Sottosanti-Mack v. Reinhart

• Decision Date: 28 March 2016
• Docket Number: CIVIL ACTION NO. 15-3255
• Citation: 173 F.Supp.3d 94
• Parties: Tina Sottosanti-Mack, Plaintiff, v. John F. Reinhart and Easton Area School District, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania

173 F.Supp.3d 94

Tina Sottosanti-Mack, Plaintiff,

v.John F. Reinhart and Easton Area School District, Defendants.

CIVIL ACTION NO. 15-3255

United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania.

Signed March 28, 2016

Harold J. J. Dewalt, Jr., Nazareth, PA, for Plaintiff.

John E. Freund, III, Keely J. Collins, King, Spry, Herman, Freund & Faul LLC, Bethlehem, PA, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM

Henry S. Perkin

, Magistrate Judge.

This matter is before the Court on the Motion to Dismiss of Defendants John F. Reinhart (“Mr. Reinhart”) and Easton Area School District (“EASD”) Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6)

. This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this suit pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331.¹ Having reviewed and considered the contentions of the parties, the Court is prepared to rule on this matter.

I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY .

This action was commenced on May 14, 2015 by Tina Sottosanti-Mack (“Plaintiff” or “Ms. Sottosanti-Mack”) in the Court of Common Pleas of Northampton County alleging violations of her First Amendment rights pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1983 and various pendent state law claims. Defendants were served with the Complaint on or about May 26, 2015, and on June 9, 2015, the Defendants removed this case to this Court on the basis of federal question jurisdiction. In Count I, she alleges that Mr. Reinhart, the Superintendent of the EASD, violated her First Amendment rights pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983

. In Count II, Ms. Sottosanti-Mack alleges violations of her First Amendment rights by the EASD. In Count III, Ms. Sottosanti-Mack alleges violations of the Pennsylvania Constitution. In Count IV, Ms. Sottosanti-Mack alleges that Mr. Reinhart defamed her and in Count V, Ms. Sottosanti-Mack alleges that Mr. Reinhart committed false light invasion of her privacy.

On June 17, 2015, Defendants filed the instant Motion to Dismiss. On August 12, 2015, Ms. Sottosanti-Mack's Response to the Motion was filed. On August 17, 2015, Judge Stengel approved the consent and transfer for this case to be tried before the undersigned. The Defendants' Reply Brief was filed on August 26, 2015, and Plaintiff's Brief Contra Defendants' Reply Brief was filed on September 8, 2015.

II. FACTS .

Based upon the averments in the Complaint, the pertinent facts, viewed in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, are as follows:

John F. Reinhart is the Superintendent of the Easton Area School District located in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. Compl., ¶ 2. Tina Sottosanti-Mack is the biological mother and a custodial parent of Dante Mack. Compl., ¶ 6. From the beginning of his Fall, 2013 semester of fifth grade through the conclusion of the Spring, 2014 semester, Dante Mack had a classmate, A.B. Id., ¶ 9. A.B. had a number of psychological, emotional and developmental issues which A.B.'s mother had made public in her address during a hearing before the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in 2012. Id., ¶ 10. The address by A.B.'s mother, including detailed information about A.B's behavioral disorders, was picked up by the Associated Press and other news media and given wide publication. Id., ¶ 11.

At the time of A.B.'s enrollment in the Easton Area School District in March, 2012, the school district and its administrative personnel, including John F. Reinhart, had both actual knowledge and constructive knowledge from A.B.'s mother and other sources that A.B. suffered from intermittent explosive disorder

, oppositional defiance disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder and pervasive developmental disorder. Id., ¶ 12. It is believed and therefore averred that the Easton Area School District received written reports that A.B. physically assaulted approximately five (5) classmates, including Dante Mack, during the Fall, 2013 semester. Id., ¶ 13.

In or about January, 2014, A.B. punched both Dante Mack and another fifth grade student in their chests when they told A.B. that he should stop teasing a younger student who suffered from autism

. This incident was also the subject of a written report submitted to school district administrative personnel. Id., ¶ 14. On or about April 1, 2014, A.B. demanded that Dante Mack give to A.B. a pencil saying “if you don't give me the pencil, I'm going to hurt you.” Id., ¶ 15. After Dante Mack refused to surrender his pencil, A.B. seized the particular pencil and jabbed Dante Mack in the cheek, barely missing his eye. Id., ¶ 16. A written report of the pencil jabbing incident was immediately made by or on behalf of Dante Mack and perhaps one or more school district employees. Id., ¶ 17.

