Moore v. Lauer

1

STEPHENE MOORE, on behalf of her minor child, “PM,” Plaintiff, v. OFFICER BRADLEY LAUER, et al., Defendants.

No. 3:22-cv-50354

United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Western Division

May 2, 2023

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Honorable Iain D. Johnston United States District Judge

Although public school students enjoy “less than the full constitutional liberty protection afforded those persons not in school,” they “do not completely surrender their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate.” Wallace by Wallace v. Batavia Sch. Dist. 101, 68 F.3d 1010, 1013 (7th Cir. 1995). Stephene Moore brings this suit on behalf of her minor son, PM. Dkt. 29, at ¶¶ 9-10. PM was a fourteen-year-old freshman at Auburn High School in Rockford, Illinois. Id. at ¶¶ 13, 35, 136. It is alleged that, following a classroom dispute, school officials violently restrained PM by blocking his movements, grabbing PM, tackling PM, and ultimately throwing PM to the floor, fracturing his skull and causing lifelong physical and mental repercussions. See generally, Dkt. 29.

Before the Court is Ms. Moore's twelve-count first amended complaint. Id. She is suing a host of defendants Rockford, the Board of Education (the “Board”) School Liaison Officer (“SLO”) Bradley Lauer Assistant Principal Scott Dimke, Assistant Principal and/or Dean Amber Lee-Black, Hall Monitor/Security Guard Jessica Badford, President of the Board Jude Makulec, Superintendent Ehren Jarrett, and General Counsel of the School District Lori Hoadley. Id. at ¶¶ 12-23.

The Board, Mr. Dimke, Ms. Lee-Black, Ms. Badford, Dr. Jarrett, Ms. Makulec, and Ms. Hoadley (the “School District Defendants”) moved to dismiss nine of the twelve counts in the first amended complaint. Dkt. 36. Based on the allegations, which the Court must currently accept as true, their motion is granted in part and denied in part.

ALLEGATIONS

During Second Period, PM's teacher asked him to remove his “hoodie.” Id. at ¶ 36. PM refused and the teacher “ordered him to leave class.” Id. PM left class, and the school called his grandmother who promptly picked him up from school. Id.

The next day, PM again went to Second Period. Id. at ¶¶ 37-38. The same teacher began “nitpicking at PM” and “harassing him about where in the classroom he could sit.” Id. PM again left the classroom and entered the hallway. Id. at ¶¶ 3839.

In the hallway, PM walked past his Second Period classroom where his teacher told PM that he was supposed to be in class. Id. at ¶ 39. PM ignored the instruction, and continued walking down the hall. Id. The Second Period teacher then “summoned a school official to deal with PM.” Id.

Enter Mr. Dimke. Id. at ¶ 40. Mr. Dimke had, on prior occasions, “pushed,” “tackled,” and “grabbed” other students by their backpacks or “hoodies.” Id. at ¶ 131.

Allegedly true to form, Mr. Dimke “spotted” PM, “approached” PM, who is African American, and “started a prolonged and aggressive interaction with him.” Id. at ¶¶ 11, 40. Mr. Dimke, “a large man relative to PM,” blocked PM's path forward, and “physically grabbed hold of PM's backpack while it was on his back.” Id. at ¶ 41. “PM did not actively resist.” Id. at ¶ 42.

Sensing something awry in her domain, Ms. Badford “walked up” to PM and Mr. Dimke and “listened to their conversation, and began talking to PM as well.” Id. at ¶ 43.

Presumably free from Mr. Dimke's grip, PM continued walking, and Mr. Dimke and Ms. Badford “walked calmly behind PM, following him.” Id. at ¶ 44. But as PM approached the main school office, Mr. Dimke again “caught up to PM” and “physically blocked his path forward.” Id. at ¶ 47.

Ms. Lee-Black then arrived on the scene in the main school office hallway. Id. at ¶ 48. There, she “observed and overheard” Mr. Dimke's “interactions and communications with PM.” Id.

PM turned around, and “walked in the opposite direction” from Mr. Dimke, who had been blocking his path forward. Id. at ¶¶ 47, 49. Mr. Dimke, once again, “physically grabbed hold of PM's backpack” to “stop and restrain his forward motion.” Id. ¶ 50. PM, again, did not resist the restraint. Id. at ¶ 51. Mr. Dimke let PM loose, and PM continued walking. Id. Mr. Dimke then “grabbed PM's arm with one hand and constantly held onto PM as he walked.” Id. at ¶ 52.

They passed Ms. Lee-Black in tandem, and Ms. Lee-Black “did not say or do anything to” Mr. Dimke to “intervene or suggest[] another course of action by the school.” Id. at ¶ 54.

Things then turned more physical. See id. at ¶ 55. Mr. Dimke “grabbed PM, wrapped both of his arms around PM's body from behind, and physically carried or dragged PM into the main school office.” Id. When they entered the office, Mr. Dimke blocked PM's retreat and tried to talk to PM. Id. at ¶ 57. The main school office was a new environment for PM. Id. at ¶ 56. PM had never been in there before. Id. PM viewed the main school office as a “small, secluded room” that was an “isolated space.” Id. PM grew scared. Id. And when PM tried to leave, Mr. Dimke “moved to block him and physically pushed him back into the office.” Id. at ¶ 58.

