Opinion ID: 526550
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Due Process/Suspension Claim

Text: 38 Helen Arnold asserts a claim directly and on behalf of her son that the defendants violated John Doe's due process rights. Ms. Arnold alleges that the school suspended John Doe for three days solely in retaliation for the filing of a law suit against the defendants and without affording him any meaningful opportunity to be heard. We find that the trial court properly dismissed Helen Arnold's claim in her own behalf for the deprivation of her son's due process rights. However, we find the allegations sufficient to state a cause of action on behalf of John Doe. 39 The Supreme Court has held that where a student is suspended for disciplinary reasons for 10 days or less, due process requires that he be given oral or written notice of the charges against him and if he denies them, an explanation of the evidence the authorities have and an opportunity to present his side of the story. Goss v. Lopez, 419 U.S. 565, 581, 95 S.Ct. 729, 740, 42 L.Ed.2d 725 (1975). Taken as true, John Doe's allegations that he was not given an opportunity to be heard before his suspension for disciplinary reasons are sufficient to state a cause of action for a deprivation of his due process rights. Helen Arnold, however, has no standing to assert a claim based on her son's suspension. She suffered no injury recognized by law. It was not her constitutional rights which were violated. Consequently, the trial court properly dismissed her claim based on her son's suspension and her claim for $100,000 in punitive damages.