E.S. v. Elizabeth Bd. of Educ.

1

E.S., a minor, by and through his guardian ad litem, ELIZABETH SANCHEZ, individually, and CHARLES SANCHEZ, individually, Plaintiffs, v. ELIZABETH BOARD OF EDUCATION, NICHOLAS S. LA CORTE SCHOOL, JOSEPH TROIANO, JENNIFER CAMPEL, AND CRISTINA BRITO, Defendants.

No. 20cv1027 (EP) (AME)

United States District Court, D. New Jersey

March 19, 2024

NOT FOR PUBLICATION

OPINION

PADIN DISTRICT JUDGE.

In this case, Plaintiffs E.S., a minor, and his parents, Elizabeth and Charles Sanchez, bring federal constitutional and state common law claims arising from a teacher's discipline of E.S. (the “Incident”) and the events that followed. D.E. 49 (“SAC”). Defendants are (1) educators at E.S.'s school during the relevant events and (2) the Board of Education tasked with overseeing the school. Defendants move for summary judgment dismissing all of Plaintiffs' claims. D.E. 86-1 (“Mot.” or “Motion”). The Court decides the Motion on the papers. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 78(b); L.Civ.R. 78(b). For the reasons below, the Motion will be GRANTED and the SAC will be DISMISSED with prejudice.

I. BACKGROUND^[1]

A. Factual Background^[2]

1. The parties

Defendant Elizabeth Board of Education (“Elizabeth BOE”) is a governmental body tasked with overseeing the Elizabeth School District. Defs. SOF ¶ 1; Pls. Reply to SOF ¶ 1. Defendant Joseph Troiano (“Mr. Troiano”) is the former music teacher of Nicholas S. LaCorte-Peterstown School Number 3 (“School No. 3”). Defs. SOF ¶ 5; Pls. Reply to SOF ¶ 5. Defendant Jennifer Campel has been the Principal of School No. 3 since November 2010 (“Principal Campel”). Defs. SOF ¶ 6; Pls. Reply to SOF ¶ 6. Defendant Cristina Brito^[3] is the former Vice Principal of School No. 3 (“Vice Principal Brito”). Defs. SOF ¶ 7; Pls. SOF ¶ 7. Mr. Troiano, Principal Campel, and Vice Principal Brito (“Faculty Defendants”) held their respective positions during the relevant events. See Defs. SOF ¶¶ 5-7; Pls. SOF ¶¶ 5-7.

Plaintiff E.S., a former student at School No. 3, was enrolled as a fifth-grade student in Mr. Troiano's music class the day of the Incident. Defs. SOF ¶¶ 8, 10; Pls. Reply to SOF ¶¶ 8, 10. Plaintiffs Charles and Elizabeth Sanchez (“Mr. and Mrs. Sanchez”) are E.S.'s parents. Defs. SOF ¶ 9; Pls. Reply to SOF ¶ 9.

2. The Incident

The Incident occurred in School No. 3's gym on June 21, 2017, the penultimate day of the school year. See Defs. SOF ¶ 27; Pls. Reply to SOF ¶ 27. Mr. Troiano was setting up equipment in the gym for a kindergarten graduation ceremony. See Pls. Counter-SOF ¶ 2; Defs. Reply to Counter-SOF ¶ 2. While doing so, Mr. Troiano was also tasked with supervising a class of students, which included E.S. Pls. Counter-SOF ¶ 5; Defs. Reply to Counter-SOF ¶ 5. Mr. Troiano instructed the class to sit in the folding chairs that were set up for the ceremony. See Pls. Counter-SOF ¶¶ 2 & 6; Defs. Reply to Pls. Counter-SOF ¶¶ 2 & 6.

