Families Awarded $100K In Hazing Case

COLUMBIA — A jury awarded two families $100, 000 at the conclusion of a federal trial here Thursday after finding that the Wayne County school system failed to protect their children from being sexually harassed in a middle school locker room.

Two mothers sued the school district on behalf of their sons, who in 2008 were seventh-grade members of the Waynesboro Middle School boys basketball team.

The suit claimed they were subjected to hazing at the hands of older members of the team while unsupervised in the locker room.

One of the boys said he was held down by three eighth-graders while a fourth sodomized him with a felt-tip marker. The other said he was tricked into doing a blindfolded sit-up while one of the eighth-graders stood above his face with his pants down.

The Tennessean does not identify victims of sexual assault.

Eddie Schmidt, a Nashville attorney representing the plaintiffs, said the decision should serve as a wake-up call to schools.

“I think the practical impact is that schools and school officials are going to have to take bullying seriously and take proactive steps to prevent bullying, identify behavior that is bullying, watch the hot spots where bullying occurs, and when it does occur, take quick, effective remedial actions, he said.

A ‘bad prank’

The verdict concludes an edgy three-day trial that featured emotional testimony from the mothers and tense verbal sparring between the families’ attorneys and Wayne County school officials who insist their response to the incidents was appropriate.

Four eighth-grade starters on the team were sent to an alternative school for 11 days, removed from the basketball team and placed on probation by the school after the marker incident came to light.

However, the Wayne County Board of Education later reinstated the boys to the basketball team. And when the blindfolded sit-up and other incidents were discovered and reported to administrators, the students were not punished any further.

Ryan Keeton, then the principal of the middle school, said he didn’t think the blindfolded sit-up was a sexual assault, but a bad prank” and a “practical joke that failed.” He felt the initial suspension and other measures adequately addressed the problem.

The mothers felt the response was too light, and Thursday’s verdict was vindication for them after years of frustration.

Juvenile court convictions against the four eighth-graders involved in the marker incident were tossed out after they appealed their sentences.

The middle school basketball coach at the time, David Sisk, was charged with failure to report a sexual assault against a child, but the charge was dismissed.

Investigations by the state departments of education and children’s services turned up no punishable violations.

Sisk, who admitted to describing the blindfolded sit-up prank to members of the team but insists he also told them never to do it, was issued a written reprimand for failing to alert Keeton when he first heard rumors of the marker incident. He was allowed to continue coaching the team.

‘No child deserves this’

The mothers ultimately moved their sons to other schools, claiming they feared for their safety.

“I want this school to be held accountable, one of the mothers said on the witness stand. I don’t want this ever to happen to another child.

“No child deserves this.”

While the mothers felt wronged, John Schwalb, a Franklin attorney representing the school district, said it was their refusal to accept the school district’s punishment that led to the protracted legal proceedings.

“I guess I fail to see how 11 days of being placed in an alternative school … taking your basketball privileges away for a while, being turned over to DCS, being turned over to the police and ultimately being placed on probation for a year by the Board of Education isn’t serious, he said in his closing argument.

Multiple incidents around the country in recent years that resulted in serious injury or death have made bullying a national concern. While there was no death or serious injury in Wayne County, Schmidt said the consequences were still severe.

You see what the consequence of bullying is: Two boys were sexually assaulted, Schmidt said.

The message has been sent by this jury that this is a very serious behavioral issue that needs to be addressed by all schools and school administrators.”

Maury Nation, an associate professor of human and organizational development at Vanderbilt University who has studied bullying for 15 years, said that the pattern of behavior alleged in the lawsuit is serious enough to create increased risk of mental health problems such as anxiety and depression in the victims later in life.

Nation said that his reading of the lawsuit suggests Wayne County failed to learn from the mistakes of other school districts and take a more proactive stance against bullying.

“One of the great challenges of bullying intervention at this point is getting adults to take it seriously, Nation said.

You’re much more likely to get bullying behavior reported in schools that have adults who write off or don’t actually discourage behavior. Students are very adept at picking up on the attitudes of adults in the building.”

A quick decision

The families had sought a total of $3 million when the lawsuit was filed in 2009, but several claims, including alleged civil rights violations and claims against individual school officials, were thrown out by U.S. District Court Judge Aleta A. Trauger.

That left the families with a high bar to clear. Their remaining claim was that the school system’s inability to prevent multiple incidents of sexual harassment, and its response to them, violated Title IX, the federal law that protects students from being discriminated against based on their sex.

The families had to convince the jury that the harassment their sons were subjected to was severe, pervasive and objectionably offensive and that it deprived them of access to educational opportunities or benefits provided by the school.

Additionally, they had to show that the school system had actual knowledge of the harassment and acted with deliberate indifference to it.

The jury of five women and two men rendered their decision in about an hour, and awarded the families the full $100, 000 each that they requested.

“The jury spoke quickly and gave exactly what they asked for, said Ann Johnson, a Houston attorney who also represented the plaintiffs. They sent a clear message.”

Schwalb said after the trial that it is too early to say whether the school system will appeal, but he thought they would.

Noting the amount of time an appeal would take, Trauger suggested the parties try to come to a resolution between themselves that would put an end to the lengthy and emotional proceedings.

