Doe v. Town of Wayland

179 F. Supp. 3d 155, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49684, 2016 WL 1452344
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedApril 13, 2016
DocketCivil No. 15-13250-LTS
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 179 F. Supp. 3d 155 (Doe v. Town of Wayland) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Doe v. Town of Wayland, 179 F. Supp. 3d 155, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49684, 2016 WL 1452344 (D. Mass. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER ON MOTION TO DISMISS FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CLAIM (DOC. NO. 9)

SOROKIN, United States, District . Judge

Plaintiff John Doe (“John”) brings this action against Defendants Town of Way-land (“Wayland”), The'Education Cooperative (“TEC”), Marlene Moskowitz-Dodyk (“Moskowitz-Dodyk”), Mary Moes 1-5 (“Mary Moes”), and Michael Moes 1-5 (“Michael Moes”) (collectively “Defendants”).1 Doe. No. 7 at 14-43. The allegations center around Defendants’ role in, and response to, sexual abuse John suffered at the hands of another individual, Christopher Coe (“Coe”).- See id. After John filed the operative Amended Complaint in Middlesex County Superior Court, Wayland, TEC, and Moskowitz-Do-dyk removed the case to this Court.2 Doc. No. 1. Those Defendants then moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Doc. No. 9. John opposed the motion, Doc. No. 13, and the Court held a hearing on the motion. See Doc. No. 16, After careful consideration of the parties’ briefs and arguments, thé motion is ALLOWED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.

I. FACTS3

A. Background

TEC, which consists of several school districts, “is an educational collaborative” [160]*160established under' Massachusetts Law. Doc. No. 7 ¶ 4.4 It “was formed to provide services, including special education services, to member districts and the education community as' a whole.” Id. ¶ 8. During this time, Moskowitz-Dodyk was a Wayland Public Schools administrator. Id. ¶ 6. She held several roles “related to special education and guidance, including Out of District Coordinator,” id. ¶ 14, and she “had decision-making power in the Individualized Education Program (IEP) of each child at Wayland High School and authority, to decide which students attended , the TEC program.” Id. ¶ 15. The Mary Moes and Michael Moes were additional employees of either Wayland or TEC. Id. ¶ 18.

TEC and Wayland had a contract with each other, whereby TEG provided programming and personnel at multiple Way-land Public Schools, including Claypit Hill Elementary. School and. Wayland High School. Id ¶¶ 9, 10, 13. “The contract calculated rates for services.,based on the type of programming, minimum number of students .in a particular program, and required payments beyond the termination date if a student terminated his or her participation in TEC programming.” Id. ¶ 19. If a particular student withdrew from TEC programming, Wayland would still owe TEC money for a portion of the unprovided services. See id. ¶ 41. Wayland would also need to pay for a new placement, even if more expensive, for any student who left a TEC program. See id. ¶ 53. If a certain amount of students withdrew from TEC’s programming, Wayland would incur a higher rate for remaining students. Id ¶ 42.

In 1995, when he was fifteen years old, Coe sexually abused two boys. Id. ¶24. The next year, Coe enrolled as a student at TEC’s Learning and Vocational Center (“LVC”) program, which TEC had set up at Wayland High, in 1996. Id ¶¶ 20, 25. When he enrolled, Coe was on probation for the prior sexual abuses. Id. ¶ 25. Staff for Wayland and TEC, including Moskow-itz-Dodyk (collectively “Staff’), “were aware of Coe’s history of sexually abusing children.” Id. ¶ 27. Accordingly, they “instituted a policy that required employees to supervise Coe at ah times.” Id. ¶ 28. On at least two occasions between 1998 and 1999, Coe sexually abused, on school grounds, “a female student with a developmental disability” named Rachel Roe (“Rachel”). Id ¶39. After discovering this abuse, Staff “failed to notify any parents, include [sic] the victim’s parents, and did not remove Coe from TEC’s LVC program or alter their supervision of Coe.” Id. ¶ 40.

