Miotto v. Yonkers Public Schools

• Decision Date: 22 January 2008
• Docket Number: No. 07 Civ. 1033(WCC).,07 Civ. 1033(WCC).
• Citation: 534 F.Supp.2d 422
• Parties: Stefani MIOTTO, Plaintiff, v. YONKERS PUBLIC SCHOOLS, Bernard P. Pierorazio, Superintendant of Yonkers Public Schools, Steve Mazzola, Principal of Saunders Trades and Technical High School and Greg A. Westhoff, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

534 F.Supp.2d 422

Stefani MIOTTO, Plaintiff, v. YONKERS PUBLIC SCHOOLS, Bernard P. Pierorazio, Superintendant of Yonkers Public Schools, Steve Mazzola, Principal of Saunders Trades and Technical High School and Greg A. Westhoff, Defendants.

No. 07 Civ. 1033(WCC).

United States District Court, S.D. New York.

January 22, 2008.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Norman M. Block, Esq., of Counsel, Norman M. Block, P.C., Hawthorne, NY, for Plaintiff.

Lawrence W. Thomas, Esq., Neelanjan Choudhury, Esq., of Counsel, Donoghue, Thomas, Auslander & Drohan LLP, Hopewell Junction, NY, for Defendants Yonkers Public Schools, Bernard F. Pierorazio, Superintendant of Yonkers Public Schools, and Steve Mazzola, Principal of Saunders Trades and Technical High School.

Linda T. Alster-Nelson, Esq., of Counsel, the Dorf Law Firm, Mamaroneck, NY, for Defendant Greg A. Westhoff.

OPINION AND ORDER

WILLIAM C. CONNER, Senior District Judge.

Stefani Miotto ("Miotto") alleges that while she was a student at the Saunders Trades and Technical High School ("Saunders") in Yonkers, New York, she was sexually harassed by her teacher, defendant Greg A. Westhoff ("Westhoff"). She brings the present action against Westhoff; and against the Yonkers City School District ("the District"); Bernard P. Pierorazio ("Pierorazio"), the Superintendent of Schools of the District; and Steve Mazzola ("Mazzola"), the building principal at Saunders; (the "District defendants") claiming violations of Title IX, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1681 et seq.; violations of Section 296 of the New York Human Rights Law ("NYHRL"), N.Y. EXEC. LAW § 296 and assault' and battery. Defendant Westhoff now moves to dismiss the Title IX claim against him pursuant to FED. R. CIV. P. 12(c). The District defendants move to dismiss claims against Pierorazio and Mazzola under Title IX and Section 296 pursuant to FED. R. CIV. P. 12(c). Plaintiff opposes. For the reasons that follow, Westhoff's motion is granted in its entirety, and the District defendants' motion is granted in part and denied in part.

BACKGROUND

Westhoff was formerly employed by the District as a teacher at Saunders. Plaintiff claims that beginning in December 2005 and continuing through May 2006, "Westhoff began making unwelcome sexual comments and advances to [her], and made unwelcome physical contact with [her], creating a hostile atmosphere." (Complt. ¶ 8.) She claims that Westhoff was the subject of prior similar complaints, which were known to the District, Pierorazio and Mazzola, and that he, was transferred among the Yonkers schools as a result. (Id. ¶¶ 9-11.) Plaintiff filed a complaint with the District on May 19, 2006, after which Westhoff retired with a full pension. (Id. ¶¶ 12-13.) Plaintiff, alleges that no disciplinary or remedial action was taken against Westhoff as a result of plaintiff s complaint or any other complaint against him. (Id. ¶ 4.)

ANALYSIS

I. Legal Standard

"In deciding a Rule 12(c) motion, we apply the same standard as that applicable to a motion under Rule 12(b)(6)." Sheppard v. Beerman, 18 F.3d 147, 150 (2d Cir.1994) (internal citations omitted). On a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), a court must accept as true all of the well-pleaded facts and consider those facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. See Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974), overruled on other grounds, Davis v. Scherer, 468 U.S. 183, 104 S.Ct. 3012, 82 L.Ed.2d 139 (1984); Nechis v. Oxford Health Plans, Inc., 421 F.3d 96, 100 (2d Cir.2005); In re AES Corp. Sec. Litig., 825 F.Supp. 578, 583 (S.D.N.Y.1993) (Conner, J.). Furthermore, in assessing the legal sufficiency of a claim, the court may consider only the facts alleged in the complaint, and any document attached as an exhibit to the complaint or incorporated in it by reference. Sec FED. R. Cry. P. 10(c); Dangler v. N.Y. City Off Track Betting Corp., 193 F.3d 130, 138 (2d Cir.1999); De Jesus v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 87 F.3d 65, 69 (2d Cir.1996).

