Smith v. Harrington
| Decision Date | 27 March 2015 |
| Docket Number | No. C 12-03533 LB,C 12-03533 LB |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of California |
| Parties | THOMAS E SMITH, Plaintiff, v. STEVEN HARRINGTON, PhD., et al., Defendants. |
[Re: ECF No. 84]
In this civil rights action, Plaintiff Thomas Smith sues the Santa Rosa City School District ("District") for retaliation in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 2008 ("ADA") and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 ("Rehabilitation Act"), and he sues four school district officials for violating his Fourteenth Amendment due process right to familial association. The four school officials are as follows: (1) Sharon Liddell, the District's Superintendent; (2) George Valenzuela, the District's Compliance Officer and attorney; (3) Stephen Mayer, Principal of Proctor Terrace Elementary School; and (4) Kim Craven, the District's school psychologist (collectively, the "Individual Defendants"). He filed his lawsuit after the Sonoma County Human Services Department ("SCHSD") removed his daughter A.S. from his custody based in part on two school officials' reports of child abuse. Mr. Smith claims that reports are false and were submitted to SCHSD in retaliation for his advocacy efforts on behalf of his daughter, who was diagnosed withTourette's Disorder.
Defendants move for summary judgment on Mr. Smith's three claims on the grounds that the California Court of Appeal necessarily decided Mr. Smith's challenges to the allegedly false reports in the dependency proceedings concerning A.S. and, in any event, Mr. Smith does not raise genuine issues of material fact that preclude summary judgment. The court agrees and grants summary judgment in favor of Defendants.
The court now sets forth the facts that are supported by authenticated, admissible evidence. (See 2/9/2015 Evidentiary Order, ECF No. 971; 3/11/2015 Evidentiary Order, ECF No. 104.2)
Mr. Smith enrolled his daughter A.S. in Proctor Terrace Elementary School for the 2011-12 school year. (First Declaration of Thomas Smith, ¶ 2, ECF No. 94-5 ("First Smith Decl.").) For the first six months of the school year, from August 2011 until February 2012, Mr. Smith says that he had a very positive parent-teacher relationship with A.S's third grade teacher, Nancy Koski. (Id.) Ms. Koski confirms Mr. Smith's view. During these months, Mr. Smith was actively involved in A.S's schooling: he helped construct the garden on the school's campus; he walked A.S. to and from school every day; and he interacted and socialized with many of the parents of A.S.'s classmates at several school events without incident. (First Smith Decl., ¶ 2.) He also interacted with Ms. Koski on almost a daily basis. (First Smith Decl., ¶ 3.)
In December 2011, Mr. Smith says that A.S. confided in him that she had been bullied by aclassmate, "P," since the start of the school year. (First Smith Decl., ¶ 4.) On December 20, 2011, Mr. Smith sent Ms. Koski an email regarding P's alleged bullying of A.S. The next day, Ms. Koski forwarded the email to Principal Mayer and asked to talk with him about both it and another email regarding P. She also spoke with P about her behavior (which Ms. Koski said could be "bossy" sometimes, see First Moore Decl., Ex. VV) and talked to her class about bullying and teasing. (Eichman Decl., Ex. L.) She did not reply to Mr. Smith regarding his email. (First Smith Decl., ¶ 5.)
On February 14, 2012, the District received a letter from Mr. Smith requesting that A.S., who at that time was eight years old, be evaluated for an individualized education program ("IEP"). (Eichman Decl., Ex. B). The request included a note from A.S.'s doctor indicating that A.S. had received a presumptive diagnosis of Tourette's Disorder on February 9, 2012. (Id.) In response, the District initiated the assessment process. (See Eichman Decl., Ex. C (February 21, 2012 letter outlining the assessment process).) On February 21, 2012, Kim Craven, the District's psychologist, wrote Mr. Smith a letter acknowledging Mr. Smith's request for an IEP and asking him to sign and return a formal "assessment plan" (which she enclosed). (Id.) She noted that A.S. could not be evaluated until he returned it to her. (Id.) She also asked Mr. Smith to fill out and return a "Health and Development Questionnaire" (also enclosed) and to sign a "release and exchange of information" form (also enclosed) so she could communicate directly with A.S.'s medical providers as part of the assessment process. (Id.)
