Doe ex rel. Doe v. Small

654 F.Supp.3d 376

Jane DOE, ON BEHALF OF John DOE, her minor child, Plaintiff, v. Marty SMALL, Sr., in his official Capacity as Mayor of Atlantic City,New Jersey, and individually; La'Quetta Small-Frazier,in her official capacity as Former Principal of Pennsylvania Avenue School, and individually;Barry Caldwell,in his official capacity as current Superintendent of the Atlantic City School District;Paul A. Spaventa,in his official capacity as former Interim Superintendent of the Atlantic City School District;Atlantic City Board of Education, a public entity;and Kayan Ahmed Frazier, an individual, Defendants.

1:21-cv-11189

United States District Court, D. New Jersey

Signed February 2, 2023

Joseph D. Lento, Terrell A. Ratliff, John A. Fonte, Samuel Jackson, Lento Law Group, P.C., Mount Laurel, NJ, for Plaintiff.

Jeffrey L. Shanaberger, Hill Wallack, LLP, Princeton, NJ, for Defendant LaQuetta Small.

OPINION

Joseph H. Rodriguez, United States District Judge

After learning that a substitute teacher sexually abused her son on and off school grounds, Plaintiff Jane Doe ("Plaintiff") filed this lawsuit against the Atlantic City School District (the "District"), District administrators, and the Mayor of Atlantic City, asserting a host of statutory and common-law claims. The District and its superintendents [Dkt. 41], and the school principal La'Quetta Small ("La'Quetta) [Dkt. 42] moved to dismiss the claims against them. For the reasons discussed below, the Court will grant the District's motion, grant La'Quetta's motion in part and deny La' Quetta's motion in part.

I. Background

John Doe is a minor child who was an elementary school student at Pennsylvania Avenue School ("the School") in Atlantic City, New Jersey from early 2016 to approximately April 2019 (the "Relevant Period"). [See Am. Compl. ¶ 31]. The School is part of the District which is also a defendant in this case. [Am. Compl. ¶ 11]. Defendant Harry Caldwell ("Caldwell") has been the Superintendent of the District since 2017. [Am. Compl. ¶ 9]. Defendant Paul Spaventa ("Spaventa") served as interim superintendent for the District from 2015 until Caldwell assumed the position. [Am. Compl. ¶ 10]. The Court will refer to the above-named defendants collectively as the "District Defendants." Defendant La'Quetta was principal of the School during the Relevant Period. [Am. Compl. ¶ 8]. Defendant Marty Small Sr. ("Small"), husband of La'Quetta, is the current Mayor of Atlantic City who was also Mayor during the Relevant Period. [Am. Compl. ¶ 25]. Defendant Kayan Frazier ("Frazier") is a cousin of La'Quetta who worked as a substitute teacher for the District, including at the School. [Am. Compl. ¶¶ 13, 29]. Frazier resided with La'Quetta for some time during the early portion of the Relevant Period. [See Am. Compl. ¶ 77].

a. Frazier's Relationship with John Doe

In early 2016, John Doe met Frazier, who was working at the School. [Am. Compl. ¶ 31]. Frazier was viewed as a "cool" teacher who made an effort to develop rapport with students. [Am. Compl. ¶ 32]. Frazier took an interest in John Doe and brought John Doe for private walks through the hallways of the School and on trips to the Library. [Am. Compl. ¶¶ 34-36]. Frazier developed a relationship with Plaintiff, John Doe's mother, in the spring of 2016 and communicated with Plaintiff by phone about John Doe's welfare. [Am. Compl. ¶¶ 39-44]. Meanwhile, Frazier continued to spend time with John Doe at school. Nobody at the School identified Frazier's interactions with John Doe as problematic.

In June 2016, Frazier contacted Plaintiff to invite John Doe to go with Frazier and his nephew—La'Quetta'sson—to Chuck E. Cheese and the movies. [Am. Compl. ¶ 42]. Plaintiff permitted John Doe to attend. [Am. Compl. ¶ 42]. After that outing, John Doe began to spend more time with Frazier outside of school. In the fall of 2016, and with Plaintiff's permission, John Doe attended a sleepover that Frazier hosted for Frazier's cousins. [Am. Compl. ¶¶ 45-46]. "The sleepover concluded without apparent incident," and Plaintiff permitted John Doe to attend sleepovers at Frazier's house more often. [Am. Compl. ¶ 47]. Except for a six-month pause in 2018, this relationship continued until 2019.