On or about April 4, 2014, upon learning that A.B., after a short suspension, was again attending regular classes in the same classroom as Dante Mack, Ms. Sottosanti-Mack contacted Mr. Reinhart to ascertain what actions the school district intended to take to protect her son and other students from the aggression of A.B. Id., ¶ 18. Mr. Reinhart telephonically informed Ms. Sottosanti-Mack that he had no knowledge of the incident of April 1, 2014, but he was sure that any ensuing disciplinary action concerning A.B. had been handled properly. Id., ¶ 19. After additional discussion, Ms. Sottosanti-Mack informed Mr. Reinhart that she was considering contacting the newspaper concerning the matter. Id., ¶ 20. Mr. Reinhart thereupon told Ms. Sottosanti-Mack that she had no idea what she was getting into and that she should be very careful. Id., ¶ 21. Ms. Sottosanti-Mack further informed Mr. Reinhart during said telephone conversation that other parents knew about the situation with A.B. and also were upset. Id., ¶ 22. Mr. Reinhart then informed Ms. Sottosanti-Mack that she and the other parents should not be discussing “school business,” became irate and yelled so loudly at Ms. Sottosanti-Mack that her co-workers were able to overhear Mr. Reinhart's yelling. Id., ¶ 23. When he somewhat regained his composure, Mr. Reinhart again requested that Ms. Sottosanti-Mack not contact the press until he had time “to look into things.” Id., ¶ 24.

A few days after said telephone conversation, Mr. Reinhart left a voicemail message for Ms. Sottosanti-Mack indicating that the disciplinary action that initially had been taken concerning A.B. was appropriate. Id., ¶ 25. Over the course of the ensuing weeks, Ms. Sottosanti-Mack spoke and corresponded with the principal of the Easton Area Middle School Grades 5/6 about the district's response to the incident of April 1, 2014 and about new incidents of A.B.'s bullying of other students, including his utterances of racial epithets and anti-gay sentiments. Id., ¶ 26. On May 15, 2014 at 4:43 p.m., Ms. Sottosanti-Mack forwarded an e-mail to the middle school principal, to Mr. Reinhart and to another school district employee which, among other things, set forth the various disorders suffered by A.B. (listed herein in paragraph 12) as had been published by A.B.'s mother herself and disseminated through various media outlets. Id., ¶ 27. (Compl., Ex. A).

Ms. Sottosanti-Mack's May 15, 2014 e-mail reveals that A.B.'s mother was a source of the information concerning A.B.'s disorders and the e-mail further reveals that Ms. Sottosanti-Mack obtained her information about A.B.'s disorders from an “article” which noted that a representative of the Easton Area School District declined to comment on the article. Id., ¶ 28. On May 16, 2014 at 8:49 a.m., Mr. Reinhart published an e-mail set forth under the subject of “Dante Mack” in response to Ms. Sottosanti-Mack's May 15, 2014 e-mail. Id., ¶ 29.

Mr. Reinhart's e-mail was forwarded to Ms. Sottosanti-Mack; to the school district's attorney, John E. Freund, III; to school district employees, Jena Brodhead, Charlene Symia and William Rider; and to individuals/entities designated as “superteam” and “boe” which the Plaintiff believes represent groups of Easton Area School District employees. Id., ¶ 30. It is believed that all of the addressees of Mr. Reinhart's subject e-mail sent on May 16, 2014 at 8:49 a.m. received, read and comprehended same. Id., ¶ 30. The subject e-mail of Mr. Reinhart reads, in its entirety:

Everyone, please note this clear violation of the law by this individual. Someone at the school has disclosed this information to her and I want to know who it was ...Dr. Symia, please start an investigation into this immediately today and let me know what we uncover.

Mrs. Mack,

Our attorney will seriously and effectively take care of you for obtaining this information and publishing this in an email. You are stepping well over the line of propriety to the point of breaking the law. I suggest that you inform your attorney about this email and I also suggest that you understand that the district will not sit back and permit you to violate the law regarding this type of flagrant offense. I am forwarding this to our attorney this morning. If I find out that you received information from an employee, he or she will be fired immediately.

John Reinhart

Id., ¶ 31 (Compl., Ex. B). Mr. Reinhart published a second e-mail on May 16, 2014 at 4:05 p.m. which was addressed to “Mrs. Mack” and was forwarded to Ms. Sottosanti-Mack, boe, superteam, John Freund, III and Charlene Symia. Id., ¶ 32 (Compl., Ex. C.) It is believed that all of the addressees of Mr. Reinhart's e-mail sent on May 16, 2014 at 4:05 p.m. received, read and comprehended same. Id., ¶ 37. In that e-mail, Mr. Reinhart stated: “I question the wisdom or fairness of publishing such information about another child in an email to others.... You were wrong in doing that.” The email also states, “You told me in our previous conversation that you ‘have friends in that school who are telling you what is going on’.... I asked you for the names of those individuals who are disclosing information to you and you would not give me their names. You threatened me with going to the paper—which you did.” “You write letters to the paper and share medical information in emails about other students without...