Forth v. Laramie Cnty. Sch. Dist. No. 1

85 F.4th 1044 (2023)

Gracie Ann FORTH, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. LARAMIE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 21-8078

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.

FILED November 7, 2023.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming (D.C. No. 1:20-CV-00053-ABJ)

Matthew J. Cron, Rathod | Mohamedbhai, LLC, Denver, Colorado (Qusair Mohamedbhai, Rathod | Mohamedbhai, LLC, Denver, Colorado; Melinda S. McCorkle, McCorkle Law, Cheyenne, Wyoming; Anna Reeves Olson, Park Street Law Office, Casper, Wyoming, with him on the briefs), for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Loyd E. Smith (John A. Coppede with him on the brief), Hickey & Evans, LLP, Cheyenne, Wyoming, for Defendant-Appellee.

Before HOLMES, Chief Judge, EBEL, and EID, Circuit Judges.

HOLMES, Chief Judge.

Plaintiff-Appellant Gracie Ann Forth appeals from an order granting summary judgment to Defendant-Appellee Laramie County School District Number 1 ("LCSD1") on Ms. Forth's claim under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1681-1689 ("Title IX"). Title IX provides a platform to hold liable school districts that receive federal funds and have "actual notice" of, but remain deliberately indifferent to, severe discrimination in their programs. Gebser v. Lago Vista Indep. Sch. Dist., 524 U.S. 274, 290-91, 118 S.Ct. 1989, 141 L.Ed.2d 277 (1998); Escue v. N. Okla. Coll., 450 F.3d 1146, 1152 (10th Cir. 2006).¹

Ms. Forth alleges that while she was a student at Johnson Junior High School ("JJHS"), a school within LCSD1, one of her seventh-grade teachers, Joseph Meza, sexually abused her over several years beginning in 2014. Ms. Forth alleges that principals at JJHS had actual notice that Mr. Meza posed a substantial risk of abuse and were deliberately indifferent to these risks, thereby violating Title IX.

On LCSD1's motion for summary judgment, the district court concluded that LCSD1 did not have actual notice that Mr. Meza posed a substantial risk of abuse before it learned that Ms. Forth had reported him to the police. Because the district court concluded that Ms. Forth failed to establish such notice by LCSD1 during the period before LCSD1 learned of her police report, the court further concluded that LCSD1 (lacking such notice) was not deliberately indifferent during that period. Ms. Forth appeals from the district court's order—challenging in particular the district court's conclusion that LCSD1 did not have actual notice of the substantial risk of sexual abuse that Mr. Meza posed during the period before LCSD1 learned of her police report.

Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we reverse the district court's judgment and remand the action for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.²

I

A

Ms. Forth entered the seventh grade at JJHS in the fall of 2013. At that time, the Principal of JJHS was John Balow, and the Assistant/Associate Principals were Christina Hunter and John Cunningham (collectively, the "JJHS Principals").³

In September 2013, Mr. Cunningham observed Mr. Meza sitting with a group of seventh-grade girls at a school football game. According to Mr. Cunningham's notes from the incident, "[o]ne of the girls had her arm around Mr. Meza and continually touched his face and neck." Joint App. at 704 (Notes of John Cunningham, dated Sept. 29, 2013). Mr. Cunningham reported the incident to Mr. Balow, who directed Mr. Cunningham to "make sure [Mr. Meza] knows this was not appropriate" and "put a note in [Mr. Meza's] ... file that he had the conversation." Id. at 683 (Test. of John Balow, dated Dec. 11, 2020). Mr. Cunningham spoke to Mr. Meza about the incident the following day, informing him that the incident was inappropriate and suggesting ways to maintain appropriate boundaries with students.

By November 2013, Mr. Meza—who at the time was Ms. Forth's math teacher— "began to show a special interest in [Ms. Forth]." See id. at 372 ¶ 1 (Aff. of Gracie Forth, dated July 8, 2021). Mr. Meza "began texting [Ms. Forth] throughout the school day and at night," and, in May 2014, he asked Ms. Forth during school hours to take their relationship to the "next level" by dating. Id. at 372 ¶¶ 3-5. Ms. Forth enrolled in courses with Mr. Meza during the summer of 2014, at which point their relationship became sexual.

B

In the fall of 2014, when Ms. Forth entered the eighth grade at JJHS, she was no longer Mr. Meza's student. However, she frequently spent time in Mr. Meza's classroom before and after school. She also often ate lunch with Mr. Meza, and Mr. Meza began driving her home. Other JJHS teachers observed the two spending a substantial amount of time together, including at times when Ms. Forth was supposed to be in another class. See id. at 393-94 (Test. of Shannon Hall, dated Nov. 10, 2020) (testifying to observing Ms. Forth in Mr. Meza's classroom before school up to a dozen times and after school on additional occasions); id. at 720 (Test. of Melinda Mazzone, dated Mar. 4, 2021) (testifying to observing Ms. Forth in Mr. Meza's class when she was supposed to be in another class).

