Saunders ex rel. R.S. v. USD 353 Wellington
| Decision Date | 31 March 2021 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 19-2538-DDC-TJJ |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Kansas |
| Parties | P.J. SAUNDERS as next friend and guardian of R.S., and REED SAUNDERS, Plaintiffs, v. USD 353 WELLINGTON, et al., Defendants. |
This case features tough facts, numerous claims, and complex issues of federal and state law. It arises from defendants' alleged mistreatment of a severely disabled public-school student named Reed Saunders. Plaintiffs allege that school district employees used sundry forms of physical force on the student over a period of years leading up to a public incident at a school basketball game.
After deep consideration of the questions that the parties present in their four pending motions, the court is prepared to rule. First, the court explains its decision to deny defendant USD 353's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 92). Second, the court reviews defendants Tammy Moore and Brenda Gray's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 96) and explains the reasons it grants that motion in part and denies it in part. Finally, the court turns to defendant Robin Creamer's and plaintiffs' respective Motions for Summary Judgment (Doc. 94 and Doc. 101). The court grants defendant Creamer's motion in part and denies it in part. And then the court grants plaintiffs' own summary judgment motion. The court now provides some fuller background about the motions and supporting briefing before turning to the motions' merits.
Four dispositive motions are pending in this case. They stem from the Third Amended Complaint (Doc. 90) that plaintiffs filed on June 18, 2020. The court briefly outlines the motions and their associated briefs. This outline forecasts the sequence in which this Memorandum and Order considers the motions.
First, defendant USD 353 filed a Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 92) and a corresponding Memorandum in Support (Doc. 93). Plaintiffs filed a Response (Doc. 99). And defendant USD 353 filed a Reply (Doc. 103).
Second, defendant Creamer filed a Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 94) and a Memorandum in Support (Doc. 95). Plaintiffs filed a Memorandum in Opposition (Doc. 98). And defendant Creamer filed a Reply (Doc. 107).
Third, defendants Moore and Gray filed a Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 96) and a Memorandum in Support (Doc. 97). Plaintiffs filed a Response (Doc. 100). Then defendants Moore and Gray filed a Reply (Doc. 105).
Finally, plaintiffs filed a Motion for Summary Judgment against defendant Creamer (Doc. 101) and a Memorandum in Support (Doc. 102). Defendant USD 353 filed a Response (Doc. 110). So did defendant Creamer (Doc. 111). Plaintiffs filed a single Reply (Doc. 112).
The court now turns to the two motions to dismiss. The court begins by reciting the factual background pertinent to these motions.
The following facts come from plaintiffs' Third Amended Complaint (Doc. 90). The court accepts as true all well-pleaded allegations and views them in the light most favorable to plaintiffs. SEC v. Shields, 744 F.3d 633, 640 (10th Cir. 2014).
Plaintiff Reed Saunders is a student within the USD 353 public school district in Wellington, Kansas. Doc. 90 at 2-3 (Third Am. Compl. ¶¶ 8, 12). He "stands approximately five-feet tall and weighs approximately seventy-five pounds." Id. at 2 ). He is "incapacitated and suffers from severe mental retardation, a compromised spine, cerebral palsy, chronic lung disease, blindness, developmental disabilities and a seizure disorder." Id. ). And he scores "below the first percentile in IQ, and has been estimated to function at [an] age range of 1 to 3 years old." Id. at 8 ). Reed Saunders including "eating, communicating, mobility, dressing, using the bathroom and thinking." Id. at 2-3 (Third Am. Compl. ¶¶ 5, 14). To move around, Reed Saunders "must use a walker to ambulate and a wheelchair to cover long distances, and with either mode of transportation, completely relies on the assistance of responsible caretakers." Id. at 2 ).
Reed Saunders attended public school in Kansas. His school was one in USD 353, a Kansas public school district that is based in Wellington, Kansas, and receives federal funds. Id. at 2 ). The school district employed several people named as defendants in this lawsuit: Robin Creamer, Tammy Moore, and Brenda Gray. Id. at 2-3 (Third Am. Compl. ¶¶ 9-11). Defendant Gray is a teacher. Id. at 5 ). She has two para-educators under her direct supervision: defendants Creamer and Moore. Id. Defendant Gray was responsible for (1) directly supervising defendants Moore and Creamer and (2) maintaining compliance with the policy and training requirements for para-educators under her supervision. Id. at 26 ).