Families Awarded $100K In Hazing Case

The Tennessean, Brandon Gee

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110610/NEWS/306100065/Families-awarded-100K-each-Wayne-County-school-hazing-case

COLUMBIA — A jury awarded two families $100, 000 at the conclusion of a federal trial here Thursday after finding that the Wayne County school system failed to protect their children from being sexually harassed in a middle school locker room.

Two mothers sued the school district on behalf of their sons, who in 2008 were seventh-grade members of the Waynesboro Middle School boys basketball team.

The suit claimed they were subjected to hazing at the hands of older members of the team while unsupervised in the locker room.

One of the boys said he was held down by three eighth-graders while a fourth sodomized him with a felt-tip marker. The other said he was tricked into doing a blindfolded sit-up while one of the eighth-graders stood above his face with his pants down.

The Tennessean does not identify victims of sexual assault.

Eddie Schmidt, a Nashville attorney representing the plaintiffs, said the decision should serve as a wake-up call to schools.

“I think the practical impact is that schools and school officials are going to have to take bullying seriously and take proactive steps to prevent bullying, identify behavior that is bullying, watch the hot spots where bullying occurs, and when it does occur, take quick, effective remedial actions, he said.

A ‘bad prank’

The verdict concludes an edgy three-day trial that featured emotional testimony from the mothers and tense verbal sparring between the families’ attorneys and Wayne County school officials who insist their response to the incidents was appropriate.

Four eighth-grade starters on the team were sent to an alternative school for 11 days, removed from the basketball team and placed on probation by the school after the marker incident came to light.

However, the Wayne County Board of Education later reinstated the boys to the basketball team. And when the blindfolded sit-up and other incidents were discovered and reported to administrators, the students were not punished any further.

Ryan Keeton, then the principal of the middle school, said he didn’t think the blindfolded sit-up was a sexual assault, but a bad prank” and a “practical joke that failed.” He felt the initial suspension and other measures adequately addressed the problem.

The mothers felt the response was too light, and Thursday’s verdict was vindication for them after years of frustration.

Juvenile court convictions against the four eighth-graders involved in the marker incident were tossed out after they appealed their sentences.

The middle school basketball coach at the time, David Sisk, was charged with failure to report a sexual assault against a child, but the charge was dismissed.

Investigations by the state departments of education and children’s services turned up no punishable violations.

Sisk, who admitted to describing the blindfolded sit-up prank to members of the team but insists he also told them never to do it, was issued a written reprimand for failing to alert Keeton when he first heard rumors of the marker incident. He was allowed to continue coaching the team.

‘No child deserves this’

The mothers ultimately moved their sons to other schools, claiming they feared for their safety.

“I want this school to be held accountable, one of the mothers said on the witness stand. I don’t want this ever to happen to another child.

“No child deserves this.”

While the mothers felt wronged, John Schwalb, a Franklin attorney representing the school district, said it was their refusal to accept the school district’s punishment that led to the protracted legal proceedings.

“I guess I fail to see how 11 days of being placed in an alternative school … taking your basketball privileges away for a while, being turned over to DCS, being turned over to the police and ultimately being placed on probation for a year by the Board of Education isn’t serious, he said in his closing argument.

Multiple incidents around the country in recent years that resulted in serious injury or death have made bullying a national concern. While there was no death or serious injury in Wayne County, Schmidt said the consequences were still severe.

You see what the consequence of bullying is: Two boys were sexually assaulted, Schmidt said.

The message has been sent by this jury that this is a very serious behavioral issue that needs to be addressed by all schools and school administrators.”

Maury Nation, an associate professor of human and organizational development at Vanderbilt University who has studied bullying for 15 years, said that the pattern of behavior alleged in the lawsuit is serious enough to create increased risk of mental health problems such as anxiety and depression in the victims later in life.

Nation said that his reading of the lawsuit suggests Wayne County failed to learn from the mistakes of other school districts and take a more proactive stance against bullying.

“One of the great challenges of bullying intervention at this point is getting adults to take it seriously, Nation said.

You’re much more likely to get bullying behavior reported in schools that have adults who write off or don’t actually discourage behavior. Students are very adept at picking up on the attitudes of adults in the building.”

A quick decision

The families had sought a total of $3 million when the lawsuit was filed in 2009, but several claims, including alleged civil rights violations and claims against individual school officials, were thrown out by U.S. District Court Judge Aleta A. Trauger.

That left the families with a high bar to clear. Their remaining claim was that the school system’s inability to prevent multiple incidents of sexual harassment, and its response to them, violated Title IX, the federal law that protects students from being discriminated against based on their sex.

The families had to convince the jury that the harassment their sons were subjected to was severe, pervasive and objectionably offensive and that it deprived them of access to educational opportunities or benefits provided by the school.

Additionally, they had to show that the school system had actual knowledge of the harassment and acted with deliberate indifference to it.

The jury of five women and two men rendered their decision in about an hour, and awarded the families the full $100, 000 each that they requested.

“The jury spoke quickly and gave exactly what they asked for, said Ann Johnson, a Houston attorney who also represented the plaintiffs. They sent a clear message.”

Schwalb said after the trial that it is too early to say whether the school system will appeal, but he thought they would.

Noting the amount of time an appeal would take, Trauger suggested the parties try to come to a resolution between themselves that would put an end to the lengthy and emotional proceedings.