J.L. v. E. Suffolk Boces

113 F.Supp.3d 634

J.L., an infant under the age of sixteen (16) years, and Colleen O'Flaherty, for herself and as Next Friend of J.L., Plaintiffs,

v.EASTERN SUFFOLK BOCES, Sachem Central School District Board of Education, Matthew Matera, individually and in the capacity of Principal of Jefferson Academic Center; Holly Rauber, individually and in the capacity of Assistant Principal of Jefferson Academic Center, Alexander Golik, individually and in the capacity of employee of Jefferson Academic Center, and Does 1–10, individually and in their capacities as employees of Jefferson Academic Center, Sachem Central School District, and/or Eastern Suffolk Boces, Defendants.

No. 14–cv–4565 (ADS)(SIL).

United States District Court, E.D. New York.

Signed June 29, 2015.

The Law Offices of Jonathan E. Neuman, Esq., by: Jonathan Ellery Neuman, Esq., Of Counsel, Fresh Meadows, NY, for the Plaintiffs.

Devitt Spellman Barrett, LLP, by: Joshua S Shteierman, Esq., Of Counsel, Smithtown, NY, for the Defendant Sachem Central School District.

Congdon, Flaherty, O'Callaghan, Reid, Donlon, Travis, by: Laura A. Endrizzi, Esq., Francis X. Schroeder, Esq., Of Counsel, Uniondale, NY, for the Defendants Eastern Suffolk Boces, Matthew Matera, Holly Rauber, and Alexander Golik.

DECISION AND ORDER

SPATT, District Judge.

This case arises from alleged assaults committed by a teacher and students at Jefferson Academic Center ("Jefferson") and Islip Academic Center ("Islip") against the Plaintiff J.L., a fourteen year-old student.

On July 30, 2014, the Plaintiffs J.L. and Colleen O'Flaherty ("O'Flaherty"), for herself and as Next Friend of J.L., (collectively, the "Plaintiffs") commenced this action against Eastern Suffolk BOCES ("BOCES"), Sachem Central School District (the "District"), Matthew Matera ("Matera"), individually and in the capacity of Principal of Jefferson, Holly Rauber ("Rauber"), individually and in the capacity of Assistant Principal of Jefferson, Alexander Golik ("Golik"), individually and in the capacity of employee of Jefferson, and Does 1–10, individually and in their capacities of employees of Jefferson, the District, and/or BOCES (collectively, the "Defendants").

The Plaintiffs assert six causes of action against the Defendants: (1) violation of the Plaintiffs' constitutional rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983, 1985, and 1986 ; (2) violation of New York Education Law § 10 et seq., ("N.Y. Educ. Law"); (3) assault and battery; (4) intentional infliction of emotional distress; (5) negligence; and (6) negligent infliction of emotional distress.

Presently before the Court is a motion by the District pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ("Fed.R.Civ.P.") to dismiss the Plaintiffs' claims as against it. For the reasons set forth below, the Court grants, in part, and denies, in part, the District's motion.

I. BACKGROUND

Unless otherwise stated, the following facts are taken from the complaint and are construed in the light most favorable to the Plaintiffs.

A. The Parties

The Plaintiff J.L. is a male infant under the age of sixteen and currently resides in Mastic Beach, New York.

The Plaintiff O'Flaherty is the Plaintiff's mother and also resides in Mastic Beach, New York.

The Defendant BOCES is a public entity and educational cooperative of fifty-one school districts located in Suffolk County. Jefferson and Islip are a part of BOCES.

The Defendant District is a public school district located in Suffolk County. It allegedly placed the Plaintiff J.L. at Jefferson.

The Defendant Golik is a staff member employed by Jefferson and is alleged to have assaulted the Plaintiff J.L. while he was attending Jefferson.

The Defendant Matera is the former principal employed by Jefferson at the time of the alleged assault.

The Defendant Rauber is a former assistant principal employed by Jefferson at the time of the alleged assault.

B. The Alleged Facts

1. The Jefferson Middle School

When he was four years-old, J.L. was diagnosed with autism and certain mental conditions, including pervasive developmental disorder, mood disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

On an unspecified date, the District's Committee on Special Education ("CSE") classified J.L. as a student with special needs due to his mental conditions and placed him at Jefferson. (See Compl. at ¶¶ 16, 18.) In New York, the team of representatives from the District that develop a child's Individual Education Program ("IEP") is referred to as the Committee on Special Education ("CSE"). See Frank v. Sachem Sch. Dist., 84 F.Supp.3d 172, 177, No. 14–CV–67 (ADS) (ARL), 2015 WL 500489, at *2 (E.D.N.Y. Feb. 5, 2015) (Spatt, J).

