Jaythan E. v. Board of Education of Sykuta Elementary School
Jaythan E. v. Board of Education of Sykuta Elementary School
Opinion of the Court
OPINION AND ORDER
Having been bullied by students at school, Plaintiff Jaythan E. (“Jaythan”) objected to sitting at a table in the library with students who had previously harassed him. In response, Defendant Marlene Hro-bowski, a librarian at Sykuta Elementary School (“Sykuta”), physically assaulted him in front of his classmates and injured Jaythan’s wrist and arm. As a result of that incident, Jaythan and his mother, Plaintiff Kyndra Byrd, bring this civil rights suit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Defendants Board of Education of Sykuta Elementary School, Country Club
BACKGROUND
Jaythan, an eight-year old forty-five pound child, attended Sykuta for the 2015-2016 schoolyear. Several of Jaythan’s classmates bullied and teased him, prompting Assistant Superintendent Tawanda Lawrence and Assistant Principal Stacy Oates to speak with Byrd, Jaythan’s mother, in January 2016 about the bullying. Together, they decided that Jaythan should stay away from those bullying him but the District did not take any other action to stop the bullying. The bullying continued, with Jaythan reporting to a school nurse in February that someone hit him in the face.
On April 5, 2016, Hrobowski, the school librarian, told Jaythan to sit at a table in the library with several students who had bullied him in the past. Jaythan indicated to Hrobowski he did not want to sit at that particular table based on his past experiences with these classmates. Hrobowski insisted that Jaythan sit there, however. Jaythan then told her he wanted to go to the office and call his mother, at which point Hrobowski replied, “I don’t care if you want to call your mom. I’m grown.” Doc. 1 ¶ 17. Jaythan turned to leave, but Hrobowski “jumped in front of Jaythan and started to physically bump Jaythan with her stomach while saying ‘Squad up,’ in a highly threatening, intimidating and offensive manner.”
Before Byrd arrived at Sykuta, Jones asked Jaythan if he called his mother. Scared, Jaythan denied doing so, but Jones reprimanded him anyway. When Byrd arrived, she spoke with Jones, who admitted that Hrobowski put her hands on Jaythan but claimed doing so “wasn’t illegal.” Id. ¶ 33. Byrd requested that Jones get Jaythan immediately, but Jones took offense to the way Byrd addressed her, stating “You’re not going to talk to me like that. I’m going to make it so you can never come back to this school.” Id. ¶ 35. Jones then instructed a secretary to call the police. Ultimately, police questioned Hrobow-ski, Jones, and Byrd. An officer told Byrd that Hrobowski admitted grabbing Jay-than. No charges were brought, however.
Byrd took Jaythan to the emergency room, where hospital staff x-rayed his arm, provided him with an ice pack for his wrist and pain medication, arid fitted him with a sling. Doctors determined that Jaythan had a bruised, swollen, and sprained wrist and an acute arm strain. The next day, Byrd took Jaythan to his pediatrician; who also found internal and external bruising.
When Jaythan returned to school, Byrd instructed Jones and the District’s Director of Human Resources, Pamela Ribbons, that no school personnel should question Jaythan without Byrd or her attorney being present. Although given assurances to this effect, on April 19, 2016, Byrd received a call, from Jennifer Volpe, the District’s Director of Student Services, informing her that students had bullied Jaythan agairi and that school personnel had asked him to explain what happened. Volpe indicated that they had taken six pages of notes concerning the incident. Byrd protested the questioning occurring outside her or her attorney’s presence and demanded a copy of the notes. Ribbons refused to provide a copy. Byrd then withdrew Jaythan and his twin brother from Sykuta that day, leaving them with no other public elementary school in the District to attend. Jaythan enrolled in St. Damian, a private school in Oak Forest, Illinois.