Unbeknownst to Plaintiff, Frazier was sexually abusing John Doe inside and outside of school since 2016. Incidents of abuse occurred in the library of the School, [Am. Compl. ¶ 36] and the home bathroom of La'Quetta, [Am. Compl. ¶ 60], among other places. As a result of this abuse, John Doe has endured severe psychological, emotional, and behavioral problems. [Am. Compl. ¶¶ 82-87]. It is unclear from the Amended Complaint how and when Plaintiff learned of the abuse that John Doe endured.

b. La'Quetta's Awareness

The Amended Complaint alleges that La'Quetta learned in early 2016 that Frazier was interacting with John Doe outside of school and hosting John Doe for overnight sleepovers, some of which her own son attended. [Am. Compl. ¶ 70]. The Amended Complaint further asserts that "despite the obvious appearance of impropriety, [La'Quetta] - neither in her official capacity, nor in her individual capacity - questioned Frazier's behavior," but knew of Frazier's "inappropriate and abusive conduct" and eventually "prohibited her son from joining Frazier and John Doe on their weekend outings." [Am. Compl. ¶ 72]. According to the Amended Complaint, La'Quetta did not notify anyone of Frazier's conduct until February 24, 2017, when she "filed a report with the Division of Child Protection and Permanency [("DCPP")] and detailed the unprofessional conduct of Frazier." [Am. Compl. ¶ 73]. The Amended Complaint does not include any further details about this report. The Amended Complaint claims that La'Quetta also sent incident reports to Source4Teachers—an educational staffing company—in February and March of 2017 which "cited Frazier for unprofessional conduct and recommended that he be removed from the substitute teaching position within the school district." [Am. Compl. ¶¶ 74-75]. The Amended Complaint claims that La'Quetta did not report Frazier sooner because Frazier was living in La'Quetta's home when the abuse of John Doe began, and that Frazier's conduct could affect La'Quetta's career and Small's political aspirations. [Am. Compl. ¶ 77].

In March of 2017, the Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit ("IAIU") of the Department of Children and Families for the State of New Jersey investigated Frazier "likely as a result of [La'Quetta's] reporting." [Am. Compl. ¶ 79]. When interviewed, Frazier admitted that he permitted John Doe to sleep in his bed but denied any inappropriate or sexual conduct. [Am. Compl. ¶ 80]. He also admitted to communicating with another nine-year-old student via text message in violation of school policy. [Id.]. Frazier was terminated from his job as a substitute teacher because of this investigation. [Am. Compl. ¶ 81]. The Board did not conduct its own investigation into Frazier's conduct. [Am. Compl. ¶ 81]. Frazier was later hired to work with the DCPP. [See Am. Compl. ¶ 54].

c. FBI Investigation

In April of 2019, the FBI executed a search warrant of Frazier's home after receiving a tip that Frazier had uploaded child pornography images to the internet. [Am. Compl. ¶¶ 61-65]. Photos of John Doe were among those recovered during the search. [Am. Compl. ¶ 65]. Frazier was arrested and charged federal crimes for producing, distributing, and receiving child pornography. [Am. Compl. ¶¶ 66-67]. John Doe told the FBI that Frazier threatened to harm Plaintiff's family members if John Doe "did not comply with Frazier's sexually abusive demands or if he told anyone about" the abuse. [Am. Compl. ¶ 68]. John Doe also reported that Frazier often showed John Doe pornographic photos of other young boys. [Am. Compl. ¶ 69].

d. This Lawsuit

The Amended Complaint is the operative pleading and alleges the following claims:

Count

Claim

Defendant(s)

I

Title IX, 20 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq. (Deliberate Indifference)

Board

II

42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Failure to Intervene, Investigate & Protect

District Defendants, La'Quetta

III

42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Failure to Train and Supervise)

District Defendants, La'Quetta

IV

Masha's Law, 18 U.S.C. § 2255

Frazier

V

Negligence

All Defendants

VI

Gross Negligence, Recklessness

All Defendants

VII

Assault and Battery

Frazier

VIII

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress

District Defendants, Frazier

IX

New Jersey Child Sexual Abuse Act, N.J.S.A § 2A:61b-1

All Defendants

The District Defendants and La'Quetta separately moved to dismiss Plaintiff's Amended Complaint. [Dkt. 41, 42, respectively]. Frazier and Small did not move to dismiss the Amended Complaint.

II. Jurisdiction

The Court has jurisdiction over Plaintiff's federal claims under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343, and supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiff's state-law claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1367(a).

III. Standard of Review

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) permits dismissal for "failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted." Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). A complaint should be dismissed pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) if the alleged facts, taken as true, fail to state a claim. Id. In general, only the allegations in the complaint, matters of public record, orders, and exhibits attached to the complaint, are taken into consideration when deciding a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6). See Chester Cnty. Intermediate Unit v. Pa. Blue Shield, 896 F.2d 808, 812 (3d Cir. 1990). It is not necessary for the plaintiff to plead evidence. Bogosian v. Gulf Oil Corp., 561 F.2d 434, 446 (3d Cir. 1977). The question before the Court is not whether the plaintiff will ultimately prevail. Watson v. Abington Twp., 478 F.3d 144, 150 (3d Cir. 2007). Instead, the Court simply asks whether the plaintiff has articulated "enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d...