Boggs v. Krum Indep. Sch. Dist. & Jeromy Harpole
Boggs v. Krum Indep. Sch. Dist. & Jeromy Harpole
Opinion of the Court
This matter is before the Court on Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment *717[Dkt. # 41], which, after careful consideration, will be granted in part and denied in part.
BACKGROUND
Viewed in the light most favorable to Plaintiff Kelsey Boggs and resolving all disputes in her favor as the non-moving party,
Plaintiff attended high school in the Krum Independent School District (the "School District") for her freshman and sophomore year (Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 2 at p. 1). She suffers from severe respiratory issues, which purportedly caused her to miss twenty days of school her freshman year and an additional twenty the semester after (Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 2 at p. 1; Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 3 at p. 1). Most if not all of these absences were supported by a note written by her mother, her doctor, or both (Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 2 at p. 1; Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 3 at p. 2). Instead of offering Plaintiff services for students with disabilities or conducting an assessment to determine whether those services were appropriate, Defendants referred Plaintiff's mother ("Mrs. Boggs") to truancy court (Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 2 at p. 2).
Mrs. Boggs reached out to Principal Jeremy Harpole ("Principal Harpole") the day after receiving a summons to the Truancy Court hearing (Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 2 at p. 2). She expressed her intent to appeal the referral to truancy court since Plaintiff's absences were due to her health, and requested the contact information for the School's Attendance Committee and the Superintendent (Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 2 at p. 2). Principal Harpole "curtly" responded that, if Mrs. Boggs did not plead "guilty," the matter would be for a grand jury to decide-without giving Mrs. Boggs the information requested (Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 2 at pp. 2-3).
At the hearing held the following day, Principal Harpole told the Truancy Court he would work with Mrs. Boggs to help Plaintiff secure all necessary course credits (Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 2 at p. 3). But when Mrs. Boggs followed up on that offer, she and Plaintiff found Principal Harpole unhelpful. Although there were other ways for Plaintiff to make up her course credits (see, e.g., Dkt. # 51, Exhibit 6 at pp. 12-14; Dkt. # 51, Exhibit 7 at pp. 15-16), Principal Harpole recommended that Plaintiff take online courses at Texas Tech that she could not afford (Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 2 at p. 3; Dkt. # 51, Exhibit 6 at p. 14). He also recommended that Plaintiff start taking classes on Friday nights and on Saturdays (Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 2 at p. 4)-even though the Saturday classes would not start for *718another two months (Dkt. # 51, Exhibit 6 at p. 13).
Plaintiff contends that Principal Harpole started retaliating against her due to her mother's advocacy. Plaintiff reports that Principal Harpole called her and her mother "liars" in earshot of other students, followed her from class to class, and gave her intimidating looks (Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 2 at p. 4; Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 3 at pp. 2-3). Principal Harpole also reportedly questioned whether Plaintiff could make up the credits in question to another faculty member, who relayed that message to Plaintiff (Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 2 at p. 5; Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 3 at p. 3). Mrs. Boggs raised concerns about Principal Harpole's conduct to the Superintendent on multiple occasions (see Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 2 at pp. 4, 5, 7). The Superintendent responded to one complaint (about the Principal calling Plaintiff a "liar") by promising that School District staff would not retaliate against Plaintiff but ignored her complaints otherwise (see Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 2 at pp. 4, 5, 7). Mrs. Boggs also used the School District website to file a bullying complaint against Principal Harpole four days later but did not receive a response (Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 2 at p. 5). According to Mrs. Boggs, these failures to respond violate School District Policy (Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 2 at pp. 7-8).
These events made Plaintiff anxious, depressed, and scared to attend school, prompting Plaintiff to attempt to take her life by overdosing on antidepressants (Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 2 at pp. 5-6; Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 3 at p. 3). Plaintiff subsequently elected to transfer to a high school with an intensive outpatient program (Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 2 at p. 6). Mrs. Boggs told Principal Harpole of the attempted suicide and upcoming transfer. She also asked him to grant Plaintiff credits Plaintiff believed she had earned, her absences notwithstanding (Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 2 at p. 6). Principal Harpole responded that he would grant the credits "with the understanding that [Plaintiff] would not be coming back to the district" (Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 2 at p. 6). But he would not live up to that promise, sending Plaintiff's new high school her school records without the credits in question (Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 2 at p. 6).
Plaintiff subsequently accused the School District of violating her rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA") by engaging in the above-referenced conduct, and filed a Due Process Petition against the School District with the Texas Education Agency (the "Agency") (Dkt. # 21 at pp. 5-22)-as parties are required to do when bringing a claim under that statute. See
[T]here are no issues related to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) or concerns that the student did or did not receive a Free Appropriate Public Education.