On a motion to dismiss pursuant to FED. R. CIV. P. 12(b)(6), the issue is "not whether a plaintiff will ultimately prevail but whether the claimant is entitled to offer evidence to support the claims." Eternity Global Master Fund Ltd. v. Morgan Guar. Trust Co. of N.Y., 375 F.3d 168, 177 (2d Cir.2004) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). "The Supreme Court has recently held that [w]hile a complaint attacked by a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss does not need detailed factual allegations, a plaintiffs obligation to provide the grounds of his entitle[ment] to relief requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do." Ello. v. Singh, 2007 WL 3084979, *3 (S.D.N.Y. Oct.19, 2007) (internal quotation marks omitted; alterations in original) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, ___ U.S. ___, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 1964-65, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)); see Iqbal v. Hasty, 490 F.3d 143, 157-58 (2d. Cir.2007) (determining that the Court in Twombly "is not requiring a universal standard of heightened fact pleading, but is instead requiring a flexible `plausibility standard' which obliges a pleader to amplify a claim with some factual allegations in those contexts where such amplification is needed to render the claim plausible.") (emphasis in original). Generally, "[c]onclusory allegations or legal conclusions masquerading as factual conclusions will not suffice to prevent a motion to dismiss." 2 JAMES WM. MOORE ET AL., MOORE'S FEDERAL PRACTICE § 12.34[1][b] (3d ed.1997); see also Hirsch v. Arthur Andersen & Co., 72 F.3d 1085, 1088 (2d Cir.1995). Allegations that are so conclusory that they fail to give notice of the basic events and circumstances of which plaintiff complains, are insufficient as a matter of law. See Martin v. N.Y. State Dep't of Mental Hygiene, 588 F.2d 371, 372 (2d Cir.1978).

II. Individual Liability Under Title IX

Title IX prohibits discrimination against any student based on gender in educational programs receiving federal funding. Discrimination on the basis of sex occurs where a teacher sexually harasses a student. See Franklin v. Gwinnett County Pub. Sch., 503 U.S. 60, 75, 112 S.Ct. 1028, 117 L.Ed.2d 208 (1992). Title IX is enforceable by the federal instrumentalities that disburse the funding and by way of a judicially implied private right of action. See id. Hence, Title IX allows a student to assert a private cause of action against the recipient of the federal funding for the denial of access to education. See Kraft v. Yeshiva Univ., 2001 WL 1191003, at *5 (S.D.N.Y. Oct.5, 2001).

In her Complaint, plaintiff alleges that the individual defendants violated Title IX, and thus are liable for damages in their individual capacities. Defendants argue that the Title IX claims against Westhoff, Pierorazio and Mazzola should be dismissed because there is no individual liability under Title IX, as recognized, by courts within the Second Circuit which have addressed the issue. (Defs. Yonkers Pub. Sch., Pierorazio & Mazzola Mem. Supp. Mot. J. Pldgs. at 2; Def. Westhoff Mem. Supp. Mot. Dismiss at 3.) Plaintiff cites Mennone v. Gordon, 889 F.Supp. 53 (D.Conn.1995), in support of the argument that actions can be asserted under Title IX against individuals with the power to prevent discrimination. (PI. Mem. Opp. Defs. Yonkers Pub. Sch., Pierorazio & Mazzola Mot. Dismiss at 3; Pl. Mem. Opp. Def. Westhoff Mot. Dismiss at 2.) Plaintiff relates the Mennone decision, which looked to § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act in support of its holding, to the Supreme Court decision in Franklin. Plaintiff argues that because Franklin decided that damages could be awarded in a private lawsuit under Title IX by looking to § 504, it is "likely that if specifically asked to consider the liability of an individual under Title IX, the Supreme Court would continue to follow the Section 504 precedent and, like Judge Goettel [in Mennone], hold the individual teacher to be liable." (Pl. Mem. Opp. Defs. Yonkers Pub. Sch., Pierorazio & Mazzola Mot. Dismiss at 4-5; Pl. Mem. Opp. Def. Westhoff Mot. Dismiss at 2-3.)

Numerous district courts in the Second Circuit, including the court that decided Mennone, have held that there is no individual liability under Title IX. See Walter v. Hamburg Cent. Sch. Dist., 2007 WL 1480965, at *8 (W.D.N.Y. May 18, 2007); Zamora v. N. Salem Cent. Sch. Dist., 414 F.Supp.2d 418, 423 (S.D.N.Y.2006); Patenaude v. Salmon River Cent. Sch. Dist., 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29066, at *14 (N.D.N.Y. Feb. 16, 2005); Tesoriero v. Syosset Cent. Sch. Dist., 382 F.Supp.2d 387, 396 (E.D.N.Y.2005) (relying on "overwhelming majority of federal courts" that have held that individuals cannot be held liable under Title IX and thus dismissing claims against individual defendants); Kraft, 2001 WL 1191003, at *5 (finding no other cases that adopt the reasoning of Mennone and dismissing the Title IX claims against the individual defendants); Manfredi v. Mount Vernon Bd. of Educ., 94 F.Supp.2d 447, 455-56 (S.D.N.Y.2000) (relying on weight of authority in Court of Appeals decisions and the Supreme Court decision in Davis v. Monroe County Bd. of Educ., 526 U.S. 629, 638, 119 S.Ct. 1661, 143 L.Ed.2d 839 (1999), to support holding that individuals cannot be held liable under Title IX); Hayut v. State Univ. of N.Y, 127 F.Supp.2d 333, 338 (N.D.N.Y.2000) (dismissing Title IX claims against individual defendants because plaintiff cannot premise individual liability on that statute); Norris v. Norwalk Pub. Sch., 124 F.Supp.2d 791, 795-98 (D.Conn.2000) (rejecting the reasoning of Mennone and holding that a Title IX claim may not be brought against an individual); Niles v. Nelson, 72 F.Supp.2d 13, 17 (N.D.N.Y. 1999) (same); Torres v. NY. Univ., 1996 WL 15691, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. Jan.17, 1996). We see no reason to follow the, Mennone holding, and agree with the preponderance of authority that there it, no individual liability under Title IX.

We also...