124 results for 'nos:"Education - Civil Rights"'.
J. Smith grants an assistant principal and athletic director’s individual motions to dismiss in this due process and equal protection rights lawsuit after a girl was attacked by another student on the school bus. Her parent alleges the child was grabbed and pushed back into a seat, forcing her head into the seat and punched in the face by the assistant principal after child bit him on the arm; the parent also asserts both the assistant principal and athletic director deprived her minor of her rights. The assistant principal says he was protecting himself when bitten by the girl, so the court dismisses the excessive corporal punishment claim. The parent failed to state a procedural due process rights violation claim.
Court: USDC Northern District of Alabama , Judge: Smith, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 5:23cv360, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Negligence, Due Process
J. Hillman appoints substitute class counsel in claims contending the state system for resolving special education cases denies parents and disabled children timely resolution. The proposed transition from third-party advocate to class counsel risks unfairness to the agency, but stipulations, such as points of contact, may mitigate conflict concerns.
Court: USDC New Jersey, Judge: Hillman , Filed On: October 27, 2023, Case #: 1:19cv12807, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Education
J. McCafferty grants in part a college’s motion to exclude an expert, for a medical student it expelled for sexually assaulting another medical student, from providing testimony regarding the student’s lost wages and earning capacity. The expert is qualified to give the testimony and used a credible methodology, but her testimony regarding the student’s potential future career in cardiology should be excluded because he chose to pursue internal medicine rather than cardiology.
Court: USDC New Hampshire, Judge: McCafferty, Filed On: October 18, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv18, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Health Care, Experts
J. Rice dismisses the female student's complaint that the university did not timely investigate a sexual assault complaint against a male student, which allowed him to sexually assault the female student multiple times and then rape her in her dorm room after she ended their relationship. While it was unacceptable for the university to take 10 months to investigate the prior sexual assault claim against the male student, there is not sufficient evidence that the university displayed deliberate indifference or that the university ignored the male student's conduct.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Rice, Filed On: October 18, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv69, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Education, Evidence
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J. Martin finds for a high school accused of failing to take appropriate action after a coach struck a student in the face during wrestling practice. The principal, who barred the coach from working at the high school but not from coaching at wrestling camp, lacked authority to institute a policy, and slapping the student had not violated the student's constitutional rights.
Court: USDC Northern District of Indiana, Judge: Martin , Filed On: October 13, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv219, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Negligence, Emotional Distress
J. Morgan orders lawyers for both sides of a high-profile wrongful termination suit not to ask to “follow” or “friend” any juror or potential juror on social networking sites during jury selection or trial. Both sides are also ordered not to attempt to gain access to Internet posts or profiles that are “not otherwise publicly available.” It is both standard and accepted practice in Louisiana courts to conduct open-source internet research of potential jurors. The trial court has broad discretion to manage jury selection, to maintain fairness and to protect privacy.
Court: USDC Middle District of Louisiana, Judge: Morgan, Filed On: October 11, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv198, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Communications, Jury, Racketeering
J. Talwani grants in part a student’s motion for summary judgment against a public school district and an educational organization for violating the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act after a school official unilaterally made the decision to recommend the student’s placement in day schools, even after it had been decided by his parents and educational professionals in his IEP meetings that he should be in a residential program. A hearing officer did not allow representatives for the student to fully cross-examine the school official who made the unilateral decision and did not properly consider the testimony of a neuropsychologist who evaluated the student’s needs.
Court: USDC Massachusetts, Judge: Talwani, Filed On: October 10, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv10267, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, Education, Experts
J. Tipton grants a school district's motion to dismiss a former high school student's case, in which he alleges a teacher sexually assaulted him. He fails to show the district had actual notice of the abuse, and the district is immune from his negligence claim.
Court: USDC Southern District of Texas, Judge: Tipton, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv225, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Immunity, Negligence
J. Hollander partially grants a motion to dismiss filed by the education board in this civil rights lawsuit brought by the parents of a student who was suspended on a determination that she engaged in racist conduct after she allegedly sent a “blackface” photo via Snapchat. The student’s invasion of privacy, defamation, and freedom from search and seizure claims will be dismissed. However, her negligence, fiduciary duty, free speech and First Amendment claims are denied on a theory of procedural due process violation.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Hollander, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv195, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Education, Due Process
J. Campbell grants the education defendants' motions to dismiss the student's Title IX claim but denies their motions to dismiss the student's equal protection claim. The student, who is a transgender girl, contends that the Tennessee Accommodations for All Children Act violates her rights and she seeks to enjoin its enforcement, specifically as it relates to the use of "multi-occupancy restrooms and changing facilities." However, the student has failed to state a claim under Title IX.
Court: USDC Middle District of Tennessee , Judge: Campbell, Filed On: September 27, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv570, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Education, Lgbtq
J. Dooley grants, in part, the university's motion to dismiss, ruling the female student's Title IX must be dismissed in regards to her sexual assault because there is no indication the university knew the assailant would attack fellow students, especially considering the student had never met her attacker prior to the incident. However, her Title IX claim regarding the university's response, which included a 90-minute interview during which she was forced to recount graphic details of the assault and the school's initial failure to respond for over two weeks, is sufficient to establish a deliberate indifference claim.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Dooley, Filed On: September 26, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv1249, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Education, Evidence
J. Dugan rules a former student may pursue deliberate indifference claims against a school district. The former student sufficiently showed in court that the district failed to prevent school employees, several teachers and coaches, from engaging in sexually inappropriate behavior toward female students, which included rape and other forms of sexual abuse.