(Dkt. # 21 at p. 70). Plaintiff then moved to dismiss the matter (Dkt. # 21 at p. 67) and, after the dismissal, filed this suit based on substantially similar allegations (see Dkt. # 15). This lawsuit, however, does not accuse the School District of violating the IDEA. It, instead, brings claims against the School District for violations of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (the "RA") and the Americans with Disabilities Act (the "ADA"). It also brings claims against both Defendants under
LEGAL STANDARDS
The purpose of summary judgment is to isolate and dispose of factually unsupported claims or defenses. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett ,
The party seeking summary judgment bears the initial burden of informing the court of its motion and identifying "depositions, documents, electronically stored information, affidavits or declarations, stipulations (including those made for purposes of the motion only), admissions, interrogatory answers, or other materials" that demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. FED. R. CIV. P. 56(c)(1)(A) ; Celotex , 477 U.S. at 323,
ANALYSIS
Defendants argue that Plaintiff's claims for violations of the American Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act are merely repackaged IDEA claims, which fail because Plaintiff has not exhausted her administrative remedies under that statute. They also argue that her § 1983 claims fail because there are no genuine issues of material fact as to the claim against the School District, and because qualified immunity protects Principal Harpole from § 1983 liability.
*720The Court addresses these issues in turn.
I. ADA and RA Claims (Failure to Exhaust under the IDEA)
The IDEA requires schools to give students with disabilities "a free and appropriate public education" ("FAPE") that is "designed to meet [their] unique needs through the formulation of an Individualized Education Program ('IEP')." Gardner v. School Bd. Caddo Parish ,
The School District argues that Plaintiff's ADA and RA claims are artfully pleaded IDEA claims that should be dismissed due to Plaintiff's failure to exhaust the IDEA's administrative remedies. But the School District is judicially estopped from raising this argument. Judicial estoppel is an equitable doctrine meant "to prevent a party from asserting a position in a legal proceeding that is inconsistent with a position taken in a previous proceeding." Love v. Tyson Foods, Inc. ,
Judicial estoppel should bar the School District from securing a dismissal based on any failure to exhaust administrative remedies here.
The School District dismisses the Stipulation as "Plaintiff's attempt at sleight of hand to try and circumvent exhaustion requirements" (Dkt. # 41 at pp.13-14)-Plaintiff's prior attempt to adjudicate these issues before an IDEA State Agency apparently notwithstanding. More specifically, the School District states that:
Agreeing that there is no IDEA or FAPE issues is like ordering Chilean Sea Bass. The menu calls it Chilean Sea Bass and jacks up the price, but you are still eating a Patagonian toothfish. Just because you agree to call Plaintiff's fishy claims something else, doesn't mean the claims could not have been brought under IDEA; they clearly could have been (and they were). Thus, the question here is whether [the School District] (and the Court) would be estopped from looking at the Plaintiff's fishy facts, due to the written [stipulation], and finding that regardless of the written [stipulation], Plaintiff was required to exhaust her administrative remedies. To paraphrase the classic song from Casablanca, "You must remember this, a fish is still a fish." Herman Hupfield, As Time Goes By, in Casablanca (1931) (as performed by Dooley Wilson, "You must remember this, a kiss is just a kiss ...").
(Dkt. # 41 at pp. 13-14).
Although it is not entirely clear, the School District appears to argue that the Stipulation reflects the Parties' shared belief that Plaintiff lacked a valid IDEA claim-not that Plaintiff's allegations did not raise issues under the IDEA. The School District will not be let off the hook that easily. Again, the Stipulation states that there are no "concerns that the student did or did not receive a Free Appropriate Public Education"-not that the claims raised IDEA claims were invalid (Dkt. # 21 at p. 70) (emphasis added). The only reasonable way to interpret this language is that Plaintiff's allegations do not raise IDEA issues that the State Agency need to decide one way or the other, making any exhaustion requirement under the IDEA moot. This interpretation is especially reasonable since the School District drafted the Stipulation. This means that, to the extent the Stipulation is ambiguous, it should be interpreted in Plaintiff's favor. See Gonzalez v. Mission Am. Ins. Co. ,
The School District also suggests that the Court should excuse the Stipulation because its latest position-that Plaintiff's claims do arise under the IDEA-is correct. But judicial estoppel is meant " 'to protect the integrity of the judicial process' by 'prevent[ing] parties from playing fast and loose with the courts to suit the exigencies of self-interest.' " See In re Coastal Plains, Inc. ,
Finally, Defendants note that Principal Harpole did not agree to the Stipulation. But he does not need to. As Defendants acknowledge in other sections of their motion (see Dkt. # 41 at p. 26), Plaintiff has brought the ADA and RA claims against the School District not Principal Harpole (see Dkt. # 15 at pp. 9-11). Whether or not Principal Harpole is judicially estopped from raising this argument is irrelevant.
Because the motion does not argue that summary judgment is proper on Plaintiff's ADA and RA claims for any other reason,
II. Section 1983 Claims Against the School District
But the Court reaches the opposite result as to Plaintiff claims against the School District for violation of
[E]xecution of a government's policy or custom, whether made by its lawmakers or by its lawmakers or by those whose edicts or acts may be fairly said to represent official policy, inflict[ed] the injury.
