J.R. v. Greater Latrobe Sch. Dist., Mun. Corp.

688 F.Supp.3d 243

J.R., a minor, BY AND THROUGH his parents and natural guardians,MR. R.R. and Ms. N.R., Plaintiff, v. GREATER LATROBE SCHOOL DISTRICT, a Pennsylvania Municipal Corporation,Cary James Lydic, an adult individual, David F. Galando,an adult individual, R.S., a minor individual, and W.S.,a minor individual, Defendants.

No. 2:21-cv-01088-RJC

United States District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania

Signed August 25, 2023

Aimee R. Jim, Greensburg, PA, Kenneth M. Baldonieri, Attorney Kenneth M. Baldonieri, Greensburg, PA, for Plaintiff.

Joseph W. Cavrich, Salvatore Bittner, Andrews & Price, LLC, Pittsburgh, PA, for Defendant Greater Latrobe School District.

Joseph L. Luvara, Linda V. Hernandez, Maria V. Carr, Dickie, McCamey & Chilcote, PC, Pittsburgh, PA, for Defendant Cary James Lydic.

Thomas A. McDonnell, Summers, McDonnell, Hudock, Guthrie & Skeel, Pittsburgh, PA, for Defendant David F. Galando.

Jordan L. Strassburger, Lydia A. Gorba, Strassburger McKenna Gutnick & Gefsky, Pittsburgh, PA, Kim Ross Houser, Mears, Smith, Houser & Boyle, P.C., Greensburg, PA, for Defendant A Minor.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Robert J. Colville, United States District Judge

Before the Court are the following Motions: (1) the Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 86) filed by Defendant Greater Latrobe School District (the "District"); (2) the Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 88) filed by Defendant Cary James Lydic ("Lydic"); and (3) the Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 90) filed by Defendant David F. Galando ("Galando"). In this action, Plaintiff J.R. ("J.R." or "Plaintiff"), a minor, by and through his parents and natural guardians, Mr. R.R. and Ms. N.R., asserts claims against the District, Lydic, Galando, R.S., and W.S. arising out of alleged hazing incidents and an alleged sexual assault perpetrated on Plaintiff by R.S. and W.S., Plaintiff's teammates on the District's junior varsity wrestling team, while Plaintiff was a student athlete on the wrestling team. During the timeframe relevant herein, Lydic and Galando were coaches for the District's junior varsity wrestling team. The District seeks dismissal with prejudice pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of each of the claims (Counts I; IV; and VII) set forth against it in Plaintiff's Third Amended Complaint (ECF No. 81) (the "Complaint"). District's Mot. ¶¶ 1-2, ECF No. 86. Alternatively, the District asserts that Plaintiff fails to state a claim for which relief can be granted with respect to any claims for attorney fees as part of Counts IV and VII. Id. at ¶ 4. Lydic also seeks dismissal with prejudice of the claims set forth against him (Counts II; V; and VII) by way of his Motion to Dismiss; as does Galando by way of his Motion (Counts III; VI; and IX).

The Court has jurisdiction in this matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 and 28 U.S.C. § 1367. The Motions have been fully briefed and are ripe for disposition.

I. Factual Background & Procedural History

In the Complaint, Plaintiff sets forth the following factual allegations relevant to the Court's consideration of the Motions at issue:¹

Plaintiff is, and was during the times relevant herein, a student at Greater Latrobe High School. Compl. ¶ 15, ECF No. 81. During his freshman year, Plaintiff was accepted into the District's Junior Varsity Wrestling program, where he was coached primarily by Lydic and Galando. Id. Soon after the 2019-2020 wrestling season began, Plaintiff witnessed various acts of hazing committed by several other members of the wrestling team, and specifically witnessed the older wrestlers, particularly Defendants R.S. and Defendant W.S., hitting or smacking younger teammates with a wooden stick that was kept in or near the practice gym. Id. at ¶ 16. The stick was school property. Id. at ¶ 19. Plaintiff was personally attacked for the first time in December of 2019, when R.S., Plaintiff's ninth-grade teammate, struck Plaintiff with the wooden stick on the back of Plaintiff's leg. Id. at ¶ 17. R.S. communicated to Plaintiff that Plaintiff should accept and expect such abuse as a part of being a member of the wrestling team, and that Plaintiff would be expected to inflict similar abuse on other, typically younger, members of the wrestling team, specifically stating that "You get the stick, or you use the stick." Id. at ¶ 18. Lydic and Galando were aware of and encouraged the behavior of team members such as R.S. and W.S. as a means of maintaining "tradition" and indoctrinating new members of the team. Id. at ¶ 19. The coaches were aware that the wooden stick was being utilized as a weapon by students but permitted students to retain possession of the stick. Id.