At one point, E.S. began laying across a female student's lap and throwing himself to the floor multiple times. See Defs. SOF ¶ 30 (citing D.E. 86-5 Ex. 9 (“Surveillance Video”), 37:2140); Pls. Reply to SOF ¶ 30.^[4] During one instance where E.S. was on the floor, “another student moved into the seat E.S. was previously sitting in.” Defs. SOF ¶ 31 (citing Surveillance Video 37:21-40); Pls. Reply to SOF ¶ 31. “E.S. then started to wriggle his way between two students in an attempt to regain his seat.” Defs. SOF ¶ 32 (citing Surveillance Video 38:14-25); Pls. Reply to SOF ¶ 32. “When he was unable to do so, E.S. pushed between the seats (while also forcefully knocking into the students that were sitting in them), walked back around the chairs, and took the fourth seat from the end.” Defs. SOF ¶ 33 (citing Surveillance Video 38:14-28); Pls. Reply to SOF ¶ 33.

While this was happening, Mr. Troiano was bringing a podium into the gym for the ceremony. Defs. SOF ¶ 34 (citing Surveillance Video 38:30-39); Pls. Reply to SOF ¶ 34. “As Mr. Troiano moved the podium into the corner of the gym, E.S. sat back down on the ground before retaking his seat.” Defs. SOF ¶ 35 (citing Surveillance Video 38:49-39:07); Pls. Reply to SOF ¶ 35. “E.S. was [then] lying between two female students who were tickling him and causing him to laugh.” Defs. SOF ¶ 36 (citing D.E. 5 Ex. 7 (“E.S. Dep.”), 25:5-10; Pls. Reply to Defs. SOF. ¶ 36. Mr. Troiano observed this behavior and instructed E.S. to “get up.” Defs. SOF ¶ 37 (citing E.S. Dep. 25:11-12); Pls. Reply to SOF ¶ 37.

The parties' stories then diverge.

E.S. claims that he asked Mr. Troiano “why” he needed to get up, and, in his words:

then after a minute he told me to get up, he grabbed me by my arm, and he pulled me out of my chair. And I remember me trying to go back to my chair and I asked him why he did that and as I was trying to go back to my chair he would have his fist out by my chest, [he] kept pushing me with his fist, harder, a little harder each time.

Pls. Counter-SOF ¶ 10 (quoting E.S. Dep. 25:11-25:18); see also Defs. Reply to Counter-SOF ¶10 (admitting E.S. so testified but denying its accuracy). As a result, he experienced “a bruise on his arm and chest pains.” Pls. Counter-SOF ¶ 11 (citing E.S. Dep. 27:22-28:23); see also Defs. Reply to Counter-SOF ¶ 10 (quoting E.S. Dep. 27:22-28:11) (“Admitted that E.S. reported chest pains and ‘a little bruise' that lasted a ‘[c]ouple weeks.'”).

Defendants claim that after E.S. was out of his seat, “Mr. Troiano then used his body and simply pointed towards the gym's exit with his arms outstretched.” Defs. SOF ¶ 39 (citing Surveillance Video 39:52-59). “E.S. [then] defied Mr. Troiano's directions and tried to get back to his chair, but Mr. Troiano stood in his path and mirrored him.” Id. ¶ 40 (citing Surveillance Video 39:55-40:09). Defendants deny that Mr. Troiano pushed E.S. with his fist. Defs. Reply to Counter-SOF ¶ 10.

The parties agree that a kindergarten teacher then “acted swiftly and ‘kind of pulled [E.S.] away and . . . told [him] to leave.'” Defs. SOF ¶ 42 (quoting E.S. Dep. 25:18-21); Pls. Reply to SOF ¶ 42. The parties also agree that the Incident lasted less than one minute. Defs. SOF ¶ 43 (citing Surveillance Video 39:20-40:13); Pls. Reply to SOF ¶ 43. 3. E.S.'s parents and the police arrive