Mr. Dimke or Ms. Lee-Black called for one of Auburn's two SLOs to help. Id. at ¶ 59. SLO Lauer answered the call and headed their way. Id. at ¶ 60. All the while, Mr. Dimke was pushing PM “backwards and deeper” into the main school office. Id. at ¶ 61. Mr. Dimke then “attempted to tackle or physically jump onto PM's body with the full weight of his body while at the same time pushing him through a closed door inside the office.” Id. at ¶ 63. The attempt resulted in both Mr. Dimke and PM on the floor, with Mr. Dimke on top of PM, and PM “restrained.” Id. at ¶ 64. Though close enough to observe and hear Mr. Dimke and PM's interactions, neither Ms. Lee-Black nor Ms. Badford “said or did anything at the time” to deescalate the situation. Id. at ¶ 66.

SLO Lauer then entered the cacophony. Id. at ¶ 67. After entering the office, he “immediately and physically took over the situation” without speaking to anyone. Id. SLO Lauer “did not know what was happening and whether PM posed any danger” to Mr. Dimke. Id. at ¶ 68.

Nevertheless, SLO Lauer jumped into action and grabbed both of PM's arms “from behind his body” to “pull him out into the hallway.” Id. at ¶ 72. PM did not “fight or resist” SLO Lauer, who was, at least, one-foot and seventy pounds larger. Id. at ¶¶ 73, 74.

Then, without any warning whatsoever, SLO Lauer, who was still behind PM, “locked his arms into PM's arms at the elbows, lifted PM up off of the floor and over his head, and slammed PM down to the hard, tile floor, head-first.” Id. at ¶ 75.

Unable to break the fall with his arms, PM's “head and body hit the floor and bore the brunt of the impact.” Id. at ¶¶ 76-77. PM's skull fractured, and he was knocked unconscious on impact. Id. at ¶¶ 76, 78. PM laid limp on the floor-motionless-for several minutes. Id. at ¶ 78. While PM was unconscious, SLO Lauer handcuffed PM and searched PM's pockets, revealing nothing newsworthy. Id. at ¶¶ 80-81.

Paramedics arrived on the scene, and the paramedics and SLO Lauer put PM in a wheelchair. Id. at ¶ 82. SLO Lauer allegedly lied to the paramedics and told them that PM had fallen. Id. at ¶ 87. They wheeled him to a stretcher near the main entrance of the office where they released PM to his grandmother. Id. at ¶¶ 82, 84. SLO Lauer and school officials told Ms. Moore that SLO Lauer and PM had been “scuffling” and that PM “slipped,” “fell,” and “hit his head.” Id. at ¶ 86 (internal quotations omitted). She immediately took PM to the emergency room. Id. at ¶ 84.

Within one month of the incident, SLO Lauer either resigned his position at Auburn High School or was involuntarily transferred. Id. at ¶ 95. Nevertheless, Ms. Moore alleges that the Rockford Police Department and Rockford neither “conducted an immediate investigation of the incident,” nor “opened an internal affairs investigation after the incident.” Id. at ¶ 96. Ms. Moore believes that the Rockford Police Department has yet to discipline Mr. Lauer, and that the Rockford Police Department and Rockford have declined to publicly comment on the matter, acknowledge the incident, or hold anyone accountable for SLO Lauer's conduct. Id. at ¶ 98.

After the incident unfolded, “school officials” told PM's family that “no further disciplinary action was needed or would be taken with respect to PM.” Id. at ¶ 112. They also stated that there would be no juvenile criminal charges pressed against PM. Id. at ¶¶ 113, 115. Despite their assurances, and after PM's family retained counsel and asked the Board and Rockford Police Department to retain evidence, PM's family received a letter from a juvenile probation officer informing them that PM had been “charged with an alleged offense.” Id. at ¶ 116-17 (internal quotations omitted). The letter summoned PM's family to a meeting and threatened PM with prosecution if they did not attend. Id. According to Ms. Moore, sometime after January 1, 2022, the charge was terminated in PM's favor. Id. at ¶ 118.

Ms. Moore alleges that the Board and Rockford Police Department pursued the criminal charge to “punish PM and his family for taking legal action and to threaten PM with a criminal record in order to intimidate and chill them from exercising PM's civil rights by filing a lawsuit.” Id. at ¶ 119. To retaliate against PM and his family, Ms. Makulec, Dr. Jarrett, and Ms. Lori Hoadley also repeatedly refused PM's request to transfer high schools within the School District against the advice of outside counsel. Id. at ¶¶ 120-21.

SLO Lauer's actions allegedly wreaked havoc on PM's physical and mental health. See id. at ¶¶ 99-111. Beyond breaking his skull, PM suffered a traumatic-brain-injury (“TBI”). Id. at ¶...