Medina as next friend for N.M. v. Izquierdo
| Decision Date | 28 March 2022 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 21-CV-01934 |
| Parties | Jamie MEDINA, AS the mother and NEXT FRIEND FOR N.M., a minor child, Plaintiff, v. Nicholas IZQUIERDO, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
Jonathan I. Loevy, Cindy Tsai, Loevy & Loevy, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff.
Charles Anthony LeMoine, Molly E. Thompson, Dykema Gossett PLLC, Chicago, IL, for Defendant Nicholas Izquierdo.
Pamela E. Simaga, Katherine Ann Larosa, Kaitlin Atlas, Hodges, Loizzi, Eisenhammer, Rodick and Kohn LLP, Arlington Heights, IL, for Defendants Principal Kris Bacci, Assistant Principal Lynn Byron, Superintendent Valerie M. Donnan, Maggie Norton, Special Education District of Lake County.
Plaintiff Jamie Medina ("Plaintiff"), the mother of her minor son, N.M., brought this suit after two paraprofessionals and a teacher allegedly physically abused N.M. Plaintiff sues the paraprofessionals, Nicholas Izquierdo and Jennifer Aguirre; N.M.’s teacher, Maggie Norton; the Special Education District of Lake County ("SEDOL"); and the school's principal, assistant principal, and SEDOL's superintendent (collectively, "Administration Defendants") pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for various constitutional violations. She also seeks indemnification from SEDOL pursuant to state law. The Administration Defendants and SEDOL jointly moved to dismiss, [14], as did Defendant Norton, [34]. Defendant Izquierdo moved to stay the case as to him, [12]. As discussed below, the Court grants in part and denies in part the motions to dismiss, [14], [34], and denies Defendant Izquierdo's motion, [12].
During the 2018–2019 school year, N.M., a seven-year-old boy with diagnosed behavior disorders requiring specialized assistance, attended Gages Lake School ("Gages Lake"), a special education school in Lake County, Illinois. [1] ¶¶ 6–7. N.M.’s parents chose Gages Lake because it advertised therapies and options to help students like N.M. when they needed to reset and calm down. Id. ¶ 29. Prior to enrolling N.M. at Gages Lake, N.M.’s parents told school officials that N.M. did not respond well to "cement rooms" (unpadded isolation rooms). Id. ¶ 30. The school officials assured N.M.’s parents that the school had several alternatives to such rooms—a movement room, a library-like calming room, or the principal's office filled with toys and activities—that N.M. could use to calm down. Id.
On May 16, 2019, N.M. came home from school upset and in physical pain. Id. ¶ 15. He told his father that his lower back/buttocks area hurt because a paraprofessional, Defendant Nicholas Izquierdo, had forcibly grabbed and pulled his leg, causing him to slam to the ground. Id. ¶ 16. Earlier that day, the school's principal, Defendant Kris Bacci, and N.M.’s teacher, Defendant Maggie Norton, had called N.M.’s mother—the Complaint is silent about why they called her—but neither mentioned that N.M. had been injured. Id. ¶ 17. After N.M. told his parents about his injuries, the parents called the school. Id. ¶ 18. Defendant Norton acknowledged that N.M. "had a hard time in the classroom" that day but denied knowing that N.M. was injured or that Defendant Izquierdo may have hurt him. Id. The school's vice-principal, Defendant Lynn Byron, said that the school would investigate. Id.
The school questioned Izquierdo, but he lied and said N.M. slipped and fell. Id. ¶ 19. Izquierdo also claimed that N.M. said he would falsely tell his parents that Izquierdo tripped him. Id. The school officials believed Izquierdo; N.M.’s parents, unconvinced, insisted that Defendants Bacci and Byron review any video surveillance footage. Id. ¶¶ 20–21. The school had installed video surveillance cameras in the isolation rooms and in common areas of the school, id. ¶ 103, to allow school officials to monitor behavior and "problematic situations, id. ¶ 54, and keep the students safe, id. ¶ 53. By school policy, Gages Lake kept the video footage for thirty days. Id. ¶ 32.
Video footage confirmed N.M.’s allegations against Izquierdo. Id. ¶ 22. The footage revealed that N.M. had been placed in an unpadded cement isolation room with Izquierdo. Id. ¶¶ 25, 28. It revealed that Izquierdo, seated on a rolling chair, tried to snatch N.M.’s legs out from under him. Id. ¶ 25. He then cornered N.M., flipped him upside down, stripped off N.M.’s shoes and threw them out of the room. Id. ¶ 26. Shortly after, he grabbed and pulled N.M.’s right leg. Id. ¶ 27. N.M., his arms flailing, fell to the ground, knocking his head against the cement wall. Id. After the school officials viewed the footage, they gave Izquierdo the option to resign, which he accepted. Id. ¶¶ 22–23. But the school initially refused to let N.M.’s parents see the footage, only agreeing after the police and DCFS began to investigate. Id. ¶ 24.
