T.E. v. Pine Bush Cent. Sch. Dist.

58 F.Supp.3d 332

T.E., O.C., and D.C., et al., Plaintiffs

v.PINE BUSH CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT, et al., Defendants.

Case No. 12–CV–2303KMK.

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

Signed Nov. 3, 2014.

Filed Nov. 4, 2014.

Adele Phyllis Kimmel, Esq., Public Justice, Washington, DC, for Plaintiffs.

O. Andrew F. Wilson, Esq., Ilann M. Maazel, Esq., Zoe Antonia Salzman, Esq., Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady, L.L.P., New York, NY, for Plaintiffs.

Michael David Meth, Esq., Meth Law Offices, P.C., Chester, NY, for Plaintiffs.

Joan M. Gilbride, Esq., Kaufman, Borgeest & Ryan, L.L.P., New York, NY, for Defendants Pine Bush Central School District, Pine Bush Central School District Board of Education, Philip G. Steinberg, John Boyle, Steve Fisch, Robert Peters, and Aaron Hopmayer.

Maree Sneed, Esq., Hogan Lovells, L.L.P., Washington, DC, for Defendants Pine Bush Central School District, Pine Bush Central School District Board of Education, Philip G. Steinberg, Eric Winter John Boyle, Steve Fisch, Robert Peters, and Aaron Hopmayer.

Laura Wong–Pan, Esq., Thomas Drohan Waxman Petigrow & Mayle, L.L.P., Hopewell Junction, NY, for Defendants Pine Bush Central School District, Pine Bush Central School District Board of Education, Philip G. Steinberg, Eric Winter John Boyle, Steve Fisch, Robert Peters, and Aaron Hopmayer.

OPINION & ORDER

KENNETH M. KARAS, District Judge:

Plaintiffs, five Jewish students who attended schools in the Pine Bush Central School District (“PBCSD” or “the District”), bring this Action against the District and several PBCSD Administrators under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000d et seq. (“Title VI”), the Equal Protection Clause, U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (“Section 1983 ”), and New York Civil Rights Law §§ 40–c and 40–d.¹ Plaintiffs' claims arise from anti-Semitic harassment that Plaintiffs allegedly suffered while they were enrolled in the District. Defendants move for summary judgment with respect to the claims brought by T.E., D.C., and O.C., pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.² For the following reasons, Defendants' Motion is granted in part and denied in part.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual History

The harassment alleged by Plaintiffs in this case spans half a decade and three separate schools within PBCSD: Pine Bush Elementary School (“PBE”), Crispell Middle School (“Crispell”), and Pine Bush High School (“PBHS”).³ In addition to the District itself, Plaintiffs named the PBCSD Administrators who oversaw these schools as Defendants. These Defendants include Philip Steinberg, (“Steinberg” or “the Superintendent”), the Superintendent of PBCSD from 2008 to 2013; Steve Fisch (“Fisch”), the Principal of PBE from 1991 to 2011; John Boyle (“Boyle”), the Principal of Crispell since 2002; Robert Peters (“Peters”), the Assistant Principal of Crispell from 2007 to 2010; Eric Winter (“Winter”), the Assistant Principal of Crispell from 2010 to 2011; and Aaron Hopmayer (“Hopmayer”), the Principal of PBHS from 2007 through the time of his deposition. (Fisch Deposition Tr. (“Fisch”) 17 (Wilson Decl. Ex. 4 (Dkt. No. 79)); Boyle Deposition Tr. (“Boyle”) 16–17, 20 (Wilson Decl. Ex. 5 (Dkt. No. 79)); Hopmayer Deposition Tr. (“Hopmayer”) 28 (Wilson Decl. Ex. 7 (Dkt. No. 79)); See Declaration of Ilann M Maazel (“Maazel Decl.”) Ex. 2 (Dkt. No. 63) (chart summarizing administrators that were in charge during the relevant times and at the relevant locations to Plaintiffs' claims)).)

For the purposes of the instant Summary Judgment Motion, the Court will consider the harassment allegedly suffered by Plaintiffs D.C., T.E., and O.C., as well as the District's response to that harassment. The specifics of many of the incidents of harassment alleged, as well as the District's response—or lack thereof—are contested, even though Defendants do not dispute many of them for the purposes of the instant Motion. (See Defs.' Rule 56.1 Statement (“Defs.' 56.1.”) (Dkt. No. 76); Pls.' Response to Defs.' Rule 56.1 Statement (“Pls.' 56.1 Resp.”) (Dkt. No. 71); Defs.' Reply to Pls.' 56.1 Counterstatement (“Defs.' 56.1 Resp.”) (Dkt. No. 81).)⁴ Plaintiffs' allegations catalogue years of harassment at the hands of their fellow students, but a few key incidents, and the District's responses thereto, are informative for the purposes of the instant Motion.⁵

1. Plaintiff D.C.

D.C. is a male student who claims to have suffered anti-Semitic harassment and to have been subject to physical and verbal threats during his enrollment in PBCSD from sixth through twelfth grade. (See Defs.' 56.1 Resp. ¶ 50; D.C. Deposition Tr. (“D.C.”) 28 (Wilson Decl. Ex. 11 (Dkt. No. 79)).) He alleges that, throughout this time, other students physically and verbally threatened him by “pellet[ing]” change at him, telling him he “was going to be burned in an oven,” and that “if [he] did anything [in response to this harassment,] that they knew where [he] lived.” (Defs.' 56.1 Resp. ¶¶ 51–53; D.C. 28.) D.C. also witnessed “swastikas everywhere in the high school and in the middle school” that he testified “would be impossible” for teachers to miss. (Defs.' 56.1 Resp. ¶ 55; D.C. 11.) He further describes “fairly constant” harassment, during his years in PBCSD, (D.C. 66–67), during which time he was called “countless” names, including “dirty jew,” “filthy jew,” “stupid Jew,” “fat Jew,” “Jew faggot,” “fucking Jew kike,” “ashes,” “dust,” and “mocky fuck.” (Defs.' 56.1 Resp. ¶¶ 56–57; D.C. 68–69.)

