J.L. v. Eastern Suffolk Boces

113 F. Supp. 3d 634, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84759, 2015 WL 3971778
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedJune 29, 2015
DocketNo. 14-cv-4565 (ADS)(SIL)
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 113 F. Supp. 3d 634 (J.L. v. Eastern Suffolk Boces) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
J.L. v. Eastern Suffolk Boces, 113 F. Supp. 3d 634, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84759, 2015 WL 3971778 (E.D.N.Y. 2015).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER

SPATT, District Judge.

This case arises from alleged assaults committed by a teacher and students at Jefferson Academic Center (“Jefferson”) and Islip Academic Center (“Islip”) against the Plaintiff .J.L., a fourteen year-old' student.

On July 30, 2014, the Plaintiffs J.L. and Colleen O’Flaherty (“O’Flaherty”), for herself and as Next Friend of J.L., (collectively, the “Plaintiffs”) commenced this action against Eastern Suffolk BOCES (“BOCES”), Sachem Central School District (the “District”), Matthew Matera (“Matera”), individually and in the capacity of Principal of Jefferson, Holly Rauber (“Rauber”), individually and in the capacity of Assistant Principal of Jefferson, Alexander Golik (“Golik”), individually and in the capacity of employee of Jefferson, and Does 1-10, individually and in their capacities of employees of Jefferson, the District, and/or BOCES (collectively, the “Defendants”).

The Plaintiffs assert six causes of action against the Defendants: (1) violation of the Plaintiffs’ constitutional rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983, 1985, and 1986; (2) violation of New York Education Law § 10 et seq., (“N.Y. Educ. Law”); (3) assault and battery; (4) intentional infliction of emotional distress; (5) negligence; and (6) negligent infliction of emotional distress.

Presently before the Court is a motion by the District pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (“Fed.R.Civ.P.”) to dismiss the Plaintiffs’ claims as against it. For the reasons set forth below, the Court grants, in part, and denies, in part, the District’s motion.

I. BACKGROUND

Unless otherwise stated, the following facts are taken from the complaint and are construed in the light most favorable to the Plaintiffs.

A. The Parties

The Plaintiff J.L. is a male infant under the age of sixteen and currently resides in Mastic Beach, New York.

The Plaintiff O’Flaherty is the Plaintiffs mother and also resides in Mastic Beach, New York.

The Defendant BOCES is a public entity and educational cooperative of fifty-one school districts located in Suffolk County. Jefferson and Islip are a part of BOCES.

[638]*638The Defendant District is a public'school district located in Suffolk County. It allegedly placed the Plaintiff J.L. at Jefferson.

The Defendant Golik is a staff member employed by Jefferson and is alleged to have assaulted the Plaintiff J.L. while he was attending Jefferson.

The Defendant Matera is the former principal employed by Jefferson at "the time of the alleged assault.

The Defendant Rauber is a'former assistant principal employed by Jefferson at the time of the alleged assault.

B. The Alleged Facts

1. The Jefferson Middle School

When he was four years-old, J.L. was diagnosed with autism and certain mental conditions, including pervasive developmental disorder, mood disorder, oppositional defiant disorder,' and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

On an unspecified date, the District’s Committee on Special Education (“CSE”) classified J.L. as a student with special needs due to his mental conditions and placed him at Jefferson. (See Compl. at ¶¶ 16, 18.) In New York, 'the team of representatives from the District that develop a child’s Individual Education Program (“IEP”) is referred to as the Committee on Special Education (“CSE”). See Frank v. Sachem Sch. Dist., 84 F.Supp.3d 172, 177, No. 14-CV-67 (ADS)(ARL), 2015 WL 500489, at *2 (E.D.N.Y. Feb. 5, 2015) (Spatt, J).

As a result of its decision to classify J.L. as a special needs student, the District adopted an IEP for J.L. (See id. at ¶ 19.) By way of background, the Individuals with Disabilities Act (“IDEA”), 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq. requires a school district to develop an IEP in conjunction with a child’s parents. The IEP is a written document that “sets out the child’s present educational performance, establishes annual and short-term objectives for improvements in that performance, and describes the specially designed instruction and services that will enable the child to meet those- objectives.” K.H. v. New York City Dep’t of Educ., No. 12-CV-1680 (ARR), 2014 WL 3866430, at *1 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 6, 2014) (quoting Honig v. Doe, 484 U.S. 305, 311, 108 S.Ct. 592, 98 L.Ed.2d 686 (1988)).

. The Plaintiffs allege that all of J.L.’s conditions were documented in the IEP and “all of the faculty at Jefferson were or should have been aware of J.L.’s mental health conditions and limitations.” (Compl. at ¶ 19.) .

Jefferson had a “Behavioral Intervention Room,” (“BIR”) which was used by Jefferson staff as “an area for a student to safely deescalate,. regain control, and prepare to meet expectations to return to his/her educational program.” (Id. at ¶ 20.) “Time-out” rooms, such as the BIR, are subject to regulation by 8 N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. (“NYCRR”) § 200.22, which among other things, requires that the rooms contain, “[wjall and floor coverings ... designed to prevent injury to the student.” N.Y. Comp.Codes R. & Regs, tit. 8, § 200.22.

2. The Alleged Assault

On May 15, 2013, J.L., then'-an eighth grade student at Jefferson, was having a “difficult morning” and was sent to the office of the Defendant. Rauber, the assistant principal of. Jefferson, (Spe Compl. at ¶ 23.) After attempting t,o calm J.L. down, Rauber sent him to the BIR. (See id.)

When he arrived at the BIR, J.L. covered his head with a coat to “calm himself down.” (Id.) The Defendant Golik and an employee, who the complaint identifies as Maria, were in the BIR at that time -super[639]*639vising J.L. Golik and Maria told J.L. to take off his coat. Allegedly, when J.L. refused to remove the coat from his head, Maria “grabbed the coat away from him” and ripped the inside of the coat. (Id. at ¶ 28.)

After Maria took his coat away from him, J.L. stood up and began yelling. In response, Golik allegedly “football tackled J.L. from behind, knocking J.L. to the floor.” (Id.) J.L.’s face smacked into the floor and then Golik allegedly “dove on top of J.L. and would not get off . .•. [d]espite J.L.’s repeated protestations that he was bleeding[.]” (Id.)

At about 10:15 a.m., following the alleged tackling incident, the Plaintiff O’Flaherty, J.L.’s mother, received a phone call from Rauber. Rauber informed O’Flaherty of the incident but left out details regarding Golik’s actions. (See id. at ¶24.) Specifically, she did not inform Rauber that Golik had tackled J.L. and instead described J.L.’s injury as a “spontaneous nose bleed.” (Id.)

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113 F. Supp. 3d 634, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84759, 2015 WL 3971778, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jl-v-eastern-suffolk-boces-nyed-2015.