At approximately 2:50 p.m. on January 8, 2020, Plaintiff arrived at the gymnasium for wrestling practice. Compl. ¶ 20, ECF No. 81. As he was preparing to put on his shoes, Plaintiff was tackled by W.H., a ninth-grade minor teammate, and was subsequently pinned to the ground facedown by W.H., R.S., W.S., and a fourth teammate. Id. at ¶ 21. While immobilized, another teammate, S.B., retrieved a rope and/or a net, which he used to bind Plaintiff's feet and hands. Id. at ¶ 22. The rope or net was also school property. Id. W.H. and a number of other teammates continued to restrain Plaintiff on the ground after his feet and hands were bound. Id. During the duration of this lengthy assault, several other teammates also entered the gymnasium to witness or assist in the hazing incident. Id.

While Plaintiff was being assaulted and hazed, Galando looked into the auxiliary gym from the doorway and observed the assault and hazing as it took place but proceeded to exit the doorway without taking any action. Compl. ¶ 23, ECF No. 81. Thereafter, a non-party teammate retrieved some water and proceeded to pour water over Plaintiff's face in a crude method of waterboarding, and Plaintiff was kicked several times by W.S and/or others. Id. at ¶ 24; ECF No. 94 at ¶ 5. W.S. subsequently retrieved the wooden stick that had previously been used by R.S. to assault Plaintiff, and W.S. and/or other teammates began striking and/or jabbing Plaintiff with the stick as he remained restrained on the ground. Compl. ¶ 25, ECF No. 81. W.S. and/or other teammates then took the stick and rammed or poked it through Plaintiff's pants and into the buttocks of Plaintiff approximately five times, all while Plaintiff was being restrained by R.S. and other teammates. Id. In doing so, W.S. and/or other teammates purposefully used the stick to penetrate the anus of Plaintiff by forcing Plaintiff's shorts into his anus with the stick. Id. W.H., W.S., and R.S. laughed and made jokes during the entirety of this incident, and R.S. later admitted in his juvenile delinquency proceeding that he took advantage of his physical ability and knew he "had control over" his victims, and in particular, Plaintiff. Id. at ¶ 26.

R.S. left the gymnasium towards the end of the assault to retrieve his phone and began to take a video and/or photographs of the incident. Compl. ¶ 27, ECF No. 81. Plaintiff was eventually able to free his hands from the rope and push his assailants off of him, at which time the assailants again attempted to tie him up with the rope a second time. Id. at ¶ 28. Despite his feet still being bound, Plaintiff stood up and was promptly knocked back to the ground, where the assault continued. Id. Thereafter, Plaintiff finally managed to fight off his assailants and gain control of the weapon used in the assault. Id. At that point, Galando appeared for a second time, noticed the rope and/or netting, and questioned the students regarding the incident. Id. at ¶ 29. The assailants denied any wrongdoing, and Plaintiff was unable to verbalize the incident at that time. Id.

On January 8, 2020, and on every practice-day preceding the incident, the ninth-grade wrestlers, consisting of approximately fifteen (15) minor participants, were left completely unsupervised from 2:45p.m. until 3:30p.m., for a period of unsupervised time of forty-five (45) minutes every day. Compl. ¶ 30, ECF No. 81. The District, Lydic, and Galando left the minors unsupervised because wrestling practice was scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. due to the fact that the seventh- and eighth-grade wrestling team members did not finish classes until 3:15 p.m. Id. at ¶ 31. Despite the fact that the District knew that they would be unsupervised, the ninth-grade members of the junior varsity wrestling team, including Plaintiff, were required by the District to be in the practice gym prior to the start of practice to prepare for practice. Id. at ¶¶ 30; 32. The District set the wrestling coaches' schedules, declined to require the coaches to be present for the forty-five minute timeframe after ninth-grade junior varsity wrestling team members completed classes, and affirmatively decided not to pay the coaches for such extra time. Id. at ¶ 32.

Plaintiff further avers that, despite the District's awareness of hazing on the wrestling team, "Defendant District was also negligent in failing to have anti-hazing polic[ies] and procedures in place, or to the extent it did, such policies were not adequately publicized or enforced[,]" and that "[a]ny training or instruction the District may have provided were manifestly inadequate as evidenced by the continued custom of hazing on the wrestling team." Compl. ¶ 33, ECF No. 81. Plaintiff asserts that:

Defendant District failed to enforce the policies and/or procedures and/or to properly train and instruct Defendants Lydic and Galando on identifying and eliminating sports-related hazing and/or Defendant District's policies were wholly insufficient and/or absent altogether, because the custom of hazing was so pervasive to the wrestling program that it existed for many years prior to the instant incident.

Plaintiff believes and therefore avers that the custom of hazing wrestlers either onto the team and or during participation within the team was being perpetrated and existed through multiple coaches, teams, and years. Defendant District - having

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