When D.C. was in sixth grade, a girl who “bull[ied D.C.] constantly” on the school bus yelled “F'ing Jew” while D.C. was on the bus. (Defs.' 56.1 Resp. ¶ 290; D.C. 29.) Mr. C., D.C.'s father, reported the slur to Boyle, (see Defs.' 56.1 Resp. ¶ 291; D.C. 29; Mr. C.'s Deposition Tr. (“Mr. C.”) 10, 13 (Wilson Decl. Ex. 12 (Dkt. No. 79))), and told Boyle that D.C. “had been the butt of many Jewish jokes,” that the bus incident “crossed a very severe line,” and that D.C. was being harassed by “multiple kids over the course of that year” and was experiencing intolerance from “a lot of kids,” (Defs.' 56.1 Resp. ¶¶ 292–93; Mr. C. 10–13). When Boyle told Mr. C. that the incident would be handled on an individual basis, Mr. C. told Boyle that “this isn't an individual thing, this is systemic.” (Defs.' 56.1 Resp. ¶¶ 294–295; Mr. C. 13.) Mr. C. further told Boyle that D.C. was hearing Jewish jokes from older students on the school bus, which transported both middle and high school students. (See Defs.' 56.1 Resp. ¶ 296; Mr. C. 14.) During a follow-up call about this incident, Boyle informed Mr. C. that a girl involved in the harassment had been spoken to. (See Defs.' 56.1 Resp. ¶ 267; Mr. C. 15.) However, Boyle had no response to Mr. C.'s question about how the District would handle “all the other kids that [we]re making Jewish jokes,” (Defs.' 56.1 Resp. ¶ 298; Mr. C. 15), and also did not follow up with Mr. C. about addressing anti-Semitism in the school, (Mr. C. 57–58; Boyle 309). Boyle does not remember Mr. C. reporting harassment of D.C. by multiple children, nor any discussion with Mr. C. of systemic harassment or anti-Semitism, but instead recalls the incident involving “one kid on the bus.” (Boyle 167–70.) D.C. attempted to discuss this incident with Boyle, but Boyle “dismissed it so that he could reprimand [D.C.] for playing video games in the computer lab, when all the other students were also playing video games in the computer lab.” (Defs.' 56.1 Resp. ¶ 301; D.C. 29.)

When D.C. was in seventh grade, students repeatedly sang and chanted a “song about stomping the niggers and killing the Jews and washing off their blood,” in both the school cafeteria near D.C.'s table, and on D.C.'s bus. (D.C. 73.) When students sang this “white power song” on D.C.'s bus, D.C. complained to the bus driver, but the white power chants continued—in fact, other students found out that D.C. had complained and the harassment “got worse.” (Defs.' 56.1 Resp. ¶¶ 314–17; D.C. 72–77.)

When D.C. was in eighth grade, D.C. notified his science teacher of a “giant swastika ... [approximately] a foot in diameter” in the boys' bathroom. (Defs.' 56.1 Resp. ¶¶ 306–07; D.C. 11–12.) The teacher saw the swastika, and it was removed. (See Defs.' 56.1 Resp. ¶¶ 308–09; D.C. 11–13.) However, “a couple days” later, the swastika reappeared and D.C. reported it to his Spanish teacher. (Defs.' 56.1 Resp. ¶¶ 309–10; D.C. 11–12.) Although D.C. could not be sure whether the second swastika he reported was removed, he testified that other swastikas in the bathroom were not removed. (See Defs.' 56.1 Resp. ¶ 311; D.C. 13.)

When D.C. was in ninth grade, another student “would constantly berate [D.C.],” telling him that D.C.'s “ancestors died in the Holocaust,” calling D.C. “ashes,” and pantomiming the blowing of dust off his hands while telling D.C. that he was “just ashes.” (Defs.' 56.1 Resp. ¶¶ 56, 318; D.C. 69–70.) The same student would slap D.C. in the face as the student got off the bus and smirk at D.C. (See Defs.' 56.1 Resp. ¶ 56; D.C. 70.) Other students joined in this harassment, slapping D.C. in the face and telling him “shut up, D., or I will burn you in an oven.” (Defs.' 56.1 Resp. ¶ 57; D.C. 70.) The bus driver did nothing in response to this harassment, which continued throughout D.C.'s ninth grade year. (See Defs.' 56.1 Resp. ¶¶ 319–20; D.C. 85–86.) D.C. also witnessed students in the school cafeteria and classrooms performing “Hitler salutes,” both to each other and to D.C. (Defs.' 56.1 Resp. ¶ 321; D.C. 72–73, 85–86.) D.C. testified that these students “didn't hide” their behavior and made “no attempt to conceal” it, and that D.C. “c[ouldn't] really imagine [adults in the school] missing it.” (Defs.' 56.1 Resp. ¶ 322; D.C. 86.)

When D.C. was in tenth grade, a student in D.C.'s trigonometry class was “constantly making anti-Semitic jokes” and picking on another Jewish student. (Defs.' 56.1 Resp. ¶ 323; D.C. 92–95.) D.C. confronted the student, who was sitting “in the first...