pro se.

Jennifer L. Grimes, Mogel Speidel Bobb & Kershner, Reading, PA, Michael I. Levin, Paul N. Lalley, Anne E. Hendricks, Stacy G. Smith, Levin Legal Group P.C., Huntingdon Valley, PA, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM

RAPOPORT, United States Magistrate Judge.

Presently before this Court is the Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Defendants Hamburg Area School District ("School District") and Joseph Padasak (collectively, "Moving Defendants") pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56©, and the Response, Reply and Sur-Reply filed thereto. For the reasons that follow, the Motion will be granted, and Counts II and IV of the Complaint will be dismissed.

I. BACKGROUND.

When Plaintiff Heather Kline ("Heather") was a seventh grade student in the Hamburg Area School District ("School District") she was involved in a sexual relationship with Defendant Troy Paul Mansfield ("Mr.Mansfield"), a sixth grade teacher. Mr. Mansfield was employed by the School District from the early 1998s through 2002, when he was suspended pending investigation of criminal charges filed against him. On March 17, 2004, Mr. Mansfield pled guilty to charges of Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse, Unlawful Contact or Communication with a Minor, Aggravated Indecent Assault, and Corruption of Minors. He is currently incarcerated.

Mr. Mansfield first encountered Heather when he taught her in the third grade. Prior to the 2001-2002 school year, Mr. Mansfield requested and was granted a reassignment from Hamburg Elementary to the Hamburg Area Middle School ("Middle School"). During the 2001-2002 school year, Heather was in the seventh grade, and Mr. Mansfield taught sixth grade. Defendant Dr. Joseph Padasak, Jr. ("Dr.Padasak"), was principal of the Middle School from 1996 through 2001. (Mot.Summ. J., Ex. 4, pp. 8-9.)

Heather and her mother, Stephanie J. Arndt ("Mrs.Arndt") filed their five-Count Complaint on July 7, 2003, alleging that Heather was subject to sexual harassment and sexual abuse by Mr. Mansfield while Mr. Mansfield was a teacher and Heather was a student at the Middle School. Plaintiffs' original Complaint contained the following claims: (1) violations of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1681-1688 against all Defendants (Count I); (2) violations of 42 U.S.C. section 1983 for infringement of Heather's rights to equal protection and privacy under the Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution (Count II); (3) intentional infliction of emotional distress against Mr. Mansfield only (Count III); (4) respondeat superior liability against the School District (Count IV); and (5) sexual assault and battery against Mr. Mansfield (Count V). The case was originally assigned to the Honorable James Knoll Gardner.

On August 20, 2004, Plaintiffs filed a motion to amend their Complaint. The motion was dismissed without prejudice on August 23, 2004. On December 14, 2004, Plaintiffs filed a second motion to amend the Complaint, seeking to withdraw the Title IX claim, add a substantive due process claim, add a failure to train claim, and add facts regarding alleged misconduct of former Assistant School Superintendent Dr. Douglas Macbeth. On September 21, 2005, Judge Gardner denied Plaintiffs' second motion to amend the Complaint. Judge Gardner held that Plaintiffs were not permitted to add substantive due process claims, but Plaintiffs would be permitted to present evidence on the adequacy or inadequacy of the School District's training and policies. The Court also stated that, "[w]hether particular pieces of evidence are admissible, such as the averments as to Dr. Macbeth, will be dealt with at an appropriate time prior to, or during, trial." See Sept. 21, 2005 Order, n. 4.

Because Judge Gardner did not address Plaintiffs' request to withdraw the Title IX claim, Plaintiffs' counsel again sought to withdraw that claim during a November 4, 2005 status conference with Judge Gardner. On November 4, 2005, Judge Gardner Ordered Plaintiffs' Title IX claim contained in Count I of the Complaint dismissed with prejudice. The parties executed and filed a consent to try the case before this Court on December 9, 2005.

