Opinion ID: 712940
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Andrea Lillard

Text: 5 On August 30, 1991, Andrea Lillard was 14 years old and had been in high school only two weeks. Leventhal, her physical science teacher and soccer coach, detained her after class and verbally abused her, in an unspecified manner, for unspecified reasons. He then held her chin with one hand and slapped her across the face--a slap which was, Leventhal told Andrea's mother, perhaps harder than he meant. Leventhal also made unspecified threats to Andrea after the slapping. 6 Two and a half weeks later, on September 18, Andrea and her father first met with Principal Chism to discuss the incident. Mr. Lillard allegedly told Principal Chism that he believed Leventhal's conduct constituted sexual harassment. Principal Chism promised that fast and decisive action would be taken. When he heard nothing further, Mr. Lillard again contacted Principal Chism on September 19 and on September 23. On September 23, Principal Chism told Mr. Lillard that he had spoken with the girls on Leventhal's soccer team, who had said that Leventhal was demoralizing ... them by the way he treated them. Principal Chism nonetheless had not made up his mind about the appropriate course of action. 7 Mr. Lillard then called Superintendent Anderson and informed him of the slapping incident and of his subsequent conferences with Principal Chism. After speaking with Principal Chism, Superintendent Anderson told Mr. Lillard that Leventhal's actions were without malice. 8 It appears from the record that Mr. Lillard then sent a letter to the Board of Commissioners of Shelby County, complaining of Leventhal's alleged sexual harassment of Andrea. A copy of this letter was forwarded to Superintendent Anderson by the Chairman of the Board, who specifically pointed out the sexual harassment charge. Mr. Lillard wrote to the Board of Commissioners a second time, and again complained of the alleged sexual harassment of Andrea. 9 The defendants now take the position that they did not believe, for three reasons, Andrea's claim that Leventhal had slapped her: first, Leventhal, although known to be verbally abusive as a coach and occasionally reprimanded for inappropriate verbal remarks, had never had a history of striking children; second, Andrea has a past history of not being truthful, having once lied to the principal in connection with drinking on school property; and finally, Andrea's behavior following the incident was inconsistent with her having experienced abuse, because she tried to get back on the soccer team and continued going to Leventhal's class. 10 There is an affidavit in the record from James Franklin, an FBI agent who is not a party to this lawsuit, and who is a self-described close follower and supporter of the Germantown High School athletic program. After he learned about the slapping incident, Franklin contacted Principal Chism and told him he had observed Leventhal's cursing and verbally abusing the girls at practices and games, and had observed Leventhal hitting the girls on their buttocks. In response, Principal Chism told Franklin that he had known Leventhal was a problem when he came there and had a book an inch thick already of complaints. Franklin then called Superintendent Anderson and reported the same information. In response, he was told that Anderson would look into it. Franklin did not, it appears, have any knowledge of Andrea Lillard's complaints, or of those of the other plaintiffs.