R.S. ex rel. S.S. v. Minnewaska Area School District No. 2149R.S. ex rel. S.S. v. Minnewaska Area School District No. 2149
Memorandum of Law & Order
I. Introduction
This matter is before the Court on a motion to dismiss [Docket No. 13] and a request to file a supplemental brief [Docket No. 22] by Defendants Minnewaska Area School District No. 2149, Gregory Ohl, Mary Walsh, and Jane Doe (“school defendants”). The Court heard oral argument on July 13, 2012.
II. Summary of Case
This case comes before the Court at an early stage, when the Court has heard only one side of the story — that told in Plaintiffs’ complaint. At this stage, the Court must consider those facts, recited below, to be true. As this case proceeds, facts may be developed which change the Court’s conclusions.
Plaintiffs’ complaint alleges a school official punished R.S. — a twelve year old stu
The defendants argue the actions alleged by Plaintiffs did not violate the Constitution. They further contend that they are entitled to immunity because, even if a constitutional violation did occur, R.S.’s constitutional rights were not “clearly established” at the time of the challenged conduct.
The Court here concludes only that, if true, the facts set out in Plaintiffs’ complaint amount to violations of R.S.’s constitutional rights and that those rights were clearly established at the time of the alleged conduct. The Court also concludes that certain claims advanced by the Plaintiffs — civil conspiracy to deprive R.S. of her civil rights and intentional infliction of emotional distress — have not been sufficiently pled. The Court therefore dismisses those claims. At this early stage, the Court passes no judgment on whether the defendants committed the acts alleged by Plaintiffs or whether the defendants will ultimately be found liable for such acts. The school defendants will be free to raise their immunity claims and other defenses after discovery in this case.
III. Background
At this stage, the Court considers the following facts — set out in Plaintiffs’ complaint — as true:
A. Punishment of R.S. for Her Face-book Wall Posts
Plaintiff R.S. is the daughter of Plaintiff S.S. At the time of the facts alleged in the complaint, R.S. was a twelve year old, sixth grade student at Minnewaska Area Middle School in the Minneswaska Area School District in Glenwood, Minnesota (“District”). (Compl. ¶¶ 4, 17.) Sometime in early 2011, R.S. posted a message to the “wall” of her account on the internet website “www.facebook.com” (“Facebook”) about a particular adult hall monitor at school (“Kathy”). (Id. ¶ 19.) She wrote something to the effect of: “[I hate] a Kathy person at school because [Kathy] was mean to me.” (Id.) R.S.’s posting on her Facebook wall was intended to be accessible by her Facebook “friends,” but not by members of the general public. (Id.) Facebook’s website is inaccessible from school computers, and R.S. posted the message from home, outside of school hours. (Id. ¶ 20.)
Apparently, one of R.S.’s Facebook “friends” — one of the people authorized by R.S. to view her wall postings — viewed and recorded the message about Kathy, as that message made its way to school Principal Pat Falk. (Id. ¶ 21.) Principal Falk called R.S. to his office and told R.S. that he considered the message about Kathy to be impermissible bullying. (Id. ¶ 22-28.) Principal Falk required R.S. to apologize to the hall monitor and gave her a detention, for behavior described in disciplinary records as having been “rude/discourteous” and “other.” (Id. at 23.)
R.S. was disciplined once more when she published a second message on her Face-book wall which stated: “I want to know
B. Search of R.S.’s Private Internet Accounts
R.S. further alleges that on or around March 10, 2011, school officials received information from the guardian of a male student who complained that the boy was communicating with R.S. about sexual topics via the internet. (Id. ¶ 27.) A school official called S.S. and told S.S. that the boy had admitted that he initiated the online conversation about sex. (Id. 28.) On the same day, a school counselor— Defendant Mary Walsh — called R.S. out of class to ask her about the alleged conversations. R.S. told Counselor Walsh that she had been talking about “naughty things” with her classmate via the internet, off school grounds, and outside school hours. (Id. ¶ 29.)
Counselor Walsh allowed R.S. to return to class, but R.S. was called out of class a second time on the same day. (Id. ¶ 30.) In the second instance, R.S. was taken to a room in the administrative office, which apparently was the office of Defendant Deputy Sheriff Gilbert Mitchell, who was assigned to the school. In the room were Counselor Walsh, Deputy Mitchell, and an employee unknown to R.S. named in the complaint as Jane Doe. (Id.) Deputy Mitchell wore his police uniform and a taser. (Id.) The three officials asked R.S. about her conversations with her male classmate, and she again stated that she had been talking with him about naughty things. (Id.)
R.S. alleges that the school officials then demanded that she provide them with her email and Facebook usernames and passwords. (Id. ¶ 32.) When R.S. hesitated and stated that she did not remember her passwords, the officials called her a liar and threatened her with detention if she did not give them her passwords. (Id. ¶ 33.) Feeling threatened and without a choice, R.S. eventually relented and gave the school officials the information that they had requested. (Id.) The school officials logged into R.S.’s Facebook account, viewing her public postings along with her private messages. (Id. ¶ 35.) While R.S. is certain the officials searched her Face-book account, she is not sure if they also searched her private email account because she could not see the computer screen. (Id.) The officials spent approximately fifteen minutes searching through R.S.’s communications, both public and private, apparently in an effort to find R.S.’s “naughty” discussion with her classmate. (Id. ¶ 38.)
