Vidovic v. Mentor City Sch. Dist.

• Decision Date: 31 January 2013
• Docket Number: Case No. 1:10 CV 1833.
• Citation: 921 F.Supp.2d 775
• Parties: Dragan VIDOVIC, et al., Plaintiffs, v. MENTOR CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Ohio

921 F.Supp.2d 775

Dragan VIDOVIC, et al., Plaintiffs,

v.MENTOR CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT, et al., Defendants.

Case No. 1:10 CV 1833.

United States District Court,

N.D. Ohio,

Eastern Division.

Jan. 31, 2013.

Kenneth D. Myers, Cleveland, OH, for Plaintiffs.

David S. Hirt, David Kane Smith, Krista K. Keim, Lindsay F. Gingo, Britton, Smith, Peters & Kalail, Independence, OH, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

DONALD C. NUGENT, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on cross motions for Summary Judgment. (ECF # 84, 86). Both parties have submitted responses and replies to the motions for Summary Judgment. (ECF # 88, 92, 94, 97). The Court has carefully considered all of the pleadings, motions, briefing, and relevant law, and finds that Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF # 84) should be GRANTED and Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF # 86) should be DENIED.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The Plaintiffs filed this action in August of 2010 on their own behalf, and on behalf of the estate of their minor daughter, SladjanaVidovic. Plaintiffs sought leave to file an Amended Complaint in August of 2011, which was granted. (ECF # 16, 30, 33). The Amended Complaint seeks declaratory, injunctive, and monetary relief against the Mentor Public School District, Jacqueline A. Hoynes (Superintendent of the Mentor Public School District), Joesph Spiccia (Principal of Mentor High School), Pam Goss (guidance counselor), and John Does 1–10 (employees of Mentor High School), for alleged violations of the Plaintiffs' civil rights. (ECF # 16, Ex. 1). The Amended Complaint alleges that Sladjana Vidovic, a sixteen year old student at Mentor High School, was regularly bullied and harassed at school by numerous other students; that the school, and especially Defendants Hoynes, Spiccia, and Goss knew or should have known about the bullying and harassment; that the school also knew that bullying was a long term, systemic problem at Mentor High School; that the Defendants did not intervene or appropriately address the problem; that Defendants' failure to adequately address the bullying and harassment of students was policy and practice of the Mentor Public School District Board of Education; and, that as a result of the constant bullying and harassment, Sladjana Vidovic had to leave the school and eventually became so depressed that she committed suicide. (ECF # 16, Ex. 1).

Plaintiffs allege that the Defendants' acts and omissions constitute a violation of their rights in violation of the substantive and procedural due process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, as well as the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. Plaintiffs also allege that the Mentor Public School District maintained policies and procedures facilitating these constitutional violations and failed to train its employees to prevent bullying. Plaintiffs further assert that the actions of the Defendants constitute a violation of Title VI, 20 U.S.C. § 2000(d) and Title IX, 20 U.S.C. § 1681, and that Defendants were negligent, and/or malicious under Ohio law. (ECF # 16, Ex. 1). A spoliation of evidence claim was also added to the Amended Complaint alleging that documents containing notes of meetings between Ms. Vidovic and her counselor, Pam Goss, were shredded or otherwise destroyed after the school was notified that this lawsuit was filed. (ECF # 16, Ex. 1).

Defendants contend that 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Title IX do not support causes of action on behalf of Ms. Vidovic's parents, and that there is no evidence that the school was aware of any bullying or other discrimination Ms. Vidovic may have suffered based on her gender or nationality. Moreover, Defendants argue that a school's failure to prevent a teenager's suicide, even if it is precipitated by bullying, does not create liability under any of the Plaintiffs' legal theories. Further, Defendants contend that they did appropriately address the bullying and harassment aimed at Ms. Vidovic, and that they did not have a policy or practice of ignoring or tolerating bullying in the Mentor schools. Finally, Defendants also challenge the causal link between the alleged bullying and Ms. Vidovic's act of suicide. Defendants seek dismissal of the spoliation of evidence claim because they claim the evidence shows Ms. Goss was unaware of the lawsuit when she destroyed her counselor notes relating to Ms. Vidovic pursuant to a standard document retention policy.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND¹

A. Life in Bosnia

Sladjana Vidovic led a difficult and troubled life from the beginning. She was born in 1992 in Bosnia at the beginning of the Bosnian war. (C. Vidovic Depo. at 10–14; Ex. C). She and her family were displaced from their home, and several family members were killed or injured during the war. (C. Vidovic Depo. at 39–41; Ex. C). At the end of the war, the family discovered their house had been damaged, and although they were able to renovate they decided to move to the United States for better opportunities. (C. Vidovic. Depo. at 11–13). In 2001, when Ms. Vidovic was about eight or nine years old, she moved with her family to Willoughby, Ohio. (G. Vidovic Depo. at 7–9; C. Vidociv Depo. at 13). Ms. Vidovic and her siblings did not speak any English when they arrived in the United States. (C. Vidovic Depo. at 14).