The School District and Dr. Padasak ("Moving Defendants") move for summary `judgment on the following claims: Count II — violations of 42 U.S.C. section 1983 for infringement of Heather's right to equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment and right to privacy under the Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution; and Count IV — respondeat superior liability against the School District. Plaintiffs filed a Memorandum of Law opposing the Motion, Defendants filed a Reply Brief, and Plaintiffs filed a Sur-Reply Brief.

II. STANDARD.

Pursuant to Rule 56© of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, summary judgment is proper "if there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56©. The essential inquiry is "whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to the jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 251-252, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The moving party has the initial burden of informing the court of the basis for the motion and identifying those portions of the record that demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). An issue is genuine only if there is a sufficient evidentiary basis on which a reasonable jury could find for the non-moving party. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505. A factual dispute is material only if it might affect the outcome of the suit under governing law. Id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

To defeat summary judgment, the non-moving party cannot rest on the pleadings, but rather that party must go beyond the pleadings and present "specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e). Similarly, the non-moving party cannot rely on unsupported assertions, conclusory allegations, or mere suspicions in attempting to survive a summary judgment motion. Williams v. Borough of W. Chester, 891 F.2d 458, 460 (3d Cir.1989)(citing Celotex, 477 U.S. at 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548). The non-moving party has the burden of producing evidence to establish prima facie each element of its claim. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322-323, 106 S.Ct. 2548. If the court, in viewing all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party, determines that there is no genuine issue of material fact, then summary judgment is proper. Id. at 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548; Wisniewski v. Johns-Manville Corp., 812 F.2d 81, 83 (3d Cir.1987). When the non-moving party will bear the burden of proof at trial, the moving party's burden can be "discharged by `showing' — that is, pointing out to the District Court — that there is an absence of evidence to support the non-moving party's case." Jones v. Indiana Area Sch. Dist., 397 F.Supp.2d 628, 642 (W.D.Pa.2005) (quoting Celotex, 477 U.S. at 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548).

III. DISCUSSION.

A. Plaintiff's Section 1983 Claims.

To establish a claim for civil rights liability pursuant to 42 U.S.C. section 1983, a plaintiff must show: (1) a defendant was acting under color of state law; and (2) that actor deprived them of a right, privilege, or immunity secured by the United States Constitution or federal law. 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Defendants, as employees of the Hamburg Area School District, qualify as state actors for purposes of section 1983 analysis. See Marcolongo v. Sch. Dist. of Phila., No. CIV.A. 98-5196, 1999 WL 1011899, at *5 (E.D.Pa. Nov.5, 1999), aff'd, 262 F.3d 404 (3d Cir.2001). Plaintiffs allege violations of their right to equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment and their right to privacy under the Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. Moving Defendants claim that Plaintiffs have failed to set forth sufficient evidence to allow their case to go to a jury with respect to each of these claims.

Plaintiffs argue that Heather has a Fourteenth Amendment due process right to bodily integrity and to be free from sexual abuse. They assert that Defendants have been on notice of this claim since July 7, 2003, when the Complaint was filed, because they inserted the catchall phrase "including but not limited to," in the following paragraph of the Complaint:

39. All Defendants by their conduct alleged herein intentionally, willfully and without justification did deprive the minor Heather, on grounds of her sex, of her rights privileges and immunities secured to her by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including but not limited to, her rights to equal protection of the law as provided by the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution, and her right to privacy as protected by the Fourth, Fifth and Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments of Constitution in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

Compl, p. 7, ¶ 39 (emphasis added). Defendants argue, in their Brief in Reply to Plaintiffs' Answer, that:

[w]hat Plaintiff ignores, however, is that Plaintiff does not have a Fourteenth Amendment substantive due process claim based on a right to bodily integrity remaining in this case, following Judge Gardner's Order denying their motion to amend. The only Fourteenth Amendment claims remaining in this case are: (1) equal protection;...