From February 15, 2012 (the day after the District received Mr. Smith's letter) to April 10, 2012, Mr. Smith sent a series of letters and e-mails to various District offices complaining, in part, that A.S. was being bullied by her classmates at Proctor Terrace Elementary School because of her disability (Tourette's Disorder). In an email dated February 15, 2012, Mr. Smith identified P in particular, whom he believed was targeting A.S., and he stated that he believed A.S. had been "hazed" because of her disability. (First Smith Decl., Ex. C.) Mr. Smith said that if the problem was not resolved, he would have no choice but to file a complaint based on discrimination and childneglect. (Id.) Then, on February 21, 2012, the District received a handwritten letter from Mr. Smith stating that A.S. had been chased by four girls and poked with a branch during recess. (First Smith Decl., Ex. D.) And on February 23, 2012, Mr. Smith spoke to Principal Mayer on the phone, during which time Mr. Smith told Principal Mayer that he had spoken to the United States Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights about A.S.'s being bullied. (First Smith Decl., Ex. E.)
The District and its employees responded to Mr. Smith's concerns about bullying. Principal Mayer spoke with Ms. Koski about the alleged bullying, and together they interviewed A.S. and P. Principal Mayer documented the interviews immediately thereafter on February 22, 2012. (See Eichman Decl., Exs. F, G, H (interview notes).)
On February 24, 2012, Principal Mayer provided Mr. Smith with a letter explaining the results of their investigation. (Eichman Decl., Ex. I.) Principal Mayer informed Mr. Smith that P told A.S. that her face looked "weird" when it "spasmsed" at one point during the class field trip on February 14, 2012. (Id.) P said it was the first time she had ever seen A.S.'s face do that. (Id.) P became aware that A.S.'s feelings were hurt by the comment, and she discussed it with her mother later that evening. (Id.) P's mother told her that A.S. was probably embarrassed. (Id.) P also said that she considered A.S. her "best friend" at Proctor Terrace. (Id.) A.S. also stated that there had been no further comments about the incident and it occurred only one time. (Id.)
With regard to the poked-with-a-branch incident, A.S. said that the girls were younger (they were in first grade), and they had a branch from a rosemary shrub that they were pointing and wiggling at A.S. and her friend. (Id.) A.S. told the girls to stop and they did stop. (Id.) A.S. said she did not report the incident to an adult at school because the girls stopped, and she wanted to keep playing. (Id.)
Finally, Mr. Smith had expressed concern that a male student had thrown his backpack and it slid past A.S. and went under a bench. (Id.) Principal Mayer's investigation revealed that the student had thrown his backpack to the bench where students in the class put their backpacks beforegoing to their P.E. class in the morning. (Id.) A.S. was not near where the backpack was thrown, and it was not thrown at her. (Id.)
Based on the information gathered, Principal Mayer concluded that there did not appear to be a pattern of bullying directed at A.S. and that the incidents Mr. Smith was concerned about appeared to be isolated and done without malice or ill-will. (Id.) He assured Mr. Smith that A.S. had been made aware, through the school's anti-bullying curriculum, that if she has problems with other students, she has options, which include her using words to deal with situations with other students and going to an adult at the school for assistance. (Id.) He also assured Mr. Smith that A.S. had been reminded that she should tell her teacher, a playground supervisor, or another adult at school if she has any problems with other students. (Id.)
On February 24, 2012 (the same day Principal Mayer provided Mr. Smith with the above-described letter), Mr. Smith came into the Proctor Terrace office requesting to see A.S.'s cumulative file. (See Eichman Decl., Ex. W.) The office manager said that at the beginning of the encounter he behaved aggressively, asked why certain documents were in the cumulative file and medical file, and told "Connie," the "Elementary Tech.," that a "lousy job" was being done to maintain them. (Id.) He also asked several other questions, which Connie was able to answer. (Id.) Mr. Smith calmed down, apologized to Connie, and said that he was not trying to tell her what to do. (Id.) He then said that there had been a "failed IEP" at A.S.'s previous school because that school "couldn't do the process properly." (Id.) He further said that he believed Proctor Terrace "will be able to do it" and that he "has faith in Proctor Terrace." (Id.)
Also as part of the investigation into Mr. Smith's concerns about bullying, Ms. Craven observed A.S. in the classroom, at lunch, and on the playground,...
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