B. Elementary School (Willoughby Schools)

Sladjana Vidovic entered McKinley Elementary School in Willoughby. (C. Vidovic Depo. at 14). Mrs. Vidovic was happy with the efforts the McKinley school took to include Sladjana in school functions and provide special care and encouragement to her, as well as to assist her with the language barriers. (C. Vidovic Depo. at 17–18). According to Mrs. Vidovic, both Sladjana and her little brother Goran did not like going to school at first, but later came to like school in Willoughby. (C. Vidovic Depo. at 21–22). In her suicide note, however, Sladjana indicated that prior to moving to Mentor (which would mean while in Willoughby schools) people picked on her because of her accent and that way she dressed. (ECF # 88–8). In middle school in Willoughby, she said she was made fun of for being different than the other Croatian people there, and she told her parents she wanted to move. (ECF # 88–8). Sladjana's older sister, Suzana, who was in high school in Willoughby, experienced problems with teasing, a lack of friends, and getting in trouble because she was unable to communicate effectively due to the language barrier. (C. Vidovic Depo. at 22–25). Suzana was so unhappy there that she told one of her friends that she was going to kill herself. (C. Vidovic Depo. at 25). Mrs. Vidovic testified that Suzana told the school that she was unhappy because of issues at home and the high expectations and demands of her parents, but that the real reason she was unhappy was because of school. (C. Vidovic Depo. at 25–30). After approximately two years the family moved to Mentor. (G. Vidovic Depo. at 7–9; C. Vidovic Depo. at 13, 22). Around this same time, Mrs. Vidovic was became very ill and required surgery. (C. Vidovic Depo. at 36–37).

C. Ridge Junior High (Mentor Schools)

Sladjana Vidovic had academic problems and disciplinary problems at Mentor's Ridge Junion High and was also in trouble or under pressure at home. (Kinsey Depo. at 51–55; Gingo Decl., Ex. 8; Nasca Depo. at 23). Her teachers and tutors found her to be disruptive and believed that she was not applying herself to her studies. (Gingo Decl., Ex. 8). She was accused of stealing money from another student. She denied the charge and was not disciplined by the school, although the principal did meet with her parents. (C. Vidovic Depo. at 44–46). She also had social problems, including being the victim of name-calling, participating in name-calling, and a pattern of befriending and un-friending the same students repeatedly. (Nasca Depo. at 20, 25–32, 68–69). Ms. Vidovic's brother testified that she would occasionally come home crying. (G. Vidovic Depo. at 34, 37). Ms. Vidovic had at one point during her middle school years told the school, and another friend that her parents had physically abused her or threatened physical abuse. (Kinsey Depo. at 56; Moss Depo. at 35–48). These claims were investigated but were not substantiated. (Kinsey Depo. at 56).

In 2004 Ms. Vidovic reported to the counselor that she had been called a lesbian on one occasion. (ECF # 88, Ex. C). In 2005, she reported several “friendship issues” over the course of the year. (ECF # 88, Ex. C). The next report logged by the guidance counselor did not come until over a year later, when she reported having trouble with boys and rumors about boys. (ECF # 88, Ex. C). Coinciding with these reports about rumors regarding a boy, the counselor's log indicates that Ms. Vidovic made a suicide threat in April of 2007. (ECF # 88, Ex. C). Although Mrs. Vidovic does not recall every having been informed of this threat, the school officials testified that their protocol was to inform the parents, and that they had followed up on the threat. (Nasca Depo. at 69–72). Eventually, her parents sought a transfer to another junior high in the Mentor school system because she had been subject to harassing phone calls over the summer break. (O'Keefe Depo. at 12–13; Gingo Decl., Ex. 5). The transfer was denied and the school told Ms. Vidovic's parents that they believed she was safe at Ridge. (O'Keefe Depo. at 12–13; Gingo Decl. Ex. 5).

After the transfer was denied, Sladjana returned to Ridge for ninth grade. She reported a few incidents of alleged bullying during ninth grade and, where the alleged bully could be identified, each incident was responded to and resolved by the school. (Moss Depo. at 27–29, 32–35; Kinsey Depo. at 63–65; Nasca Depo. at 38). Around ninth grade, Ms. Vidovic started hanging out with the “gangster group,” a group of kids known to be a bad influence, likely to skip classes, put people down, not care about schools, or otherwise be trouble...