Plaintiff's § 1983 claims are based on allegations that the School District infringed on her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights by retaliating against her for raising complaints about her absences and Principal Harpole's conduct. Plaintiff's claims fail even assuming she has suffered a constitutional injury. Plaintiff provides no proof of an official policy or custom that caused these purported injuries. To the contrary, Plaintiff concedes that the School District has policies requiring the school principal, superintendent, and school board to respond to complaints-as well as policies prohibiting harassment, discrimination, or retaliation against students with disabilities (Dkt. # 47, Exhibit 2 at pp. 7-8).
Plaintiff argues that the School District has adopted a custom in which it simply ignores complaints that have been filed, its formal policies notwithstanding.
Additionally, the record lacks evidence that a School District policymaker was *724aware of any such custom. See id. at 578 (quoting Webster v. City of Hous. ,
Plaintiff's § 1983 claims against the School District will be dismissed as a result.
III. Section 1983 Claims Against Principal
Plaintiff has also brought a § 1983 claim against Principal Harpole based on first amendment retaliation. This motion turns on whether Principal Harpole is entitled to "qualified immunity." This doctrine "protects government officials 'from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.' " Pearson v. Callahan ,
Plaintiff contends that Principal Harpole infringed on her First Amendment rights by retaliating against her after her mother levied various complaints to or about Principal Harpole (Dkt. # 52 at p.2). See Keenan v. Tejeda ,
*725to suffer an injury that would chill a person of ordinary firmness from continuing to engage in that activity, and (3) the defendant['s] adverse actions were substantially motivated by [her] exercise of constitutionally protected conduct." See id. at 258.
Plaintiff fails to offer proof of the second element. The Fifth Circuit has found that evidence of "concrete" injuries may chill protected speech but non-concrete injuries or injuries that are relatively minor do not. See Keenan ,
CONCLUSION
Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment [Dkt. # 41] is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART . Accordingly, Plaintiff's § 1983 claims against both Defendants are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE while all other claims remain viable. The Clerk of the Court is DIRECTED
*726to terminate Defendant Jeremy Harpole as a party in this action.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Defendants ask the Court to ignore Plaintiff and her mother's affidavits because they purportedly contradict statements they made under oath in a deposition. The Court need not rule on this argument since the Court denies Defendants' motion for summary judgment as to the RA/ADA claims based on evidence outside of the affidavits and finds that Plaintiff's § 1983 claims are insufficiently supported-even assuming the truth of the affidavits.
In their briefs, Defendants levy attacks on Plaintiff's character that seem to have no or little relevance to the issues to be decided on this motion. This includes a suggestion that Plaintiff is a liar because her Complaint lists an old address rather than her current one-as well as several references to Plaintiff's personal life, including her dating history, alcohol use, a shoplifting incident, and her mother's issuance of a bad check. The Court does not consider irrelevant character evidence when deciding the merits of the motion and reminds Defense counsel of his duty to act professionally in all court matters. See Local Rule AT-3(k) ("Effective advocacy does not require antagonistic or obnoxious behavior, and members of the bar will adhere to the higher standard of conduct which judges, lawyers, clients, and the public may rightfully expect.").
The Court does not address Plaintiff's futility arguments since the motion for summary judgment as to these claims fails on other grounds.
Although no party has argued otherwise, the Court notes that there are no concerns about whether subject matter jurisdiction exists over an IDEA claim that has not been exhausted. See Wright v. Hollingsworth ,
Regardless, it is not clear if Plaintiff's ADA and RA claims are based on the deprivation of a free and public appropriate education. Plaintiff alleges that the School District deprived her access to school credits by not accommodating her absences-not that the School District should have provided her a specialized education. This allegation arguably could have been raised by an adult at the school who sought leave for being unable to attend work due to her disability. See Fry v. Napoleon Cmty. Schs. , --- U.S. ----,
The School District also argues, without explanation, that Plaintiff's Rehabilitation Act claim is barred by the statute of limitations (Dkt. # 41 at pp. 5-6), and that a failure to establish a § 1983 claim amounts to a failure to establish an ADA or RA claim (see Dkt. # 41 at pp. 21-25, which discusses a failure to state a claim under the RA and ADA based only on a 1983 analysis). The School District was waived these arguments by not adequately briefing them. See Audler ,
Plaintiff also appears to fault the School District for a failure to appropriately train staff but the Court has already dismissed this claim on Defendants' motion to dismiss (see Dkt. # 52 at pp. 10-11).
Even if a hostile school climate could be used to show retaliation, the Court questions whether such an interest was clearly established at the time the events occurred. Plaintiff has not cited, and the Court has been unable to locate, a single case in this Circuit in which a plaintiff brings a first amendment retaliation claim based on a hostile school environment.
The Court appreciates that Plaintiff's continued advocacy, on its own, may not be dispositive since she may or may not be someone of ordinary resolve.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Kelsey BOGGS v. KRUM INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT and Jeromy Harpole
- Cited By
- 11 cases
- Status
- Published