In the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri Southern Division

In the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri Southern Division

Case No. 6:11-cv-03228-ODSPlaintiff vs. Republic R-III School District

Background Information: Green County Missouri-Republic R-III School District

The first rape occurred during the 2008-2009 school year on school propery

The school officials didn’t believe her so she withdrew her statement

The victim was forced to write and hand deliver an apology letter to the culprit

She was expelled for the remainder of the year for her actions After reinstatement, educators refused her plea for extra

monitoring

Background Info Continued Shortly after her return to school, she was forced into the

library and raped by the same student She didn’t report the incident for fear that she would be

punished once again The girl’s mother took her into the Child Advocacy Center for

an examination Semen found on the victim was a match with DNA of the

accused boy

Background Info Continued Only then was the boy brought to juvenile court, where he

entered a guilty plea. The girl was expelled once again because “she expressed

disrespectful conduct and a public display of affection on school grounds” said by the school officials. (RT Question More, 2011).

Case Against the School District The suit was filed on July 5th 2011 . The suit claimed the female student had told officials about harassment, assault, and rape that occurred during the 2008-2009 (News-Leader, 2011). The lawsuit also stated that the girl retractedher rape allegations because the school refused tobelieve her.(RT Question More, 2011). The plaintiff claimed that the school neglected to reexamine

the girl’s file File states “she is conflict adverse, behaviorally passive, and

would forego her own needs and wishes to satisfy the request

of others around her in order to be accepted” (RT Question More, 2011).

Case Info Continued The plaintiff also brought forth the fact that the school made

the girl write, and hand-deliver an apology letter to the assailant before expelling her for the remainder of the year (News-Leader, 2011).

The school district didn’t comment much on the case, but they did say that the student was at fault because she "neglected

to use reasonable means to protect herself“ (RT Question More, 2011).

The Republic School District called the lawsuit “frivolous” and

“unfounded” This was despite all evidence proving she had been raped at

least once on school property (RT Question More, 2011).

Lawsuits against Green County Missouri-Republic R-III School District and Defendants Mithelavage, Ragain, and Duncan Count I: Violation of Title IX by defendant school district Count II: Violation of Title IX by defendant school district –retaliation

for reporting sexual harassment Count III: Violation of 42 U.S.C. by defendants Mithelavage, Ragain,

and Duncan for denial of __’s liberty interest in bodily integrity contained in the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment

Count IV: Violation of 42 U.S.C. by defendants Mithelavage, Ragain, and Duncan for denial of equal protection under the law as required by the 14th Amendment to the United States constitution

Count V: Violation of 42 U.S.C. by defendant school district for denial of __’s rights contained in the 14th Amendment –failure to adequately train and supervise employees

Count VI: Negligence of defendants Mithelavage, Ragain, and Duncan

Count VII: Negligent infliction of emotional distress by defendants Mithelavage, Ragain, and Duncan

Plaintiff requested a jury demand

Finding Opinion The terms of the settlement were sealed, but court documents

show that a federal judge approved the settlement and closed the case on Nov. 29, 2011 (News-Leader, 2011).

It’s still unclear if the settlement involves any payment. The state’s Sunshine Law requires a public government body -- such as the school district -- to disclose the amount of money, if any, paid by, or on behalf of, the public entity in a settlement agreement (News-Leader, 2011).

Impact on Equity and Justice“…Regardless of whether the victim files a

formal complaint or requests action, the school must conduct a prompt, impartial, and thorough investigation to determine what happened and must take appropriate steps to resolve the situation.” (Spellings, Monroe 2008)

Impact on Equity and Justice Title IX and Sexual

Harassment 1992 First US

Supreme Court Case involving Title IX and Sexual Harassment This Seems to be only the second case of Sexual Harassment and Title IX involving a special needs student (Lopez and United States V Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson Country and Genesis Learning Centers, 2007)

1997 Inclusion of Sexual Harassment in Title IX (Dept of Edu.)

Impact on Equity and Justice There have been multiple cases on

Sexual Harassment and Title IX that have progressed to the Supreme Court.

Franklin V Gwinnet Gebser V Lago Vista Independent

School Dist. Davis V Monroe County Board of

Edu Jennings V UNC

Impact on Public Education2 new members starting April 2012

according to www.republicschools.org the website for the Republic MO school district.

While not a finalized court case, the settlement still has an affect on future cases

Few Special Needs Court CasesFew Title IX Cases involving Sexual

Harassment

ReferencesGomez and United States of America V. Metropolitan Government of Nashville

and Davidson County, and Genesis Learning Centers. 2007 Middle District

Court of Tennessee found at

http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/edu/documents/lopezmemoinsuppmsj.pdf

Know your rights and your college’s responsibilities: Title IX and Sexual

Assault (2008)

http://www.aclu.org/files/pdfs/womensrights/titleixandsexualassaultknowyo

urrightsandyourcollege'sresponsibilities.pdf

News-Leader. (2012). Public’s job to address school board messes. Retrieved

from

http://www.news-leader.com/article/20120330/OPINIONS05/303300010/sc

hool-board-Springfield-Republic-Marshfield-election?odyssey=mod%7Cnew

swell%7Ctext%7COpinions%7Cp

References ContinuedNews-Leader. (2011). Republic School District settles suit with former student.

Retrieved from

http://www.news-leader.com/article/20111220/NEWS01/112200328

RT Question More. (2011). School forces raped girl to apologize to attacker.

Retrieved from http://rt.com/usa/news/school-rape-missouri-republic-324

Sexual Harassment Guidance 1997: SEXUAL HARASSMENT GUIDANCE:

HARASSMENT OF STUDENTS1 BY SCHOOL EMPLOYEES, OTHER STUDENTS,

OR THIRD PARTIES http

://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/sexhar01.html

Sexual Harassment: It's Not Academic: US Dept of Edu Margaret Spellings:

Office for Civil Rights Stephanie Monroe (revised 2008)

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/ocrshpam.html#_t2a

References Continued Sexual Harassment On the Internet: Title IX: Lucy Barrios, Katrina Sosa:

Cyberspace Law Seminar UNC Spring 2010 http://www.unc.edu/courses/2010spring/law/357c/001/internetharassment/title-ix.html