Tachias v. Los Lunas Sch. Bd. of Educ.

• Docket Number: Civ. No. 1:21-cv-00085 MIS/JFR
• Decision Date: 24 October 2022
• Citation: 636 F.Supp.3d 1328
• Parties: Rowena TACHIAS and Monique Dereta, Plaintiffs, v. LOS LUNAS SCHOOLS BOARD OF EDUCATION, Bryan Smith, in his individual capacity and in his official capacity as President of the Los Lunas Schools Board of Education, Eloy Giron, in his official capacity as Vice President of the Los Lunas Schools Board of Education, Steven Otero, in his official capacity as Secretary of the Los Lunas Schools Board of Education, Frank Otero, in his individual and official capacity as a member of the Los Lunas Schools Board of Education, P. David Vickers, in his official capacity as a member of the Board of Education, and Dana Sanders, in her individual capacity, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of New Mexico

636 F.Supp.3d 1328

Rowena TACHIAS and Monique Dereta, Plaintiffs, v. LOS LUNAS SCHOOLS BOARD OF EDUCATION, Bryan Smith,in his individual capacity and in his official capacityas President of the Los Lunas Schools Board of Education,Eloy Giron, in his official capacity as Vice President of the Los Lunas Schools Board of Education,Steven Otero, in his official capacity as Secretary of the Los Lunas Schools Board of Education,Frank Otero, in his individual and official capacity as a member ofthe Los Lunas Schools Board of Education,P. David Vickers, in his official capacity as a member of the Board of Education,and Dana Sanders, in her individual capacity, Defendants.

Civ. No. 1:21-cv-00085 MIS/JFR

United States District Court, D. New Mexico

Filed October 24, 2022

Matthew M. Beck, Peifer, Hanson, Mullins & Baker, P.A., Albuquerque, NM, Leon F. Howard, III, ACLU, Albuquerque, NM, for Plaintiffs.

Jerry A. Walz, Walz and Associates, Albuquerque, NM, for Defendants Los Lunas Schools Board of Education, Bryan Smith, Frank Otero.

Carlos M. Quinones, Quinones Law Firm, Santa Fe, NM, for Defendant Dana Sanders.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT DANA SANDER'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

MARGARET STRICKLAND, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

THIS MATTER is before the Court on Defendant Dana Sanders' ("Defendant") Motion for Summary Judgment on Basis of Qualified Immunity ("Motion"). ECF No. 24. Plaintiffs Rowena Tachias and Monique Dereta (collectively, "Plaintiffs") filed their Response, and Defendant filed her Reply. ECF Nos. 34, 43. Having considered the parties' submissions, the record, and the relevant law, the Court will deny the Motion.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND¹

This case centers around a dispute between two parents (Plaintiffs), the Los Lunas School District ("District"), and its Superintendent (Defendant) over a Facebook page titled the "Los Lunas School District Parent Discussion Page." The facts below are undisputed and stated in the light most favorable to Plaintiffs for purposes of the present Motion.²

I. Creation of the Los Lunas School District Parent Discussion Page

Plaintiffs are residents of Valencia County, New Mexico, and have children and grandchildren who attended public schools in Los Lunas, New Mexico. ECF No. 24 at 2, ¶ 1. In February 2011, Plaintiffs created a Facebook page titled the "Los Lunas School District Parent Discussion Page" and became the page administrators. Id. at 3, ¶ 3. By the fall of 2011, the Los Lunas School District Parent Discussion Page had amassed approximately 180 members. Id. at 3, ¶ 6. Plaintiffs currently limit the invitation process of the page to "administrator approval only." Id. at 3, ¶ 5. The page's content is primarily user-generated, with posts consisting of commentary made by its members. Id. at 3, ¶ 7.

II. Defendant's Concerns Regarding the Los Lunas School District Parent Discussion Page

The Los Lunas Schools Board of Education ("Board") is the duly elected board of education for the District and oversees several schools—including Valencia Middle School and Valencia High School. See ECF No. 1 at 4, ¶ 11; 5, ¶ 20; 9, ¶ 31. Defendant was employed as the Superintendent of Schools for the District from 2014 to August 2020. ECF No. 24 at 3, ¶ 2.

Around the summer of 2018, Defendant started to have concerns regarding the Los Lunas School District Parent Discussion Page. During this period, Defendant conducted an internet search that showed Plaintiffs' page as one of the first pages appearing in a Google search for "Los Lunas Schools." Id. at 3, ¶ 8. Defendant then came to believe the page and use of the term "Los Lunas Schools" were confusing and misleading to persons searching for information regarding the District and its operations and had at times been mistaken for a forum monitored and approved by District administrators. Id. at 4, ¶ 9. Further, during Defendant's tenure as Superintendent, parents and community members complained about Plaintiffs' page. Id. at 4, ¶ 10. Numerous phone calls were made to the District's central office relaying confusion caused by Plaintiffs' page and the erroneous impression held by some callers that the page was the official site for information on the District. Id. at 4, ¶ 10. At the same time, Defendant was aware that at least some individuals understood the page to be a "parent group Facebook page," not an official page sponsored by the District. See ECF No. 24-11 at 1.

