Larson by Larson v. Miller

• Decision Date: 31 May 1995
• Docket Number: No. 94-2691,94-2691
• Citation: 55 F.3d 1343
• Parties: 100 Ed. Law Rep. 890 Angela LARSON, a minor, by Joseph and Gail LARSON, her father and mother and next friends, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Roger MILLER; George Spilker; Harvey Bulli; The Papillion-Lavista School District, a Political Subdivision, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 1343

55 F.3d 1343

100 Ed. Law Rep. 890

Angela LARSON, a minor, by Joseph and Gail LARSON, her father and mother and next friends, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Roger MILLER; George Spilker; Harvey Bulli; The Papillion-Lavista School District, a Political Subdivision, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 94-2691.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Jan. 9, 1995.

Decided May 31, 1995.

Bruce G. Mason, Omaha, NE, argued (Vincent P. Sutera, on the brief), for appellant.

John R. Douglas, Omaha, NE, argued (Terry J. Grennan, on the brief), for appellees.

Before HANSEN, Circuit Judge, FLOYD R. GIBSON, Senior Circuit Judge, and WILL, ^* Senior District Judge.

FLOYD R. GIBSON, Senior Circuit Judge.

Joseph and Gail Larson, individually and on behalf of their daughter Angela, appeal the district court's order granting the Appellees' motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict on the Larsons' 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 (1988) and 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1985(3) (1988) claims and dismissing their pendant state negligence claim. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291 (1988). We affirm in part and reverse in part.

I. BACKGROUND

Viewing the evidence and reasonable inferences from the evidence in the light most favorable to the party prevailing at trial, McKnight v. Johnson Controls, Inc., 36 F.3d 1396, 1400 (8th Cir.1994), a jury could reasonably find the following facts. Angela Larson was born on December 3, 1979, and was diagnosed as anophthalmic in her left eye and microthalmic in her right eye, meaning she had no left eye and her right eye was extremely small. Because of Angela's disability, her family relocated to the Omaha metropolitan area in order to take advantage of Omaha's medical and special educational facilities. The Larsons settled within the Papillion-LaVista School District (hereafter "PLSD"), and Angela received home services until she was five years old. When Angela reached kindergarten age, PLSD contracted Angela's special educational services out to the Omaha Public Schools (District 66) due to the severity of her impairment.

When Angela was nine years old, she began attending Oakdale School, which offered a special educational program devised in part by George Spilker, PLSD's Director of Special Services. Angela's parents dropped her off each morning at the Children's Corner Day Care Center, where she was transported in a PLSD van driven by a PLSD employee to Oakdale, which was part of District 66. After school, a PLSD van would transport Angela back to Children's Corner, where she was picked up by her parents. The van driver, Eugene Szynskie, had been a part-time PLSD employee for three years before he was hired as van driver in 1986. Szynskie was interviewed by three PLSD supervisory personnel at that time, but no background check was ever conducted. The only other occupant of the van was a severely and profoundly handicapped youth who possessed minimal communicative abilities.

In the spring of 1988, Angela told her teacher, Jennie Grieb, that Szynskie had been asking her whether she had been breast fed and whether she was wearing silk panties. Grieb, a District 66 employee, promptly apprised Spilker of these inappropriate comments. Spilker passed this information on to Harvey Bulli, PLSD Director of Transportation, who in turn warned Szynskie not to engage in improper conversations with students. No further action was taken, and Szynskie continued to transport Angela to and from Oakdale without incident until January of 1989.

In the fall of 1988, Angela became increasingly withdrawn. On Friday, January 27, 1989, Angela informed her mother that Szynskie had fondled her vaginal area while putting on her seat belt. Gail Larson immediately contacted the principal at Angela's school, who contacted Spilker. Spilker in turn telephoned the Larsons later that evening. Upon learning of Angela's complaint, Spilker repeatedly warned the Larsons of the risk of slander if the charges proved to be untrue and emphasized his opinion that it would be Angela's word against the van driver's. During the conversation, Spilker also insinuated that bringing charges against Szynskie could cause problems for Angela's brother, Eric, who was a sophomore at the local high school. After speaking to the Larsons, Spilker phoned the Chief of Police, Steven Engberg, who promised to run a background check if Spilker would provide the driver's name, social security number, and date of birth.