The school district also began reviewing other video footage that it had from the prior thirty days. Id. ¶ 32. They learned that N.M. had suffered other physical abuse. For example, they found that on May 16, 2019, prior to the incident with Izquierdo, N.M.’s teacher, Defendant Norton, had become aggressive with N.M. in the classroom, causing him to retreat and crouch into a fetal position. Id. ¶ 40. Norton then grabbed N.M. by the wrists and dragged him down the hall to a paraprofessional. Id. Norton had not told N.M.’s parents about this incident when they spoke on May 16, 2019. Id. ¶ 41. Initially, the school placed Norton on leave, but then permitted her to continue teaching. Id. ¶ 42.
Additional video footage showed that N.M. was also sent to an isolation room with Izquierdo on May 10, 2016, where Izquierdo grabbed and pulled N.M.’s leg and yanked him to the ground by holding his upper body. Id. ¶ 34. After N.M. was on the ground, Izquierdo remained in his chair seemingly unconcerned that he may have injured N.M. Id. ¶¶ 35–36. Izquierdo kept N.M. in the isolation room for 11 minutes before placing N.M. alone in another room for 40 minutes. Id. ¶ 37.
In addition, on April 24, 2019, N.M. was sent to the isolation room after he became upset that he could not use the computer. Id. ¶ 44. Another paraprofessional, Defendant Jennifer Aguirre, stayed with N.M. in the isolation room. Id. ¶ 45. Video footage, once again, showed physical abuse. Specifically, Aguirre "tossed N.M. into the room" when he first arrived. Id. ¶ 46. She then struck N.M.’s knees with her own knee, causing him to fall to the ground. Id. ¶ 47. She scolded N.M. while he lay on the ground and he began to exhibit "self-injurious behaviors"—hitting, punching and slapping himself. Id. Rather than help N.M. or make sure he did not harm himself, Aguirre walked away, leaving N.M. unsupervised. Id. A moment later, N.M. began banging his head against the cement wall. Id. When N.M. later tried to leave the room, Aguirre returned, picked him up and "tossed him back in the room and proceeded to kick him." Id. ¶ 48.
Then around May 3, 2019, N.M. was sent to an isolation room for 25 minutes as punishment for touching things in the classroom. Id. ¶¶ 49, 52. Aguirre, assigned to the isolation room with him, ripped off the hat he had worn for Hat Day, grabbed him by the wrist and threw him to the ground. Id. ¶ 51.
Ultimately, N.M.’s parents learned that N.M. had been sent to an isolation room over 60 times during the school year, all without any notice to them. Id. ¶ 58. During the school year, N.M.’s parents noticed that N.M. became afraid to stay alone, even to use the bathroom. Id. ¶ 60. They initially ascribed his behavior to typical childhood fears, but now believe his fear stems from the school repeatedly placing him in isolation rooms. Id.
DCFS also investigated and reviewed video footage; they found that Defendants Aguirre and Izquierdo had also abused other children in isolation rooms. For example, on April 30, 2019, Aguirre pinned another seven-year-old boy to the wall; when he became upset and kicked her, she grabbed him by the neck and threw him to ground. Id. ¶ 64. On May 1, 2019, Izquierdo grabbed a five-year-old boy's leg, causing the boy to fall on his arm. Id. ¶ 65. Then on May 8, 2019, Izquierdo pushed an 8-year-old boy in his chest, causing him to fall. Id.
In all, in a one-month period, Gages Lake staff physically abused, at the very least, eight students in isolation rooms. Id. ¶ 66. In addition, during the 2018–2019 school year, Gages Lake placed students in isolation rooms 1,700 times; 23 percent of these were punitive and not for safety reasons. Id. ¶ 61. DCFS opened 21 investigations of possible abuse, id. ¶ 62. In August 2019, while the state was investigating Aguirre, she committed suicide.1 Id. ¶ 68. In October 2019, the state criminally charged Izquierdo with six counts of child endangerment. Id. ¶ 67.
On April 12, 2021, Plaintiff filed suit in this Court pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. She sues Defendants Norton, Izquierdo and Aguirre for unreasonable seizure and excessive force in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. [1] (Count I). She also sues them, Defendants Bacci, Byron, and SEDOL's Superintendent Valerie Donnan (collectively "Administration Defendants"), and Defendant SEDOL for violating N.M.’s Fourteenth Amendment substantive due process rights by creating an environment that allowed the abuse to "flourish" (Count II), and for failing to intervene to prevent N.M.’s injuries, id. (Count III). Against SEDOL, she brings a § 1983 Monell claim (Count IV) and seeks indemnification pursuant to state law, id. ¶¶ 108–11. She sues the individuals in both their individual and official capacities. Id. at 1.
The Administration Defendants, Defendant SEDOL and Defendant Norton moved to dismiss all claims against them. [14], [34]. Defendants Izquierdo and Aguirre did not move to dismiss, but Izquierdo moved to stay the case as to him while his criminal case remains pending. [12].
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