Court: USDC Southern District of Illinois, Judge: Dugan, Filed On: September 25, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv2727, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Education, Tort
J. Myers partially denies a university's motion to dismiss gender discrimination and retaliation allegations brought by a women's volleyball head coach after the university fired her and replaced her with a man. Although the coach had a stellar track record regarding team wins, she complained multiple times of Title IX violations by the university, which she claims consisted of higher amounts of funding and facility renovations for men's teams. At the same time, student athletes accused the coach of creating a toxic culture through intimidation and manipulation. The university fired her on the grounds of toxicity, but she states a reasonable claim of discrimination and retaliation since the university replaced her with a male coach with very little experience shortly after she complained.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Myers, Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: 4:22cv30, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Cullen dismisses the former student's Title IX violation claim. The student was accused of sexual assault, and the university found him guilty and suspended him for two years. Even if the student's allegations were sufficient to permit an inference that the university acted in a biased manner against him, he does not allege facts that suggest that any bias was attributable to his gender rather than other non-protected factors.
Court: USDC Western District of Virginia, Judge: Cullen, Filed On: September 12, 2023, Case #: 7:22cv28, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Negligence, Due Process
J. Flanagan grants the University of North Carolina’s motion to dismiss allegations of negligence for not addressing sexual abuse claims brought by a former student and athlete. The alleged abuser was the sports medicine director at the school, and the student — along with others making similar claims — alleges that the director instructed the student to remove his compression shorts during an exam, then directed him onto all fours and touched his crotch and anus, calling it a “massage.” However, before another student notified the police of the alleged abuse by the director on himself, the university claims it had no knowledge of the director’s actions. In 2015 and 2016, other coaches had reported suspected sexual conduct by the director, but no claims were ever confirmed. Despite the fact that the university moved the director to an administrative position a year after the reports, legally it did not have actual knowledge of the director’s behavior.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: September 11, 2023, Case #: 5:23cv44, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Tort, Assault
J. Flanagan denies a sports medicine director at the University of North Carolina his motion to dismiss allegations of sexual abuse brought by a former student and soccer player. The student, who is male, had been 17 years old at the time of the allegations. After the student had surgery, the director did things like assisting him in undressing, watching the student shower, giving him deep tissue “sports massages” that left bruising, and handling the student’s genitals without consent or medical need. Because the director did not file a memorandum in support of his motion, and because he did not respond to the student’s opposition to it, the director's motion is denied.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: September 11, 2023, Case #: 5:22cv344, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Tort, Assault
J. Flanagan grants the University of North Carolina’s motion to dismiss allegations of negligence for not addressing sexual abuse claims brought by a former student and athlete. The alleged abuser was the sports medicine director at the school, and the student — along with others making similar claims — alleges that the director instructed the student to remove his compression shorts during an exam, then touched and massaged the student's genitals without his consent. In 2015 and 2016, other coaches had reported suspected sexual misconduct by the director, but no claims were ever confirmed. Despite the fact that the university moved the director to an administrative position a year after the reports, legally it did not have actual knowledge of the director’s behavior.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: September 11, 2023, Case #: 5:23cv216, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Tort, Negligence
J. Shea grants the governor and other officials' motion to dismiss, ruling the disabled students lack standing to bring declaratory judgment claims for the state's closure of public schools during the Covid-19 pandemic because they seek only to redress past harms and allege no imminent or future injury. Meanwhile, all of the claims brought under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act must be dismissed either for a failure to exhaust administrative remedies or a failure to plead a plausible claim, given the disabled students were treated the same as non-disabled students and the system-wide change to homeschooling did not constitute a change in educational placement under the Act.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Shea, Filed On: September 7, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv1431, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Jurisdiction, Covid-19
J. King denies the students' motion for a preliminary injunction in their lawsuit alleging that Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal wrongfully denied the students access to free appropriate public education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act because they turned 21. The students do not demonstrate that they will suffer irreparable harm without an injunction, because the students do not present evidence that they will experience the same effects from the end of their special education services as they did when schools suddenly closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: King, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv1621, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Covid-19, Injunction
J. Snow grants the defendant school district's motion for summary judgment in this lawsuit brought by a former employee alleging discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII, as well as interference with her rights under the Family Medical Leave Act. The former employee, who is African American, fails to establish a prima facie case of race discrimination or retaliation.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Oklahoma, Judge: Snow, Filed On: August 28, 2023, Case #: 6:21cv241, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Schiltz partially grants the students' motion for summary judgment in their suit alleging that the state Department of Education improperly terminated their special-education services prior to their twenty-second birthdays. Prior to an amendment which came into effect this July, a Minnesota statute governing special education services which required the state to provide them only until the July 1 after a disabled child became 21 years old violated students' rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which requires states to provide a free appropriate public education to disabled students "through age 21." Minnesota's adult basic education programs fall under the umbrella of "public education," and thus must be offered to students with disabilities until they reach age 22.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Schiltz, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 0:21cv1837, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Government, Preemption