Yarbrough v. East Wake First Charter School

108 F. Supp. 3d 331, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70776, 2015 WL 3541347
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. North Carolina
DecidedFebruary 24, 2015
DocketNo. 5:14-CV-188-D
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 108 F. Supp. 3d 331 (Yarbrough v. East Wake First Charter School) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Yarbrough v. East Wake First Charter School, 108 F. Supp. 3d 331, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70776, 2015 WL 3541347 (E.D.N.C. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER

JAMES C. DEVER III, Chief Judge.

On February 26, 2014, Stephanie Yar-brough and Stephanie - Williams (“plaintiffs”) sued East Wake First Charter School a/k/a East Wake Academy (“EWA”) and Michael Lester, individually and in his official capacity as President of the EWA Board of Directors (collectively, “defendants”) [D.E. 1-2], Plaintiffs asserted fifteen claims under state and federal law. On March 27, 2014, defendants timely removed the action from Wake County Superior Court to this court [D.E. 1]. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1441(b). On April 29, 2014, defendants filed a partial motion to dismiss [D.E. 8] with a supporting memorandum [D.E. 9]. On June 30, 2014, plaintiffs responded in opposition [D.E. 14] and voluntarily dismissed all claims against Lester in his official capacity and ten claims against Lester in his individual capacity [D.E. 13]. On December 23, 2014, defendants replied [D.E. 26], As explained below, the court grants defendants’ partial motion to dismiss.

I.

EWA is a North Carolina nonprofit corporation that operates a charter school in Zebulon, North Carolina. Compl. [D.E. 1-2] ¶ 4.1 Michael Lester is the president of the EWA Board of Directors (“EWA Board”) and held that position during the relevant time period. Id. ¶ 10.

Brandon Smith was the headmaster of and head of human resources for EWA until March 2012. Id. ¶ 19. Before working at EWA, Brandon Smith worked for Durham County Public Schools (“DCPS”). When Smith worked for DCPS, a DCPS [335]*335teacher sued Smith and DCPS for Smith’s alleged sexual harassment of the teacher. Id. ¶¶ 11-12. The lawsuit was pending and a matter of public record when EWA hired Smith. Id. ¶ 11. During Smith’s employment with EWA, an unknown person placed copies of the federal court’s decision in the DCPS harassment case, in which the court refused to dismiss some of the plaintiffs claims, in the mailboxes of some EWA employees. Id. ¶ 19.

In 2005, after Smith started working for EWA, a female employee who worked in close physical proximity to Smith complained to Lester that Smith had “engaged in unwanted touching of her.” Id. ¶ 14. Lester did not tell the EWA Board about this complaint but met with the employee at another board member’s home. Id. ¶ 16. Lester did not formally investigate the employee’s complaint. Id. Instead, Lester told the employee that she could move to a different location at EWA to avoid Smith. Id. This move occurred almost a year later. Id. ¶ 17. The EWA Board took no disciplinary actions against Smith and did not provide sexual harassment training to Smith or EWA employees. Id. ¶ 18.

In the fall of 2006, Stephanie Yarbrough started working as a substitute teacher at EWA. Id. ¶ 8. By October 2006, she was a full-time physical education teacher assistant at EWA. Id. In 2010, Stephanie Williams started working at EWA as a fifth-grade teacher. Id. ¶ 7. Between 2010 and 2012, Smith made numerous unwanted and inappropriate sexual comments to Yar-brough and to Williams. Id. ¶¶ 26-81, 33-39. Smith also made unwelcome and inappropriate physical contact with Yarbrough and with Williams on multiple occasions. Id. ¶¶ 27, 30, 35-36. In December 2011, Smith told Williams that she would not be receiving a longevity raise, and later he told her, in reference to her not receiving the raise, ‘You know you should have done what I asked you to do.” Id. ¶ 30.

In November 2011, Yarbrough and Williams raised their concerns about Smith’s conduct with other EWA employees. Id. ¶¶32, 40. In early 2012, some EWA Board members learned of Smith’s alleged sexual harassment, and two board members raised the issue at a board meeting. Id. ¶ 41. The EWA Board took no actions at the meeting, and Smith asked the Board to sanction the two board members who raised the issue. Id. ¶ 42.

Following this board meeting, Yar-brough and Williams submitted written complaints to Lester. Id. ¶ 43. After Lester reviewed their complaints, Lester determined that the two board members had inappropriately raised the harassment issue. Id. ¶ 44. As a result, Lester sanctioned them, per Smith’s request. Id. Lester conducted another board meeting and did not address plaintiffs’ complaints. Id. ¶45. Lester also showed plaintiffs’ written complaints to Smith, and Smith took actions that led to plaintiffs’ inability to access their school email for some period of time. Id.

Later, the EWA Board held a special meeting to hear statements from plaintiffs and Smith. Id. ¶¶ 45-46. Following this meeting, the EWA Board took no immediate disciplinary action against Smith. Id.

In February 2012, Yarbrough and Williams filed a police report with the Ze-bulon Police Department for assault and battery against Smith. Id. ¶ 47. Smith was charged with two counts of assault on a female and two counts of sexual battery. Id. In March 2012, EWA ' terminated Smith’s employment. Id. ¶ 9. After Smith’s termination, EWA conducted sexual harassment training, which EWA management suggested “was the fault of Williams and Yarbrough.” Id. ¶ 56. EWA also organized some events during [336]*336school hours and on school property to support Smith. Id. ¶ 55. In October 2013, a Wake County jury convicted Smith of sexual battery and assault on Yarbrough. Id. ¶ 58.

On February 26, 2014, plaintiffs filed suit against EWA and Lester in Wake County Superior Court. Plaintiffs alleged assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, sexual harassment under Title YII, negligent hiring, negligent supervision and retention, and violations of the North Carolina Constitution. Id. ¶¶ 59-180. Defendants timely removed the action to this court.

II.

The court first considers defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiffs’ North Carolina tort claims against EWA for lack of jurisdiction pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(2). See Fed.R.CivJP. 12(b)(1), (2); Mot. Dismiss [D.E. 8] 1-2. When analyzing North Carolina law, this court must predict what the Supreme Court of North Carolina would do if faced with the issue. In doing so, the court may consider cases from the Supreme Court of North Carolina, the North Carolina Court of Appeals, treatises, and the practices of other states. See, e.g., Twin City Fire Ins. Co. v. Ben Arnold-Sunbelt Beverage Co. of S.C., 433 F.3d 365, 369 (4th Cir.2005); Teague v. Bakker, 35 F.3d 978, 991 (4th Cir.1994).

Under North Carolina law, governmental immunity presents a question of jurisdiction. See, e.g., Medina v. United States, 259 F.3d 220, 223-24 (4th Cir.2001); Frye v. Brunswick Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 612 F.Supp.2d 694, 701 (E.D.N.C.2009); Myers v. McGrady, 360 N.C. 460, 465 n. 2, 628 S.E.2d 761, 765 n.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
108 F. Supp. 3d 331, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70776, 2015 WL 3541347, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/yarbrough-v-east-wake-first-charter-school-nced-2015.