The officials did not limit their search to R.S.’s public messages. They expressed surprise that R.S. had used profanity in some of her Facebook communications. (Id. ¶ 39.) They also allegedly viewed and commented on the fact that R.S. had taken “one or more online Facebook ‘fun and funny’ sex quizzes and had posted the result of some of those quizzes.” (Id.) All three of the officials — Counselor Walsh, Deputy Mitchell, and the unknown official — examined R.S.’s private correspondence. (Id. ¶ 40.) At no point did they ask R.S. for permission to search through her private correspondence. R.S. alleges fhat she was “intimidated, frightened, humiliated, and sobbing while she was detained.” (Id. ¶ 42.)
R.S. was not formally disciplined. After the search, Counselor Walsh called S.S. and left her a voicemail, relaying to her
Plaintiffs’ complaint sets out eight counts: Violation of First Amendment (Count I); Violation of Fourth Amendment (Count II); Conspiracy to Deprive Rights and Failure to Prevent Violation of Rights (Count III); Violation of Right to Free Speech under Minnesota Constitution (Count IV); Violation of Right to Be Free from Unreasonable Searches and Seizures under Minnesota Constitution (Count V); Invasion of Privacy under Minnesota Common Law (Count VI); Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress under Minnesota Common Law (Count VII); and Declaratory Judgment (Count VIII).
The school defendants have moved for dismissal of claims against the District, arguing that Plaintiffs have not sufficiently pled facts to show that any of the challenged behavior was done in accordance with the District’s established custom or policy. They further argue that the claims against individual school officials in their official capacity should be dismissed because they are duplicative with the claims against the District. They next argue that the claims against school officials in their individual capacities must be dismissed because they are entitled to qualified immunity. They also argue that claims against District Superintendent Gregory Ohl should be dismissed because Plaintiffs have not sufficiently pled that he failed to properly supervise or train District employees. The school defendants further argue that Plaintiffs have not sufficiently pled their civil conspiracy claim. The school defendants also ask for dismissal of all claims brought by S.S. in her individual capacity because she has no direct claims against the school defendants. They finally argue that Plaintiffs’ state law claims should be dismissed and that the declaratory judgment count should be dismissed as duplicative.
The school defendants have recently moved to supplement the record and for dismissal of claims for injunctive relief based on their discovery that R.S. no longer attends school in the District.
IV. Discussion
A. Standard
Under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a party may move the Court to dismiss a claim if, on the pleadings, a party has failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. In reviewing a motion to dismiss, the Court takes all facts alleged in the complaint to be true. Zutz v. Nelson,
To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face. Thus, although a complaint need not include detailed factual allegations, a plaintiffs obligation to provide the grounds of his entitlement to relief requires more than labels and conclusions,and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.
Id. (citations omitted).
In deciding a motion to dismiss, the Court considers “the complaint, matters of public record, orders, materials embraced by the complaint, and exhibits attached to the complaint.” PureChoice, Inc. v. Macke, Civil No. 07-1290,
B. Monell Claims against the District
The school defendants first argue that all claims against the District itself must be dismissed because Plaintiffs have not pled facts sufficient to show that challenged actions were Taken in accordance with District policy or custom.
1. Monell Standard
“[A] municipality cannot be held liable solely because it employs a tortfeasor—or, in other words, a municipality cannot be held liable under [42 U.S.C.] § 1983 on a respondeat superior theory.” Monell v. Dep’t of Soc. Servs. of City of N.Y.,
if the governmental body itself “subjects” a person to a deprivation of rights or “causes” a person “to be subjected” to such deprivation. But, under § 1983, local governments are responsible only for their own illegal acts.
Connick v. Thompson, — U.S. -,
Plaintiffs who seek to impose liability on local governments under § 1983 must prove that action pursuant to official municipal policy caused their injury. Official municipal policy includes the decisions of a government’s lawmakers, the acts of its policymaking officials, and practices so persistent and widespread as to practically have the force of law.
Id. (citations omitted).
[A] municipality may be held liable for the unconstitutional acts of its officials or employees when those acts implement or execute an unconstitutional municipal policy or custom. For a municipality to be liable, a plaintiff must prove that a municipal policy or custom was the moving force [behind] the constitutional violation.
Mettler v. Whitledge,
“[A] ‘policy’ is an official policy, a deliberate choice of a guiding principle or procedure made by the municipal official who has final authority regarding such matters.” Id. (citation omitted). Proof of a custom requires:
(1) The existence of a continuing, widespread, persistent pattern of unconstitutional misconduct by the governmental entity’s employees;
(2) Deliberate indifference to or tacit authorization of such conduct by the governmental entity’s policymaking officials after notice to the officials of that misconduct; and
(3) Th[e] plaintiff’s] injurfy] by acts pursuant to the governmental entity’s custom, i.e., [proof] that the custom was the moving force behind the constitutional violation.
