Opinion ID: 858820
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: B.2.a, infra.

Text: It is also unclear whether students would be left alone in the timeout room, or whether a teacher or other staff member would remain present. In any event, the Muskrats eventually became concerned about the use of the timeout room and told school officials beginning in 2004 that J.M. should not be placed there. The Muskrats said J.M. did not have the mental maturity to understand the timeout room’s purpose and it therefore only frightened him. In November 2005, the school modified J.M.’s IEP to prohibit placing J.M. in a timeout room. 1 Deer Creek Elementary’s principal, Debbie Straughn, nonetheless instructed at least one staff member (not a party here) to place J.M. in the timeout room if needed. Deer Creek Elementary’s logs show that J.M. was 1 Defendants claim the IEP was not modified until several months later, but we must accept the Muskrats’ version of events for present purposes. -4- placed in timeout at least 30 times over the course of the 2004–05 and 2005–06 school years. J.M. began to show increasing signs of stress during the 2005–06 school year, including sleeplessness, vomiting, and a frequent urge to urinate. His medical professionals also documented declining cognitive and physical functions. His medical professionals, however, never opined at the time that J.M.’s timeouts caused these symptoms. Nor did the Muskrats tell anyone at school that they believed J.M.’s timeouts caused these symptoms. Just before the start of the 2006–07 school year, J.M.’s IEP was amended to state that school staff would neither subject J.M. to the timeout room nor place him in a classroom with a timeout room. The school initially honored this agreement, moving J.M. to a classroom without a timeout room. The school also decommissioned its timeout rooms generally for the 2006–07 school year. A couple of months into the school year, however, school officials moved J.M. to yet another classroom. This new classroom featured a no-longer-in-use timeout room. The Muskrats claim that simple proximity to this timeout room caused J.M. additional anxiety. 3. Alleged Physical Abuse The Muskrats claim that J.M. also suffered three instances of physical abuse at the hands of school staff. -5- The first instance occurred when J.M. was sitting in the cafeteria next to a special education teacher named Jessica Renaker. According to a nearby cafeteria worker, Renaker had a hand on J.M.’s shoulder and was attempting to calm him down for some reason. Renaker then quickly moved that hand and struck a quick open-handed “pop” (as the parties refer to it) on J.M.’s cheek. There was no wind-up or notable use of force, but the cafeteria worker believed that the “pop” was unprovoked. The record contains no evidence of continuing harm to J.M. from this incident. The second instance of alleged physical abuse occurred when J.M.’s full-time aide, Kay Rogers, slapped J.M. on the arm hard enough to leave a red mark. The record again contains no evidence of continuing harm to J.M. from this incident. The third instance of alleged abuse involved both Rogers and Renaker. On one occasion, they restrained J.M. in his desk for about two minutes by standing on either side of him, each one holding one of his shoulders so that he could not stand up. As with the previous two incidents, the record contains no evidence of continuing harm to J.M. from this incident. B. Litigation History The Muskrats took J.M. out of Deer Creek Elementary after the 2006–07 school year, and eventually out of the Deer Creek schools altogether. In October 2008, they filed suit on their own and J.M.’s behalf. They named as defendants -6- Deer Creek Public Schools, Principal Straughn, Rogers, and Renaker. The complaint primarily alleged state-law torts but also asserted a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim, accusing the defendants of violating J.M.’s constitutional rights. The Muskrats’ allegations relating to injury and damages largely focused on continuing emotional trauma and related medical expenses resulting from the timeouts. The defendants moved to dismiss arguing that the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because the Muskrats had failed to exhaust their claims through an administrative process established under the IDEA. The defendants also asserted that the Muskrats’ state-law torts failed to state a claim on which relief could be granted. The district court rejected the defendants’ IDEA exhaustion argument but agreed that the Muskrats state-law torts were deficient as pleaded. The district court gave the Muskrats leave to amend. The Muskrats satisfactorily amended and the case proceeded to discovery. All defendants eventually moved for summary judgment, arguing that their behavior stated no constitutional violation under a Fourteenth Amendment “shocks the conscience” analysis. The district court agreed, entered judgment against the Muskrats on their § 1983 claim, and declined to retain jurisdiction over the remaining state-law causes of action. -7- The Muskrats then moved under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e), arguing that the district court had improperly dismissed the whole case because they could still proceed under a Fourth Amendment “reasonableness” theory in the alternative to a Fourteenth Amendment “shocks the conscience” theory. The district court denied this motion, finding that the Muskrats had never before asserted a Fourth Amendment theory, and it was too late to do so after the fact.