Opinion ID: 4561258
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Duvall’s Abuse of C.G.

Text: This brings us, finally, to Duvall’s abuse of C.G. On October 7, 2014, while in class with Duvall, C.G. asked to sharpen his pencil. Duvall said no, but C.G. proceeded to sharpen his pencil anyway. C.G. explained afterwards that Duvall then “grabbed my arm and threw me down on the floor.” (C.G. Dep., R. 112-26 at PageID #3023.) Duvall next “threw [C.G.] across the room.” (Id.) C.G. hit a bookshelf, the bottom part of which broke upon impact. His head hit a trash can, which dented. At some point during this encounter, C.G. kicked at Duvall, crying out “Leave me alone,” and “Get away from me.” (Pl. Ex. 17, R. 112-18 at PageID #2793; C.G. Dep., R. 112-26 at PageID ##3023–24.)6 C.G. suggests that Duvall kicked him back. Duvall later stated that he “‘pushed’ [C.G.] to the floor” to prevent him from “run[ning] around the classroom and using a pencil in a threatening manner.” (Pl. Ex. 17, R. 112-18 at PageID #2796.) Following the incident, administrators asked Duvall to leave the building, contacted C.G.’s parents and HR, and placed Duvall on administrative leave. Upon investigation, District employees concluded that Duvall had thrown C.G. into a bookcase, leaving him with “extreme bruising” in multiple places. (Id. at #2804.) The investigation found no evidence to suggest C.G. required a physical intervention and that, even if he had, Duvall’s conduct did not reflect a permissible intervention under any circumstances. The District reported the incident to the Lansing Police Department, which did its own investigation and charged Duvall with fourth 6Defendants’ account of the incident, drawn from what C.G. allegedly told the school social worker, suggests that Duvall only threw C.G. to the ground once and does not mention him hitting either the bookcase or the trash can. Once again, we view the facts in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, which is corroborated by witness accounts. No. 19-1645 Garza v. Lansing Sch. District, et al. Page 11 degree child abuse. Duvall did not return to teaching and later resigned pursuant to an agreement with the District. On November 2, 2015, Plaintiff filed her complaint with the district court. Plaintiff asserted, among other things, that Defendants Bacon, Robinson, Alwardt, Caamal Canul, and Nickson bore supervisory liability for Duvall’s violation of C.G.’s right to bodily integrity under the Due Process Clause. The district court dismissed Plaintiff’s claims against Bacon and Robinson in June 2016. In June 2017, Plaintiff filed a motion to amend the pleadings to add a claim against the District pursuant to Monell v. Department of Social Services of City of New York, 436 U.S. 658, 694 (1978). The district court denied this motion and subsequently granted summary judgment to Alwardt, Caamal Canul, and Nickson. This timely appeal followed.