During the 2014-2015 school year, eighth-grade teachers Shannon Hall and Rebecca Robinson collectively made at least five reports to one or more of the JJHS Principals regarding Mr. Meza's behavior toward Ms. Forth. The first report concerned an incident that occurred around August 2014. Mr. Meza requested that Ms. Hall grant Ms. Forth permission to visit Mr. Meza's classroom "whenever she wanted to" on grounds that, according to Mr. Meza, he and Ms. Forth "had a special relationship." Id. at 381-82. When Ms. Hall declined Mr. Meza's request, Mr. Meza became "a little threatening in his manner," which caused Ms. Hall to report the incident to at least one of the JJHS Principals, although she did not recall specifically which principal she notified. Id. at 382-84. Ms. Hall testified that the principals expressed "concern[ ] and said they would look into" the issue, but she was not sure whether the principals followed through. Id. at 390.

In the second report, Ms. Hall notified the JJHS Principals that she observed Ms. Forth spending time with Mr. Meza at school during a professional development day on at least one occasion and possibly two. Professional development days provide time for teachers to focus on work unrelated to the classroom, and students typically are not at school on these days. Ms. Hall recalled making this report around October 2014, although she testified that it could have occurred later in the school year.

In the third report, Ms. Hall provided notice to certain JJHS Principals that Ms. Forth had skipped her class to spend time in Mr. Meza's classroom. This report occurred sometime between Thanksgiving of 2014 and the beginning of 2015. Ms. Hall testified that she recalled making this report via a written referral, which would have gone to Mr. Cunningham or Ms. Hunter.

In the fourth report, on at least one occasion, Ms. Hall notified certain JJHS Principals that Ms. Forth was spending time in Mr. Meza's classroom before and after school. Ms. Hall recalled reporting this issue more than once, though she did not recall the precise timing during the 2014-2015 school year.

Finally, later in the 2014-2015 school year, several students separately reported to Ms. Hall and Ms. Robinson that they saw Mr. Meza and Ms. Forth drinking a soda out of the same container. See id. at 387; see also id. at 438 (Test. of Rebecca Robinson, dated Jan. 27, 2021). Ms. Hall testified that the students described the incident as "odd" and that she reported it to Ms. Hunter and Mr. Balow. See id. at 387. In response, both principals exhibited "frustration towards the situation," and Ms. Hunter "threw her hands up in ... exasperat[ion]." See id. at 388-89. Similarly, Ms. Robinson testified that three-to-four female students reported the incident to her and, in doing so, the students described Mr. Meza as "weird." Id. at 438. Ms. Robinson also reported the incident to Ms. Hunter. See id.

The JJHS Principals denied or did not recall ever receiving these reports from Ms. Hall and Ms. Robinson. See id. at 202 (Test. of Christina Hunter, dated Nov. 11, 2020) (Ms. Hunter testifying she did not receive any such reports); id. at 685 (Mr. Balow testifying he could not recall any such reports); id. at 357 (Test. of John Cunningham, dated Dec. 23, 2020) (Mr. Cunningham testifying that he did not know of Ms. Hall's reports).

Nevertheless, Ms. Forth presented evidence suggesting that certain JJHS Principals were aware that Mr. Meza was engaging in behavior similar to what Ms. Hall and Ms. Robinson say they reported. After Ms. Forth reported Mr. Meza to the police in May 2017, Ms. Hunter stated to the Cheyenne Police Department that during the 2014-2015 school year, she discovered Ms. Forth seated at Mr. Meza's desk when Ms. Forth should have been in another class. See id. at 723 (Written Statement of Christina Hunter to Cheyenne Police Dep't, dated July 7, 2021). Ms. Hunter also testified that she told Mr. Meza that "he needed to be aware that his boundaries with multiple students, boys and girls, needed to be professional and needed to make sure that they were a teacher-student relationship only." Id. at 202. And Ms. Hunter said that she and Mr. Balow spoke with Mr. Meza "on April 14, 2015[,] to address occurrences of students not enrolled in his class being in his classroom during the school day." Id. at 723. Moreover, Mr. Cunningham testified that Ms. Hall had spoken to him about the fact that she thought it was inappropriate for Mr. Meza to have students in his classroom who were not enrolled in his class. See id. at 355-56.

Ms. Forth also presented evidence that in October 2014, Mr. Meza encouraged her to join the cross-country and track teams, which he coached, and that they "formed a running club" together. Id. at 373 ¶ 11. In connection with their running club, Mr. Meza took Ms. Forth on at least two overnight running trips...