Doe v. Dardanelle School District, No. 18-2816 (8th Cir. 2019)
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The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment for the school district and partial denial of plaintiff's motion for leave to amend her complaint. Plaintiff filed suit alleging that the school district was deliberately indifferent to her allegations that another student sexually assaulted her.
The court could not say that the school district's response to the complaint effectively caused the first incident with plaintiff. Furthermore, the school district's response was not clearly unreasonable in light of the known circumstances and, even if the school district were deliberately indifferent, it was not deliberately indifferent to sexual harassment that was so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it could be said to have deprived plaintiff of access to the educational opportunities or benefits provided by the school. Finally, the court held that the district court did not err by denying the motion to amend in order for plaintiff to add a negligence claim against the school district through a direct action against its insurance provider, because the claim was futile.
Court Description: Gruender, Author, with Colloton and Erickson, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Title IX. In suit alleging the district was deliberately indifferent to her claims of sexual assault, plaintiff failed to show the district's lack of a response to a claim against the perpetrator before the first incident with her "effectively caused" the first incident; district's response to the first incident was not clearly unreasonable in light of the known circumstances; nor was the district's response to a second, more serious incident clearly unreasonable; even if the district were deliberately indifferent, it was not deliberately indifferent to sexual harassment that was so severe that it deprived plaintiff of access to educational opportunities or benefits; the district court did not err in denying plaintiff's motion to amend to add a direct action against the district's insurer as the amendment would have been futile given the clear terms of the policy exclusions.
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