LEGAL STANDARD
A motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) challenges the sufficiency of the complaint, not its merits. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6); Gibson v. City of Chicago, 910 F.2d 1510, 1520 (7th Cir. 1990). In considering a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, the Court accepts as true all well-pleaded facts in the plaintiffs complaint and draws all reasonable inferences from those facts in the plaintiffs favor. AnchorBank, FSB v. Hofer, 649 F.3d 610, 614 (7th Cir. 2011). To survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, the complaint must not only provide the defendant with fair notice of a claim’s basis but must also be facially plausible. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009); see also Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the' defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937.
I. Claims against Jones and Hrobowski
A. Official Capacity Claim
Jones and Hrobowski seek dismissal of the official capacity claim brought against them, arguing that this claim is duplica-tive of that brought against the District. See Pourghoraishi v. Flying J, Inc., 449 F.3d 751, 765 (7th Cir. 2006) (“When a plaintiff sues an individual officer in his official capacity, the suit is treated as if the plaintiff has sued the municipality itself.”). Jaythan and Byrd do not address this argument in their opposition, effectively conceding the issue. See Bonte v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 624 F.3d 461, 466 (7th Cir. 2010) (“Failure to respond to an argument ... results in waiver”). Therefore, the Court dismisses the official capacity claim against Jones and Hrobowski with prejudice. See Mixon v. Manno, No. 12 CV 0562, 2013 WL 1278481, at *3 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 28, 2013) (dismissing claim against school official in his official capacity where claim was also brought against board of education) ;Day v. River Forest Sch. Dist., No. 10 CV 4426, 2011 WL 1004611, at *3 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 17, 2011) (“[T]he § 1983 official capacity claims against the individuals are duplicative of the § 1983 claim against the school district itself and, therefore, are subject to dismissal with prejudice.”).
B. Individual Capacity Claim
Jones and Hrobowski argue that the Court should dismiss the claim against them in their individual capacities because they did not act unreasonably under the circumstances and so could not have violated Jaythan’s Fourth Amendment rights in the school setting.
Here, Jones and Hrobowski argue that Jaythan’s refusal to follow instructions was provocative and disruptive, so that their “actions were not disproportionate to the interference with the educational process.” Doc. 22 at 3. Although the situation could be analogized to that in Wallace, where the Court concluded that no reasonable jury could find the teacher’s actions unreasonable, Wallace was decided at the summary judgment stage and involved a teacher grabbing a teenage student who was fighting with another student and disobeyed several of the teacher’s orders to de-escalate the situation. Wallace, 68 F.3d at 1011, 1014. This case, on the other hand,
II. Monell Claim against the District
The District seeks dismissal of the Fourth Amendment claim against it, arguing that Jaythan and Byrd have not adequately alleged a Monell policy or practice claim. Liability against the District may be based on (1) an express policy that, when enforced, causes a constitutional deprivation; (2) a widespread practice that, although not authorized by written law or express policy, is so permanent and well-settled as to constitute a custom or usage with the force of law; or (3) a constitutional injury caused by a person with final policymaking authority. McCormick v. City of Chicago, 230 F.3d 319, 324 (7th Cir. 2000). The policy or practice “must be the direct cause or moving force behind the constitutional violation.” Woodward v. Corr. Med. Servs. of Ill., Inc., 368 F.3d 917, 927 (7th Cir. 2004) (citation omitted) (internal quotation marks omitted). Here, Jaythan and Byrd seek to proceed under the second and third methods.