As a result of its decision to classify J.L. as a special needs student, the District adopted an IEP for J.L. (See id. at ¶ 19.) By way of background, the Individuals with Disabilities Act ("IDEA"), 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq. requires a school district to develop an IEP in conjunction with a child's parents. The IEP is a written document that "sets out the child's present educational performance, establishes annual and short-term objectives for improvements in that performance, and describes the specially designed instruction and services that will enable the child to meet those objectives." K.H. v. New York City Dep't of Educ., No. 12–CV–1680 (ARR), 2014 WL 3866430, at *1 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 6, 2014) (quoting Honig v. Doe, 484 U.S. 305, 311, 108 S.Ct. 592, 98 L.Ed.2d 686 (1988) ).

The Plaintiffs allege that all of J.L.'s conditions were documented in the IEP and "all of the faculty at Jefferson were or should have been aware of J.L.'s mental health conditions and limitations." (Compl. at ¶ 19.)

Jefferson had a "Behavioral Intervention Room," ("BIR") which was used by Jefferson staff as "an area for a student to safely deescalate, regain control, and prepare to meet expectations to return to his/her educational program." (Id. at ¶ 20.) "Time-out" rooms, such as the BIR, are subject to regulation by 8 N.Y. Comp.Codes R. & Regs. ("NYCRR") § 200.22, which among other things, requires that the rooms contain "[w]all and floor coverings ... designed to prevent injury to the student." N.Y. Comp.Codes R. & Regs. tit. 8, § 200.22.

2. The Alleged Assault

On May 15, 2013, J.L., then an eighth grade student at Jefferson, was having a "difficult morning" and was sent to the office of the Defendant Rauber, the assistant principal of Jefferson. (See Compl. at ¶ 23.) After attempting to calm J.L. down, Rauber sent him to the BIR. (See id. )

When he arrived at the BIR, J.L. covered his head with a coat to "calm himself down." (Id. ) The Defendant Golik and an employee, who the complaint identifies as Maria, were in the BIR at that time supervising J.L. Golik and Maria told J.L. to take off his coat. Allegedly, when J.L. refused to remove the coat from his head, Maria "grabbed the coat away from him" and ripped the inside of the coat. (Id. at ¶ 28.)

After Maria took his coat away from him, J.L. stood up and began yelling. In response, Golik allegedly "football tackled J.L. from behind, knocking J.L. to the floor." (Id. ) J.L.'s face smacked into the floor and then Golik allegedly "dove on top of J.L. and would not get off ... [d]espite J.L.'s repeated protestations that he was bleeding[.]" (Id. )

At about 10:15 a.m., following the alleged tackling incident, the Plaintiff O'Flaherty, J.L.'s mother, received a phone call from Rauber. Rauber informed O'Flaherty of the incident but left out details regarding Golik's actions. (See id. at ¶ 24.) Specifically, she did not inform Rauber that Golik had tackled J.L. and instead described J.L.'s injury as a "spontaneous nose bleed." (Id. ) Rauber also told O'Flaherty that J.L. was refusing to wipe the blood from his face and asked O'Flaherty to speak with J.L.

O'Flaherty spoke with J.L. and successfully calmed him down after she convinced Rauber to allow J.L. to put his coat back on.

Between 12 pm and 12:30 pm on May 15, 2013, the same day, the School Nurse Renee—the complaint does not identify Renee's last name—left a voice mail for O'Flaherty. In the voicemail, Renee allegedly stated that J.L. "must have had a spontaneous nose bleed because he did not hit it." (Id. at ¶ 26.) The Plaintiffs allege that Renee was instructed by Rauber to conceal the true nature of J.L.'s injuries.

When J.L. arrived home later that evening, O'Flaherty observed "bruises on his hand and arm" and redness on "half of his face." (Id. at ¶ 28.) It also appeared to her that J.L.'s nose was broken. Concerned, O'Flaherty allegedly left a voicemail with Dr. Hartman, a school psychologist employed by the District, informing him of the incident. She then brought J.L. to a hospital where he was diagnosed with a nasal contusion. The complaint does not specify where J.L. was treated, nor who at the hospital examined his injuries.

3. The Post-incident Investigation

On May 16, 2013, the day following the incident, O'Flaherty spoke with Rauber again to inform her of J.L.'s injuries. Rauber allegedly changed her story and now informed O'Flaherty that the injury to J.L.'s nose did not occur spontaneously but was the result of Golik "tak[ing] down [J.L.] from the side." (Id. at ¶ 31.) Rauber allegedly told O'Flaherty that she would receive a "write-up" of the incident. However, O'Flaherty never received such a document.

On the same day, O'Flaherty again reached out to Dr. Hartman and Susan Tuttle ("Tuttle"), an employee of the District, regarding the incident. The complaint does not specify Tuttle's title or role as an employee at the District. Dr. Hartman allegedly suggested that the District's CSE meet to discuss transferring J.L. from Jefferson to another school. O'Flaherty told Dr. Hartman that a transfer would be unacceptable because there was only one month left in the school year.

On May 17, 2013, O'Flaherty again reached out to Dr. Hartman and Tuttle to inform them that J.L. was refusing to go to school....