Jaron Brignac v. Clark County School District; Manion Middle School; Todd Peterson; Tina Miller; Connie McGrandy; Zach Stark

District Court, D. Nevada·Decided May 27, 2026·No. 2:25-cv-00215·Unknown

Opinion

* * *

JARON BRIGNAC, Case No. 2:25-cv-00215-EJY

Plaintiff, ORDER v.

CLARK COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT; MANION MIDDLE SCHOOL; TODD PETERSON; TINA MILLER; CONNIE MCGRANDY; ZACH STARK, Defendants. Pending before the Court are: (1) Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment, the Opposition,1 and Reply (ECF Nos. 43, 48, 50); (2) Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel and Defendants’ Response (ECF Nos. 45, 49); and (3) Plaintiff’s Motion for Rule 11 Sanctions and Defendants’ Response (ECF Nos. 47, 52).2 The Court considered each of these filings and finds as follows. I. Background This case arises from Plaintiff’s allegation all of which are tied to his daughter’s expulsion from Manion Middle School (“Manion”) on February 6, 2025. ECF Nos. 30; 43-17 at 2. Plaintiff alleges three claims in his operative Second Amended Complaint3 including Retaliation under the First Amendment, a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause (sometimes “EPC”) , and civil conspiracy. ECF No. 30 at 1. Important for the Court’s analysis is that Plaintiff (father of the expelled student) raises no claim on behalf of his daughter. Id., generally. Plaintiff names Clark County School District (“CCSD”), Manion, Todd Peterson (“Peterson”), Tina Miller (“Miller”), Connie McGrandy (“McGrandy”), and Zach Stork (“Stork”) as Defendants.

1 Defendants failed to comply with Local Rules regarding the searchability of all documents filed with the Court rendering analysis of issues presented more difficult than it had to be. CCSD is forewarned that compliance with local rules is not optional and failure to comply allows for denying submissions to the Court. LR IA 10-1(b), (d); LR IC2- 2(a)(1). The events underlying the expulsion took place on January 28, 2025 when Plaintiff’s daughter (sometimes “IMB”) and another student (referred to as “GK”) were in a class together at Manion, GK was annoying and potentially provoking IMB and, after several exchanges, IMB hit GK in the face. ECF Nos. 43-3; 43-7 at 2; 43-8 at 2; 43-9 at 2. School security was called and took IMB to the office; Assistant Principal Stork called IMB’s mother Angel Hunter (hereinafter “Hunter”) advising her that IMB would be placed on a “Required Parent Conference” resulting in IMB being temporarily removed from the school. ECF No. 43-4 at 3. On January 30, 2025, a Clark County School District Police (“CCSDP”) officer met with GK and his mother leading to GK completing a form stating he wanted “to press charges” against IMB. ECF No. 43-6 at 2. On January 31, 2025, after obtaining statements from GK and three other students (ECF Nos. 43-7, 43-8, 43-9), Stork met with Plaintiff and Hunter. ECF No. 43-4 at 3. Stork explained at the meeting that GK was pressing charges and, if CCSDP found IMB committed a crime, Clark County School District (“CCSD”) policy required the school to recommend IMB be expelled. Id. Later that day, after Stork confirmed charges were being brought by GK, Stork left Plaintiff a voicemail confirming IMB would be placed on in-house suspension commencing on Monday, February 3 while CCSD investigated. Id. On February 3, 2025, CCSDP cited IMB with battery and Stork met with Plaintiff and Hunter notifying them that IMB would be recommended for expulsion. Id. That same day, Plaintiff and Hunter requested an investigation into GK bullying IMB. Id. The investigation was conducted by another assistant principal (Hargraves) and the bullying claim was substantiated. Id. Stork confirmed the substantiated bullying with Plaintiff and Hunter on February 4, 2026. Id. Also on February 4, Stork met with Hunter and IMB to conduct the initial hearing required by CCSD Regulation 5141.1 regarding the recommendation to expel IMB for Bullying – Battery Student with a corresponding citation by law enforcement. Id.; ECF Nos. 43-15 at 16; 43-16 at 2 (which Defendants describe as “posted.” ECF No. 43 at 8). During the hearing, Hunter stated they (IMB and her family) would be contesting the expulsion recommendation, which triggered a “school level appeal.” The school level appeal took place on Thursday, February 6, 2025 with Tony Davis, Region 3 School Associate Superintendent, and the expulsion was upheld. ECF No. 43-4 at 3.4 Setting aside Plaintiff’s complaints regarding the number of counsel who have represented Defendants, his Opposition to summary judgment relies heavily (and almost exclusively) on allegations appearing in the SAC, repetition of various CCSD regulations, and statements unsupported by any reference to exhibits or authority. See ECF No. 48, generally, and id. at 4-5,8- 9-12, 13-17. Plaintiff cites Rogers v. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Dept., 764 F.Supp.3d 971 (D. Nev. 2025) for the proposition that his First Amendment Retaliation claim should be allowed to proceed. Id. at 5. However, the decision cited applied the standard applicable to a motion to dismiss, not a motion for summary judgment and, thus, is inapplicable here. Rogers, 764 F.Supp.3d at 980. Plaintiff states he engaged in protected activity under the First Amendment when he first emailed a copy to individuals at Manion and then filed his original complaint on January 31, 2025 against the Defendants. ECF No. 48 at 6. Plaintiff then alleges facts in support of his conspiracy and EPC claims (discussed below), but returns to the First Amendment when he says Defendants’ “arbitrary” punishment of his daughter would chill people of “ordinary firmness” from engaging in protected speech. Id. at 7. Plaintiff makes unsupported statements regarding other children remaining at Manion after engaging in egregious activity and that Defendants’ “acts and omissions” burdened him with taking his daughter to a behavioral school that has interfered with work. Id. Plaintiff concludes, without a cite to any evidence, that his protected activity was a motivating factor in “Defendant’s [sic] conduct.” Id. at 8. Plaintiff’s argument in support of his Equal Protection Clause claim is confusing. Plaintiff complains that Defendants produced a spreadsheet regarding alleged similarly situated students, which does not reference how non-Black/African American students were treated. Id. at 6-7, 11. However, Plaintiff does not state how this implicates his Equal Protection rights. Plaintiff also relies on his SAC and the alleged failure to follow quoted regulations to support his claim. Id. at 8-11. In

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Jaron Brignac v. Clark County School District; Manion Middle School; Todd Peterson; Tina Miller; Connie McGrandy; Zach Stark, (D. Nev. 2026).

Jaron Brignac v. Clark County School District; Manion Middle School; Todd Peterson; Tina Miller; Connie McGrandy; Zach Stark (Jaron Brignac v. Clark County School District; Manion Middle School; Todd Peterson; Tina Miller; Connie McGrandy; Zach Stark) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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