Wilson v. Columbus Bd. of Educ.
| Decision Date | 11 December 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. 2:06-CV-642.,2:06-CV-642. |
| Parties | Tera WILSON, individually and on behalf of her Minor Daughter, Jane Doe, Plaintiffs, v. COLUMBUS BOARD OF EDUCATION, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Ohio |
Aaron Michael Glasgow, Michael Francis Ryan, Shuler Plank & Brahm, Jeffrey Lynn Glasgow Columbus, OH, for Plaintiffs.
Richard Wayne Ross, Nicole M. Donovsky, Means Bichimer Burkholder & Baker, Columbus, OH, for Defendants.
Robert Latham Washburn, Jr., Cloppert Latanick Sauter & Washburn, Columbus, OH, for Kerry Myers and Michelle Hopper.
This matter is before the Court on Defendants' Motions for Summary Judgment. Plaintiff Tera Wilson ("Plaintiff Wilson" or "Plaintiff"), individually and on behalf of her minor daughter, Plaintiff Jane Doe ("Jane Doe" or "Doe"), brought (1) claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983; (2) claims under state tort law for negligence, recklessness, and wantonness, negligent training, supervision, and administrative practices, infliction of emotional distress, and loss of consortium; (3) and a claim for punitive damages against the following Defendants: (A) Columbus Board of Education ("Defendant CBE"), (B) Ofir Sisco ("Defendant Sisco"), (C) Michelle Hooper ("Defendant Hooper"), and (D) Kerry Myers ("Defendant Myers"). Defendants CBE and Sisco, Hooper, and Myers have separately moved for summary judgment. Plaintiff Jane Doe has also moved for summary judgment with respect to Count V of the Second Amended Complaint against Defendant Sisco.
For the reasons set forth below, the Court: (1) GRANTS in PART and DENIES in PART Defendant CBE and Sisco's Motion for Summary Judgment; (2) GRANTS Defendant Hooper's Motion for Summary Judgment; (3) GRANTS in PART and DENIES in PART Defendant Myers's Motion for Summary Judgment; and (4) DENIES Plaintiff Jane Doe's Motion for Summary Judgment.
During the 2004-2005 school year, Plaintiff Jane Doe was an eighth grade student at Woodward Park Middle School ("Woodward Park"). Jane Doe lived with her mother, Plaintiff Wilson, and her stepfather, Albert Wilson ("Mr.Wilson"), with whom she lived almost all of her life. Beginning when Jane Doe was in sixth grade, Mr. Wilson molested Jane Doe. This sexual abuse continued for approximately two years, until February 2005.
Woodward Park is a middle school in the Columbus City School District. The school district is operated by the CBE. The CBE is a political subdivision of the State of Ohio and is engaged in the governmental function of providing its students with a public education. The CBE adopted a child abuse reporting policy that set out employees' duties pursuant to Ohio Rev.Code Ann. § 2151.421. This policy required any employee to immediately report knowledge or suspicion of child abuse to the Franklin County Children Services ("FCCS") or other law enforcement agency. Therefore, failure to comply with the reporting policy would be not only a violation of the Ohio Rev.Code, but also a violation of school policy.
The CBE operates under a series of federal and state statutes and regulations, including Ohio Rev.Code § 3319.073, which requires the CBE to provide in-service training in prevention of child abuse for persons employed in the district. The CBE held specific in-service training relating to the duty to report child abuse in 2002.1 The CBE also entered into a Memorandum of Understanding for the Investigation of Child Abuse and Neglect on April 28, 2004. As a result of this Memorandum, the Office of Student Assistance, Intervention and Outreach issued a Pupil Services Handbook for the 2004-2005 school year that specifically included information relating to the responsibility of CBE employees relating to reporting abuse. The CBE also presented a session at the administrator in-service training at the beginning of the 2004-2005 school year where the statutory duty to report child abuse was reviewed.
During the 2004-2005 school year, Defendant Sisco was an assistant principal at Woodward Park. As assistant principal, Sisco dealt primarily with student discipline issues. She had to discipline Jane Doe numerous times during the school year; and thereby, had met with Jane Doe several times prior to January 18, 2005.2
During that school year, Defendant Hooper was employed at Woodward Park as a guidance counselor. Hooper met with Jane Doe three times prior to January 18, 2005. During their first encounter, Hooper felt Jane Doe was responsive to their discussion of how to avoid future disciplinary problems. Hooper met with Jane Doe a second time when she heard that some female students were going to fight due to Jane Doe giving other students gifts. Hooper met with Jane Doe a third time due to a teacher referral regarding unruly and aggressive behavior. Hooper did not feel that Jane Doe was responsive in these subsequent meetings.