After E.S. left the gym, he went to Principal Campel's office, where they discussed the Incident before E.S.'s parents were called. Defs. SOF ¶ 46; Pls. Reply to SOF ¶ 46. E.S. reported to Principal Campel that Mr. Troiano “grabbed him and then [Mr. Troiano] punched [E.S.] or . . . hit [E.S.] in his chest.” Pls. Counter-SOF ¶ 14 (quoting 86-5 Ex. 5 (“Campel Dep.”), 25:25-36:7 & 37:24-38-5); see also Defs. Reply to Counter-SOF ¶ 14 (admitting E.S. so reported but denying its accuracy). Principal Campel told Vice Principal Brito about the Incident. See Defs. SOF ¶¶ 47-48; Pls. Reply to SOF ¶¶ 47-48. Mr. Troiano reported to Principal Campel that E.S. was being disruptive and uncooperative before the Incident. Pls. Counter-SOF ¶ 15 (citing Campel Dep. 37:4-17); Defs. Reply to Counter-SOF ¶ 15.

Mr. Sanchez arrived at School No. 3 and spoke with E.S., who described to his father how Mr. Troiano hit him in the chest, which Mr. Sanchez interpreted as “a two[-]fisted punch to the chest.” Pls. Counter-SOF ¶ 16 (quoting D.E. 86-5 Ex. 10 (“Mr. Sanchez Dep.”), 24:9-24); Defs. Reply to Counter-SOF ¶ 16. At some point, Mrs. Sanchez arrived. Defs. SOF ¶ 55; Pls. SOF ¶ 55. The police were called^[5] and eventually arrived around 4 or 5 p.m.; E.S. and his parents spoke to the police before E.S. took an ambulance to the hospital. Defs. SOF ¶¶ 53 & 55; Pls. Reply to SOF ¶¶ 53 & 55.

4. The Surveillance Video

Though the gym does not have surveillance cameras, there is a surveillance camera in the gym hallway, which captures the following line of sight:

(IMAGE OMITTED)

Surveillance Video 0:00; see also Pls. Counter-SOF ¶ 25; Defs. Reply to Counter-SOF ¶ 25. This camera in the gym hallway captured most, if not nearly all, of the Incident. See Pls. Counter-SOF ¶ 25; Defs. Reply to Counter-SOF ¶ 25. On the day of the Incident, Mr. Sanchez was “shown the closed-circuit camera in the hallway by the security guard ....” Pls. Counter-SOF ¶ 17; Defs. Reply to Counter-SOF ¶ 17. E.S., when later shown the Surveillance Video, “admit[ted] the [Surveillance V]ideo does not reveal a punch.” Defs. SOF ¶ 44 (citing E.S. Dep. 81:10-87:20); Pls. Reply to SOF ¶ 44. But the parties disagree as to whether the camera captured the entire Incident between Mr. Troiano and E.S.: Defendants claim the Surveillance Video demonstrates that Mr. Troiano never punched E.S., but Plaintiffs claim the punches must have occurred off-camera. See, e.g., Defs. SOF ¶ 45; Pls. Reply to SOF ¶ 45.

5. After the Incident

Plaintiffs claim that after they complained about the Incident, Defendants engaged in retaliatory acts against Plaintiffs. Defs. SOF ¶ 64; Pls. Reply to SOF ¶ 64.

As for E.S., he claims that when he returned for the next school year, School No. 3's teachers and administrators began following him around the school hallways. Defs. SOF ¶ 65; Pls. SOF ¶ 65. Specifically, “if E.S. stopped moving, the teacher of administrator following him would stop. If E.S. went to the bathroom, he was followed and [the teacher and/or administrator] would wait outside.” Pls. SOF ¶ 36 (citing E.S. Dep. at 94:18-95:8); Defs. SOF ¶ 36 (admitting E.S. so testified).^[6] “This occurred despite [Principal] Campel and [Vice Principal] Brito's offices being located on a different floor from E.S.'s classes.” Pls. SOF ¶ 33 (citing E.S. Dep. 96:1596:23); Defs. SOF ¶ 33 (admitting the offices were on a different floor).

As for Mr. and Mrs. Sanchez, they claim they were retaliated against when Principal Campel photographed “Mr. Sanchez's vehicle during school dismissal...