One category of confusion caused by the page related to "snow days," where posts on the page provided incorrect information on whether such days involved school closure(s) or a delay in start time. ECF No. 24 at 4, ¶ 11. Another example related to the school calendar for the District, where an "old" copy of the 2019-2020 calendar was posted to the page. Id. at 4-5, ¶ 13.

Also, Defendant had additional concerns about postings that allegedly identified minor children. Id. at 5, ¶ 14. While some of these postings involved parents identifying their own children, Defendant expressed concern as a professional educator that these parents had done so without knowledge or information of their rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ("FERPA").³ Id. at 5, ¶ 14.

The page also included postings about District employees, stating criticisms or concerns regarding specifically named employees and inviting comments from other participants. Id. at 5, ¶ 15. District staff complained about these postings to their building administrators, who brought the matters to Defendant's attention. Id. at 5, ¶ 15. Defendant believed these posts would be especially concerning as they could subject District employees to termination by the Board. Id. at 5-6, ¶ 16.

III. Report of District Principal Allegedly Threatening Student

On October 12, 2018, a community member posted on the Los Lunas School District Parent Discussion Page alleging that Jason Baca,⁴ principal of Valencia Middle School, threatened a student with physical violence and told the student to keep quiet about it. Id. at 6, ¶ 17. The post stated:

Valencia Middle School Football parents! Please ask your children what Mr. Baca told them today for lunch! This principle threatened to bring his son who goes to LLMS to fight #77 on the Valencia middle school team. He even wrote up this poor kid for exchanging words with his son, well playing in a football game last night. Its football yes kids should not be talking crap but for this principle to tell this kid anything was uncalled for the Principle even told he was a bad football player. Wth is wrong with this Mr Baca!

ECF No. 34-1 at 2. This post received over 100 comments. Id. at 2-10. Moreover, the story was reported on by news media. ECF No. 1 at 10, ¶ 34. On October 18, 2018, in response to media attention, the District issued an official statement asserting that the Los Lunas School Parent Discussion Page was "a social media account created by 'disgruntled parents.' " ECF No. 34 at 6, ¶ C. The parents of the student who was allegedly threatened contacted the District several days after the incident. ECF No. 24 at 6, ¶ 19. The District's Director of Personnel was assigned to investigate the underlying incident but concluded the post had compromised the investigation. Id. at 6, ¶ 20.

IV. Defendant's Communications Following the Alleged Incident

Following the alleged incident at Valencia Middle School, Defendant, in her capacity as Superintendent of Schools, began to actively work towards obtaining a trademark for "Los Lunas Schools." Id. at 7, ¶ 22.

On October 15, 2018—three days after the alleged incident—Defendant sent a group text message to the Board members. Id. at 7, ¶ 23. Defendant's message stated:

This one is totally out of control. I have contacted Andy Sanchez he is looking into some things. I am looking at trying to figure out how to Trademark the Los Lunas Schools name. I want that removed from their FaceBook page.

ECF No. 24-2 at 1. Andy Sanchez is an attorney who performs legal work for the District. See ECF No. 24 at 7, ¶ 23. Board member Brandon Campanella responded: "That is a great idea." ECF No. 24-2 at 1.

Additionally, as part of Defendant's communications as Superintendent of Schools, Defendant sent regular "Board Updates" to the Board on various topics and issues concerning the management and administration of the District. ECF No. 24 at 7, ¶ 21. For example, on October 19, 2018, Defendant sent a Board Update for the week of October 15-19, 2018. Id. at 7, ¶ 24. It stated:

I am sure that some of you have followed at least some of what is showing up on the Los Lunas Schools parent discussion page, or as many have labeled it [THE HATERS PAGE]. At this point, it is unfortunate but we will never be able to get to the bottom of what actually happened. No one, including the parent, contacted the school or Central Office until Sunday at 10:00 pm, and that was in an email. The incident occurred on Thursday and went crazy on the Facebook Page on Friday and during the weekend.

During the week, the parent and others have continued with protest gear[,] all-calls for action and so forth. It will be virtually impossible to gather any information that has not been severely compromised by the comments and description of the incident from the parent's second hand information and the comments of others. In addition, statements were being made on the page about a protest at last night's middle school football game between Los Lunas and Valencia Middle School, and possibly the board meeting.

ECF No. 24-3 at 1.

V. Application for and Issuance of Trademark

On October 22, 2018, Defendant filed, on behalf of the District, a trademark application for "Los Lunas Schools." ECF No. 24 at 8, ¶ 25. The "Identification" for the trademark application listed that the mark would be trademarked for: "Education services, namely, providing pre-kindergarten through 12th grade (pre-K-12) classroom instruction." ECF No. 1-2 at 23. On July 9, 2019, the United States Patent and Trademark...