Young v. Blytheville School District

425 S.W.3d 865, 2013 Ark. App. 50, 2013 WL 356005, 2013 Ark. App. LEXIS 68
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedJanuary 30, 2013
DocketNo. CA 12-696
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 425 S.W.3d 865 (Young v. Blytheville School District) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Young v. Blytheville School District, 425 S.W.3d 865, 2013 Ark. App. 50, 2013 WL 356005, 2013 Ark. App. LEXIS 68 (Ark. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

DAVID M. GLOVER, Judge.

h Eddie Young appeals from the circuit court’s dismissal of his complaint against appellees, Blytheville School District and one of its bus drivers, Erick Smith, on the basis of immunity. We find no error and affirm.

Appellant is the father of B.Y., who was thirteen years old on June 4, 2010, when she rode the school bus to Blytheville Middle School; after she entered the school, a minor male forced her into the men’s bathroom, where she was raped. Appellant sued the school district and the bus driver, alleging causes of action under the Arkansas Public Education Act, Arkansas Code Annotated sections 6-15-1001 to -1007 (Repl.2007); under article 2, section 13 of the Arkansas Constitution; and for gross negligence. Appellees filed a motion to dismiss on the grounds that they were immune from liability under Arkansas Code Annotated section 219301 (Supp. 2011); that the Arkansas Public Education Act does not provide a |2private right of action; that the immunity offered by section 21-9-801 is not abrogated by article 2, section 13; that the school district does not maintain a policy of general liability insurance; and that appellees had no duty to provide safe transportation or to ensure BY’s safety.

Article 2, section 13 provides:

Every person is entitled to a certain remedy in the laws for all injuries or wrongs he may receive in his person, property or character; he ought to obtain justice freely, and without purchase; completely, and without denial; promptly and without delay; conformably to the laws.

Section 21-9-301 provides:

(a) It is declared to be the public policy of the State of Arkansas that all counties, municipal corporations, school districts, public charter schools, special improvement districts, and all other political subdivisions of the state and any of their boards, commissions, agencies, authorities, or other governing bodies shall be immune from liability and from suit for damages except to the extent that they may be covered by liability insurance.
(b) No tort action shall lie against any such political subdivision because of the acts of its agents and employees.

In response, appellant asserted that the Arkansas Public Education Act requires a school district to provide a safe education and that school districts must be held accountable for their failure to do so; that the immunity granted by section 21-9-301 cannot abolish a constitutional right; and that it could not shield appellees from liability under certain federal statutes. Appellant filed an amended complaint adding claims under 42 U.S.C. section 1983 for failure to protect BY’s due-process rights under the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution and under 20 U.S.C. section 1681 (Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972) for failure to protect her from sexual harassment and rape by another [ ^student. Appellees filed another motion to dismiss, asserting that appellant had failed to allege any facts demonstrating a deprivation of BY’s constitutional right to due process or that 20 U.S.C. section 1681 applied to this situation.

On June 25, 2012, the circuit court entered an order of dismissal, stating:

1. The lawsuit brought by the Plaintiffs is based on a claim of negligence on the part of the Defendants.
2. The Defendants, the Blytheville School District and one of its employees, Mr. Erick' Smith, claim the statutory immunity from liability for negligence conferred by A.C.A. § 21-9-301. The Defendants are entitled to such immunity-
3. The Plaintiffs’ claim under the Arkansas Public Education Act of 1997, A.C.A. §§ 6-15-1001 through 1007, inclusive, fails in that the Act does not confer a private right of action, and the Act does not authorize .damages for a purported violation of the Act. Absent that, no such right exists. Larry Hobbs Farm Equipment v. CNH Am., 375 Ark. 379, 389, 291 S.W.3d 190 (2009).
4. The Plaintiffs claim that the Constitution of Arkansas, Art. 2, § 13, confers a right to a remedy in all circumstances, thereby abrogating the immunity statute, is without merit. White v. City of Newport, 326 Ark. 667, 672 [933 S.W.2d 800] (1996).
5. The Plaintiffs’ claim that the Defendants violated some legal duty to provide safe transportation and to ensure safety is a restatement of their negligence claims. The Court does not doubt the commitment of the Defendants to provide safe transportation, but no legal duty, such as the Plaintiffs suggest, exists. The Plaintiffs’ attempt to avoid the immunity of the Defendants by suggesting that the Defendants exhibited “gross negligence” in purportedly allowing the claimed injury to occur; but the Arkansas Court of Appeals already has dispensed with such an argument in the case of Brown v. Fountain Hill School District., 67 Ark.App. 358 [1 S.W.3d 27] (1999).
6. Plaintiffs’- allegations under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and 20 U.S.C. § 1681 state no claim. There is no right to transportation; and even if there were, the claim by the Plaintiffs solely is a claim for negligent supervision, denied by the Defendants, and stating no federal constitutional right which has been violated. She has not been denied access to transportation.
7. 20 U.S.C. § 1681 is a prohibition against discrimination on the basis of sex relating to participation in any education program or activity receiving federal |4fmancial assistance. The allegations of the Complaint do not demonstrate that the minor Plaintiff was so deprived, regardless of sex.

Appellant then brought this appeal.

In reviewing the trial court’s decision on a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure (2012), we treat the facts alleged in the complaint as true and view them in a light most favorable to the party who filed the complaint. Alvarado v. St. Mary-Rogers Mem. Hosp., Inc., 99 Ark. App. 104, 257 S.W.3d 583 (2007). In testing the sufficiency of the complaint on a motion to dismiss, all reasonable inferences must be resolved in favor of the complaint, and the pleadings are to be liberally construed. Id. However, a complaint must state facts, not mere conclusions, in order to entitle the pleader to relief. Id. The court will look to the underlying facts supporting an alleged cause of action to determine whether the matter has been sufficiently pled. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
425 S.W.3d 865, 2013 Ark. App. 50, 2013 WL 356005, 2013 Ark. App. LEXIS 68, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/young-v-blytheville-school-district-arkctapp-2013.