Opinion ID: 774924
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Failure to Receive, Investigate, and Act on Complaints.

Text: 11 A school district may be found liable for 'a governmental custom of failing to receive, investigate and act upon complaints of sexual misconduct of its employees' if the [plaintiff] proved the existence of an official custom of such conduct and if that custom caused [the plaintiff] constitutional harm. Larson v. Miller, 76 F.3d 1446, 1453 (8th Cir. 1996) (en banc) (quoting Thelma D., 934 F.2d at 932). To establish the custom of failure to receive, investigate, or act on complaints of constitutional violations, the plaintiff must prove (1) a continuing, widespread, persistent pattern of misconduct by the government employee; (2) deliberate indifference to or tacit authorization of the conduct by the policy-making officials after the officials have notice of the conduct; and (3) a resulting injury on the part of the plaintiff. Jane Doe A. v. Special Sch. Dist., 901 F.2d 642, 646 (8th Cir. 1990). 12 There is no dispute that the sexual abuse violations by Hopkins were persistently ongoing from 1995 through 1997 and that they caused injury to the plaintiff. However, P.H. has failed to demonstrate a material issue of fact showing that the KCSD had notice of the conduct and was deliberately indifferent to or tacitly authorized the inappropriate conduct. Instead, the record demonstrates that once P.H.'s mother complained, the school district took immediate action to remove Hopkins from the classroom and begin a criminal investigation. Prior to that complaint, there were no reports of sexual contact or suspected sexual contact between P.H. and Hopkins. The school officials had inquired about Hopkins' conduct of spending too much time with P.H. and causing him to be absent from or tardy to classes. School officials had warned Hopkins to discontinue this conduct. There is no indication, however, that the KCSD had any notice of an ongoing pattern of sexual abuse by Hopkins; the KCSD may not be found to have been deliberately indifferent to or to have tacitly authorized conduct of which it was unaware. 13 P.H. would have us infer notice to the KCSD from the totality of the facts. He points first to the fact that he spent too much time with Hopkins resulting in excessive tardiness and absences. We conclude that this is an insufficient basis from which reasonably to infer that the KCSD had notice of the sexual misconduct. The record indicates that Hopkins was spending an excessive amount of time with P.H., resulting in absences, tardiness, and falling grades. Such action on the part of a teacher is certainly cause for concern, but it does not automatically give rise to a reasonable inference of sexual abuse. The principal and vice principal confronted Hopkins and expressed concern to P.H. and his mother, but allegations of sexual misconduct never surfaced. The school officials' conduct of not discovering the sexual abuse given all of P.H.'s absences and his falling grades at most rises to negligence, but mere negligence does not implicate [F]ourteenth [A]mendment protections. Id. 14 P.H. also asserts that Vice Principal Sherry Sample had heard rumors of an improper sexual relationship between them, that there was a 1978 allegation of sexual misconduct between Hopkins and a male student in a different school, and that there was one incident at school where a teacher walked into an office and discovered Hopkins and P.H. in the act of sexual contact. After thoroughly reviewing the record, we conclude that P.H.'s assertions are not factually accurate. As the nonmoving party, P.H. is entitled to all inferences that reasonably can be drawn from the record evidence. The record here simply does not support P.H.'s characterization of these facts. 15 First, Ms. Sample stated only that she had heard rumors. (Appellant's App. at 378.) Specifically, she explained that the rumors she had heard were that Hopkins [s]pends a lot of time with the same students. (Id.) She did not state that these rumors insinuated any sexual misconduct. In fact, she explicitly answered no to the question of whether she had heard any rumors, gossip, or reports that Mr. Hopkins was having improper sexual or physical contact with students. (Id. at 389.) Ms. Sample once confronted Hopkins about his conduct of spending too much time with P.H. saying, I'm not accusing you of anything, but it just doesn't look right so I wouldn't recommend it. (Id. at 380-81.) P.H. asserts that Ms. Sample was actually accusing Hopkins of sexual misconduct. Such an inference, however, does not arise from the record. Ms. Sample's own testimony clarified her statement. She said, [t]o me it gave the idea of favoritism to other students. Or he might be trying to pull s[t]rings for them. (Id. at 382.) 16 Second, the record indicates nothing more than a report or allegation of sexual abuse involving Hopkins nearly 20 years before, in 1978. KCSD asserts that the allegation was not substantiated. Both Hopkins and the alleged student victim denied the incident. Hopkins was transferred to Paseo High School on serious charges of misconduct. Hopkins asserts the transfer resulted from his refusal to take a polygraph examination about the incident on the advice of counsel. Even taking the 1978 report as a credible complaint, it remains as one isolated complaint that was nearly 20 years old at the time of Hopkins' abusive conduct in this case. While it is undisputed that the pattern of behavior against P.H. was continuing and persistent, there is no evidence that the KCSD had knowledge of that pattern of behavior, and this one 20-year-old complaint is not itself a sufficient basis on which to infer that the KCSD had notice of the improper sexual contact between Hopkins and P.H. See Larson, 76 F.3d at 1453 (noting that we have held records with far more complaints than one as insufficient to constitute a pattern of unconstitutional behavior). 17 Finally, P.H.'s assertion that a teacher walked in and observed him in an act of sexual contact with Hopkins is not substantiated even by P.H.'s own testimony. P.H. could not identify the teacher, and he testified only that on one occasion, a woman teacher walked into an office where he and Hopkins were engaged in sexual contact. As she turned on the light, Hopkins put on his glasses and pretended to look in a file cabinet and P.H. covered himself up and leaned up so she doesn't see anything else. (Appellant's App. at 319-20.) Thus, by P.H.'s own testimony, this unidentified teacher did not see a sexual act. 18 P.H. hid the relationship and did not complain about sexual misconduct until the relationship had ended. The record contains no evidence from which we can properly infer that the KCSD had notice of any sexual contact between the two, let alone a pattern of sexual misconduct by Hopkins against P.H. Thus, the district court correctly determined that there can be no § 1983 liability here for failure to adequately receive, investigate, or act upon complaints of sexual abuse by an employee. 19