Jaythan and Byrd allege that the District has a custom or practice of using unreasonable corporal punishment to discipline students. To adequately allege a Mo-nell policy or practice claim, they must “plead[] factual content that allows the Court to draw the reasonable inference that the [District] maintained a policy, custom, or practice” that contributed to the alleged violation. McCauley v. City of Chicago, 671 F.3d 611, 616 (7th Cir. 2011) (alteration in original) (citation omitted) (internal quotation marks omitted). Here, Jaythan and Byrd have not done so, pleading the existence of such a policy only in conelusory fashion. In relying on a single event involving only Jaythan, they fail to “demonstrate that there is a policy at issue rather than a random event.” Thomas v. Cook County Sheriff’s Dep’t, 604 F.3d 293, 303 (7th Cir. 2010). Indeed, a plaintiff pursuing a widespread policy or practice claim generally must allege more than one or even three instances of misconduct. Id. (declining to adopt a “bright-line rule[]” but indicating that there must be “more than one instance, or even three” of wrongdoing (citation omitted) (internal quotation marks omitted)). Although it is
But Jaythan and Byrd also allege that Jones, as Sykuta’s principal, had final policymaking authority and caused Jay-than’s injury. The District responds that Jones cannot be a final policymaker because only a school board has final policy-making authority under Illinois law. Indeed, numerous cases and the Illinois School Code itself support this position. See Duda v. Bd. of Educ. of Franklin Park Pub. Sch. Dist. No. 84, 133 F.3d 1054, 1061 (7th Cir. 1998) (citing the Illinois School Code, 105 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/10-20.5, 21.4, 21.4a); Silverman v. Bd. of Educ. of City of Chicago, No. 08 C 2220, 2010 WL 3000187, at *10 (N.D. Ill. July 26, 2010) (finding that principal was not final policymaker for purposes of Monell equal protection employment claim); Doe 20 v. Bd. of Educ. of Cmty. Unit Sch. Dist. No. 5, 680 F.Supp.2d 957, 979 (C.D. Ill. 2010) (finding that school administrators did not have final policymaking authority even though plaintiffs alleged they had authority to institute corrective measures and despite request to add words “final policymakers” to complaint, where Illinois law provides that only the school board has final policymaking authority). Although the Illinois School Code does not grant principals final policymaking authority, final pol-icymaking authority may be delegated or ratified by an official having policymaking authority.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the Court grants in part and denies in part Defendants’ motion to dismiss [15]. The Court dismisses Jaythan and Byrd’s complaint against the District without prejudice and against Jones and Hrobowski in their official capacities with prejudice. Jones and Hrobowski are ordered to answer the remaining allegations of the complaint by November 30,2016.
. The District represents that the proper Defendant is Country Club Hills School District 160, not the Board of Education of Sykuta Elementary School. See Doc. 15 at 1.
. The facts in the background section are taken from Jaythan and Byrd’s complaint and are presumed true for the purpose of resolving Defendants’ motion to dismiss. See Vir-nich v. Vorwald, 664 F.3d 206, 212 (7th Cir. 2011); Local 15, Int’l Bhd. of Elec. Worlcers, AFL-CIO v. Exelon Corp., 495 F.3d 779, 782 (7th Cir. 2007).
.Jaythan and Byrd represent that, according to Urban Dictionary, "squad up” means “someone calling someone else out to fight,” Doc. 19 at 10 n.l.
. In their opening memorandum, Jones and Hrobowski also argue that Jaythan and Byrd do not adequately allege any facts to establish conduct that shocks the conscience. In their response, Jaythan and Byrd disavow any claim for a substantive due process violation under the Fourteenth Amendment. Doc. 19 at 7. Instead, they base their claim in the Fourth Amendment's guarantee to be free from unreasonable seizures. Therefore, the Court only analyzes whether Jaythan and Byrd have properly stated a claim under the Fourth, rather than the Fourteenth, Amendment.
. Although the Court dismisses the claim against the District, mooting any request for punitive damages against it, Jaythan and Byrd could not recover punitive damages against the District regardless. See City of Newport v. Fact Concerts, Inc., 453 U.S. 247, 271, 101 S.Ct. 2748, 69 L.Ed.2d 616 (1981) (precluding punitive damages against a municipality under § 1983); Robinson v. City of Harvey, Ill., 617 F.3d 915, 916 (7th Cir. 2010).
. Jaythan and Byrd do not appear to pursue a ratification theory; thus, the Court does not address that alternative here.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- JAYTHAN E., a minor and Kyndra Byrd, as parent and next friend of Jaythan E. v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF SYKUTA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, Country Club Hills School District 160 Martha Karen Jones, individually and in her official capacity as principal of Sykuta Elementary School and Marlene Hrobowski, individually and in her official capacity as librarian at Sykuta Elementary School
- Cited By
- 7 cases
- Status
- Published