On the morning of Monday, January 30, Spilker met with PLSD officials, including both Bulli and PLSD Superintendent Roger Miller, in order to apprise them of Angela's complaint. Miller promptly reassigned Szynskie to warehouse duty pending the results of the background check and instructed Spilker to inform the Larsons of the reassignment. Miller then instructed the PLSD Director of Personnel to supply Chief Engberg with the information necessary to complete the background check, which he did. Pursuant to Miller's instructions, Spilker telephoned the Larsons, informed them of Szynskie's reassignment, and told them that they were awaiting the results of the background check. Spilker reiterated his warning regarding the likelihood of a slander suit should they go public with their allegations. Later that morning, Spilker telephoned Gail Larson a second time, reiterated his warning regarding slander, and told her that, according to Bulli, "Angie gave sexual comments to any and all of the substitute drivers, that they all said she gave sexual comments to them." Angie's mother reacted heatedly to this information, saying, "Come on, George, you know that children do not give sexual comments at that age."

Later that evening, the Larsons held a family meeting in which they discussed their options. Based on Spilker's statements, the Larsons assumed they could be sued for slander if they reported Szynskie to the authorities. In addition, they feared some form of retaliation against their son at the local high school. After Joseph and Gail Larson explained the situation to their son, the family decided to contact an attorney in order to "find out about the slander." After being informed that they were shielded from liability if they reported Szynskie to the authorities, Joseph and Gail Larson decided to report him the next day.

Meanwhile, a computer check revealed that Szynskie had been previously arrested for sexual abuse of his step-daughter, but the charges had been dismissed. Upon receiving this information on either Tuesday January 31st or Wednesday, February 1st, Miller, Spilker, and Bulli met again, and Miller decided to terminate Szynskie's employment. Miller instructed Spilker to inform the Larsons that Szynskie had been terminated, but ordered Spilker not to divulge the results of the background check. Later that day, Spilker informed the Larsons, pursuant to Miller's directives, that PLSD had terminated Szynskie. Spilker told them that PLSD would not be filing criminal charges and said that the background check had revealed "nothing pertinent to the case." During this conversation, Spilker repeatedly emphasized the risk of slander and reiterated the theme that it would be Angela's words against the driver's.

The Larsons contacted law enforcement authorities on Tuesday, January 31st. Szynskie was subsequently charged and convicted of two Class IV felony counts of sexual assault of a minor child, Angela Larson. Six months after the incident, Spilker asked Chief Engberg to approve a press release stating that PLSD had reported the alleged abuse on Friday the 27th of January. Engberg refused to approve the release, stating that their conversation that night did not constitute a report in his view.

Angela and her parents sued PLSD, Miller, Spilker, and Bulli, alleging that PLSD and the individual defendants had deprived Angela of her civil rights under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 (1988) and had conspired to deny Angela and her family's civil rights under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1985(3) (1988). The complaint also included a pendant state negligence claim. After a trial on the Larsons' constitutional claims, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the Larsons, awarding $80,001.00 in compensatory damages and $395,001.00 in punitive damages. The pendant negligence claim was taken under submission by the district court, pursuant to Neb.Rev.Stat. Sec. 13-907 (Reissue 1991). ¹ The defendants filed a timely motion for judgment notwithstanding verdict/judgment as a matter of law ² pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 50. ³ The district court granted the motion, setting aside the jury verdicts and entering judgment in favor of the defendants on the constitutional claims. The district court also entered judgment in favor of the defendants on the pendant tort claim, dismissing the Larsons' complaint. The Larsons appeal.

II. DISCUSSION

We review the district court's entry of judgment notwithstanding verdict/judgment as a matter of law in the light most favorable to the party who prevailed before the jury. City of Omaha Employees Betterment Ass'n v. City of Omaha, 883 F.2d 650, 651 (8th Cir.1989). This standard requires this Court to:

(1) resolve direct factual conflicts in favor of the nonmovant, (2) assume as true all facts supporting the nonmovant which the evidence tended to prove, (3) give the nonmovant the benefit of all reasonable inferences, and (4) deny the motion if the evidence so viewed would allow reasonable jurors to differ as to the conclusions that could be drawn.

Pumps and Power Co. v. Southern States Indus., 787 F.2d 1252, 1258 (8th Cir.1986) (quotation omitted).

A. 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983

The Larsons' Sec. 1983 ⁴ claim alleges that PLSD and the individual defendants denied Angela's civil rights by failing to receive, investigate, and act upon Angela's prior complaint and by failing to adequately train its employees in the prevention and reporting of the abuse of handicapped children. We address each argument in turn.

1. Failure to Receive,...