Plaintiffs allege that defendant "Gray was mismanaging paraeducators working beneath her and endorsing terrible methods of interacting with Reed Saunders, including pouring cold water on erections, biting him, sitting on him and using military-style pressure points; in addition, not managing her classroom in safe manner[.]" Id. at 15 ) "Each of these concerns about Gray had been reported to the school district by Plaintiff P.J. Saunders or outside agencies to administrators." Id.
In October 2015, plaintiff P.J. Saunders reported several concerns to USD 353 administration. She reported (1) "that Brenda Gray had not been maintaining safe classrooms for Plaintiff Reed Saunders and other students due to her demonstrated inability to supervise para-educators and children[,]" id. at 6 ); (2) "that Brenda Gray had been pouring cold water on Plaintiff Reed Saunders'[s] genitalia[,]" id. ), and (3) "that a para-educator under Brenda Gray's supervision had been using martial-arts style pressure points to control Plaintiff Reed Saunders'[s] behavior with pain[,]" id. ). "In 2015, USD 353 administration also received notice from outside agencies of Brenda Gray's para-educator's use of pressure-point tactics." Id. ). "The military style pressure points tactics cause appreciable and immediate pain upon Reed Saunders . . . ." Id. at 13 ).
In the following years, P.J. Saunders reported other concerns about her son's treatment at school. She "had reported to Defendant Gray and other USD 353 employees in April of 2017 and the Summer and Fall of 2018 that she was concerned about how Defendant Gray's subordinates physically treated Reed Saunders, including dragging him along by the walker." Id. at 13-14 (Third Am. Compl. ¶ 77). On August 25, 2017, Reed Saunders "was discovered to have sustained unexplained bruising in a location on his body where it could not be self-inflicted, and sustained while he was under the supervision of" USD 353. Id. at 13 ).
"Plaintiff P.J. Saunders on multiple occasions in 2018 told USD 353 supervisors that Defendant Creamer and Moore should not be dragging Reed Saunders along by his walker, as such conduct, besides being offensive, could damage his delicate, surgically repaired spine." Id. at 7 ). "Plaintiff P.J. Saunders had reported similar conduct to their supervisor and informed the Defendant School District that this conduct could damage Reed's surgically repaired spine . . . ." Id. at 8 ). Sometime before "January of 2019, USD 353 administrators had also received reports from other USD 353 employees that Brenda Gray had trained her para-educators to bite or sit on children under their supervision." Id. at 6 ).
While a USD 353 student, Reed Saunders attended a school district-sponsored basketball game on January 18, 2019. Id. at 5 ). At that time, defendants Gray, Moore, and Creamer had undertaken the care and custody of Reed Saunders. Id. ). Reed Saunders had been sitting "entirely helpless in his wheelchair" and "did nothing to warrant or provoke any physical restraint or beating . . . ." Id. at 9 ).
Reed Saunders was sitting "entirely helpless in his wheelchair" when defendant "Creamer struck Reed in an angry manner . . . ." Id. at 9, 11 (Third Am. Compl. ¶¶ 48, 61). The boy "did nothing to warrant or provoke any physical restraint or beating by Creamer . . . ." Id. at 9 ). When defendant "Creamer struck Reed, she caused him immediate physical injury and physical pain." Id. at 11 ). Her "conduct occurred in full view of the gymnasium, including her USD 353 supervisor, Defendant Gray." Id. at 10 ). Defendant "Creamer's actions at all times were under the supervision of USD 353 supervisor Brenda Gray." Id. at 6 ).
"Education professionals from other schools in attendance at the game who observed Creamer's conduct . . . described Creamer's action as 'battery at best.'" Id. at 9 ). "A teacher, A.L., from a different high school who had previously worked with Reed, was in attendance at the basketball game and witnessed Creamer strike Reed's arms and yell at him and shout at him: 'You know you don't want to make me mad!'" Id. at 9-10 (Third Am. Compl. ¶ 51). "Teacher A.L. intervened at that point, and went to soothe Reed, who was distraught in his wheelchair." Id. at 10 ). "As Teacher A.L. soothed Reed, Defendant Creamer again aggressively pushed Reed's hand down and shouted at him." Id. ...
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