The teacher referral that precipitated the third meeting was made by Defendant Myers, Jane Doe's basketball coach and computer teacher. Myers made the referral because she was concerned about Jane Doe's aggressive behavior. After meeting with Jane Doe, Hooper encouraged Myers to continue trying to talk to Jane Doe because Doe and Myers seemed to have rapport and Hooper did not have any success in the meeting. Hooper also told Myers that if Jane Doe did open up to Myers, she should let Hooper know so Hooper could try to speak with Jane Doe again.
Jane Doe claims that she told Defendant Myers that she was being abused by her stepfather in early January 2005. As Jane Doe was suspended from school and out of school on holiday break between December 15, 2004 and January 11, 2005, presumably, the conversation took place the week of January 11, 2005. According to Jane Doe, she and her friend PK went to Myers's computer lab and PK encouraged Jane Doe to tell Myers about the molestation. After refusing several times, Jane Doe indicated that she told Myers she was being sexually abused by her stepfather. Myers allegedly responded that she would lose her job if she did not tell someone. Jane Doe asked her to respect the fact that she did not want her to tell anyone. Myers disputes that this conversation ever occurred.
On January 18, 2005, Jane Doe had a meeting in Sisco's office due to a disciplinary problem. While Jane Doe waited outside Sisco's office, she overheard Sisco giving another student an out-of-school suspension. The boy became upset and told Sisco not to suspend him. According to Sisco, the boy did not mention anything about abuse or being disciplined by his parent. According to Jane Doe, the boy said to Sisco Regardless of what was said, Jane Doe jumped in the conversation and said something like "I understand how you feel." Then she started to sob. Sisco sent the other student back to class. Sisco asked Jane Doe why she was sobbing and noticed Jane Doe's sadness, but Jane Doe would not respond. Consequently, Sisco asked Hooper to come speak with Jane Doe, as Hooper was a counselor.
Jane Doe does not remember the exact conversation, but claims that Sisco and Hooper told her that if something was going on, she should tell them and they could help her. Jane Doe alleges she kept asking what would happen if something was going on. Jane Doe also noted that Sisco and Hooper repeatedly told her that she needed to tell them what was going on because they did not understand what she was saying. Hooper alleges Jane Doe indicated that Myers knew something was wrong with Jane Doe, but did not know the specific problem. Hooper recalls that Jane Doe said, "Ms. Myers knows I'm unhappy, but she doesn't know why." Hooper observed that Jane Doe was upset, crying, and then non-responsive. Hooper could not ascertain the cause of Jane Doe's demeanor. Hooper did not notice any "red flags" from this meeting indicating to her there had been abuse. Sisco excused Jane Doe and told her and Hooper that she would call Jane Doe's mother to discuss the matter. Jane Doe did not tell Sisco or Hooper that she was being abused by her stepfather. Jane Doe did not have any other discussions with either Sisco or Hooper about the situation.
At the end of that school day on January 18, 2005, Sisco met with Hooper and Myers to discuss their observations of Jane Doe. Sisco and Hooper do not recall Myers mentioning any previous conversations with Jane Doe during this time and Myers did not say anything about Jane Doe being abused. Sisco told them she was going to contact Jane Doe's mother.
After the meeting with Hooper and Myers, Sisco returned to her office and prepared an Incident Report describing her understanding of what transpired that day. Sisco did not collaborate with Hooper or Myers in preparing the Incident Report. In that Incident Report, Sisco wrote,
[Jane Doe] made comments that strongly suggested some type of sexual abuse that was going on at home. [Jane Doe] repeatedly claimed that her mother would not believe her and that her mother was very happy now. While [Jane Doe] was talking, she continues to sob! Although, she continued to make comments about some type of problem that was going on at home, she would not come out and report an abusive situation.
She also wrote,
During the conversation, [Jane Doe] indicated that she had talked about the situation with another female student and with Ms. Myers (computer teacher). However, she felt she could not trust Ms. Hooper or me. At this point we informed [Jane Doe] that a...
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