B. The Coe-Philip Friendship

While at LVC, Coe met John’s older brother, Philip. Id ¶ 29; see ¶ 21 (identifying Philip as John’s older brother). “Staff actively encouraged the friendship between Coe and Philip.” Id. ¶ 30. This encouragement manifested itself in meetings various Staff members, including Moskow-itz-Dodyk, held with John’s parents, Sarah and Robert. Id. ¶¶ 31, 32. Staff, including Moskowitz-Dodyk, asserted at these meetings that Philip “would benefit from a closer friendship with Coe.” Id. ¶32. Staff, including Moskowitz-Dodyk, recommended that Philip and Coe “spend[] time with one another outside of school and at the Doe home,” id. f 33, and described Coe as “both ’a good kid’ and ’good with kids.’” Id. ¶ 34. Staff, including Moskowitz-Dodyk, knew about Philip’s young siblings, including John, yet they neither informed Sarah and Robert about Coe’s sexual misconduct with children, id. ¶ 35, nor recommended any supervision when Coe was either with Philip or at the Doe home. Id ¶ 36. When [161]*161Philip’s parents considered moving Philip to a different program, Moskowitz-Dodyk, contending that “Philip’s friendship with Coe was important and removing Philip would end this friendship,” implored them to keep him at LVC. Id. ¶¶ 49, 50.

C. Coe’s Abuse

Staff, including Moskowitz-Dodyk, knew that based off their encouragement, “Sarah and Robert allowed Coe to spend time at their home.” Id. ¶ 37. This encouragement continued even after Staff learned about Coe’s sexual abuse of Rachel. Id. ¶ 43. In 1998, shortly after he began sexually abusing Rachel, Coe began sexually abusing John. Id. ¶ 44, 45. John was then four years old. Id. ¶ 45, Coe abused John on multiple occasions, the majority of which “occurred at the Doe home when Coe visited Philip.” Id. ¶ 46. At least three instances of abuse occurred after the fall of 1999, when John began kindergarten at Claypit Hill. Id ¶¶ 55-56. “Acts of sexual abuse included masturbation and penis to buttocks contact.” Id. ¶57. “The abuse only ended after six-year-old John reported the abuse to a family friend who alerted John’s family on July 26, 2000.” Id. ¶ 58. Upon' hearing this, Sarah immediately went to the Wayland Police Department, id. ¶59, and on May 22, 2001, Coe pled guilty in Framingham District Court to four counts of Indecent Assault and Battery on a Child Under 14. Id ¶ 60. He received a sentence of four years of probation, and had to register as a level two sex offender. Id ¶ 61.

From July 2000 (when Sarah reported Coe’s abuse) until April 2001, Coe, along with his brother and friends, “harassed, threatened, and bullied” the Does. Id. ¶ 62. John had knowledge of this. Id. ¶ 63. In the summer of 2000, Coe, “stating that he would ‘turn Philip into a locker stiff,”’ threatened Philip’s life. Id. ¶ 64.

D. Initial Responses -

Sarah, fearing for her family’s safety, contacted several school personnel. Id ¶ 65. She first spoke with Maxine Roberts (“Roberts”) and Dayna Hutchings, both TEC employees. Id. ¶ 66. Roberts knew about Coe’s other victims. Id ¶ 67. Sarah told them about Coe’s abuse of John and the threats to her family, and she “asked that they remove Coe from the TEC program.” Id. ¶¶ 68, 69. TEC neither removed Coe nor offered assurances of protection for Philip. Id. ¶ 70.

Sarah next told Moskowitz-Dodyk about Coe’s threats, id. ¶ 71, and she too “refused to remove Coe or provide assurances for Philip’s safety.” Id ¶ 72. When Sarah expressed particular concern about Coe remaining at LVC because the program resided' in the same building as a preschool, id. ¶ 73, “Moskowitz-Dodyk told Sarah not to talk about Coe’s abuse of children because it was unfair to John.” Id. ¶ 75.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
179 F. Supp. 3d 155, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49684, 2016 WL 1452344, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/doe-v-town-of-wayland-mad-2016.