Id. (citation omitted).
2. Unconstitutional Policy or Custom
The school defendants argue that Plaintiffs have not satisfied the Monell standard because they have not alleged that any written or established District policy was consulted before R.S. was punished for her Facebook postings or before school officials read her private Facebook communications. Plaintiffs do not dispute the lack
a. Policy
Plaintiffs argue that Principal Falk’s decisions to punish R.S. for her out-of-school online communications twice is evidence of his policy making. “Although rare, a public official’s single incident of unconstitutional activity can establish the requisite policy if the decision is ‘taken by the highest officials responsible for setting policy in that area of the government’s business.’ ” Rynders v. Williams,
The school defendants argue that none of the individuals named in the complaint have “final authority” to set District policy. In their view, only the publicly elected School Board has that authority. In this view, not even the District Superintendent could be said to ever set policy. The Supreme Court has distinguished between “final policymaking authority” and “final decisionmaking authority.” See Davison v. City of Minneapolis,
According to publicly available documents submitted by the parties in this case, “[t]he school principal is given the responsibility and authority to formulate building rules and regulations necessary to enforce [the Minnewaska Area School District’s student discipline] policy, subject to final school board approval.” See “Student Discipline,” Minnewaska School Board Policies § 506, available at http://www. minnewaska.kl2.mn.us/District/SBPM/506. mht. It would thus appear at this early stage that Principal Falk lacked final policy-making authority. The Court need not finally resolve this issue because the Court concludes that Plaintiffs have alleged facts sufficient to show at least customs, if not policies, of the challenged behavior by the school defendants.
b. Custom
Plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged a custom of punishing and searching private out-of-school online communications by the school defendants. In a short span of time, R.S. was twice punished for her out-of-school statements and subjected to a search of her private online communications by school officials. The complaint further alleges that “on the basis of communications with other students and families, officials at Minnewaska Area Middle School have compelled other students to disclose their private information and have accessed students’ on-line accounts on multiple occasions, under circumstances similar to those alleged [in the complaint].” (Compl. ¶ 49.)
The facts alleged in the complaint are more than bare legal conclusions. At the motion to dismiss stage, the Court must take the allegations in the complaint to be true. While the school defendants correct
For these reasons, the Court concludes that Plaintiffs’ complaint satisfies the standard set out in Monell. The Court will therefore deny the school defendants’ motion to dismiss on that basis.
C. Qualified Immunity
1. Standard
Under the qualified immunity doctrine, government officials performing discretionary functions generally are shielded from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known. Officials are not hable for incorrect decisions made in gray areas of the law.
Burke v. Sullivan,
To defeat a defense of qualified immunity, a plaintiff must show: (1) the facts, viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, demonstrate the deprivation of a constitutional or statutory right; and (2) the right was clearly established at the time of the deprivation.
Id. (citations omitted). “For the purposes of step two, ‘clearly established’ means the contours of the right must be sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right.” Jones v. McNeese,
2. Alleged First Amendment Violation
a. Constitutional Violation
For more than forty years, the United States courts have recognized that students do not check their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse door:
In our system, state-operated schools may not be enclaves of totalitarianism. School officials do not possess absolute authority over their students. Students in school as well as out of school are ‘persons’ under our Constitution. They are possessed of fundamental rights which the State must respect, just as they themselves must respect their obligations to the State. In our system, students may not be regarded as closed-circuit recipients of only that which the State chooses to communicate. They may not be confined to the expression of those sentiments that are officially approved. In the absence of a specific showing of constitutionally valid reasons to regulate their speech, students are entitled to freedom of expression of their views.
Tinker v. Des Moines Indep. Cmty. Sch. Dist.,
The movement of student speech to the internet poses some new challenges, but that transition has not abrogated the clearly established general principles which have governed schools for decades. A recent case decided by the Eight Circuit, D.J.M. v. Hannibal Public School District #60,
First, the Court applied the principle that true threats of physical violence are generally not protected under the First Amendment from government proscription. Id. at 761; see Doe v. Pulaski Cnty. Special Sch. Dist.,
Second, the court concluded that the student’s threats implicated Tinker’s substantial and material disruption doctrine, explaining that, while “[sjchool officials cannot constitutionally reach out to discover, monitor, or punish any type of out of school speech,” the calculus may change where serious and violent threats which substantially disrupt the school environment are concerned. D.J.M.,
The content of R.S.’s wall postings are a far cry from the statements made by the students in cases in which courts have approved of school intervention. The Court notes that the Supreme Court reasoned in Tinker that black arm bands worn in opposition to the Vietnam War were not likely to cause the requisite substantial disruption to justify punishment.
b. Right Clearly Established
The school defendants argue that they are entitled to qualified immunity because the protected status of out-of-school online speech was not sufficiently clear at the time of the alleged violation. They point to the Eighth Circuit’s decision in D.J.M. as evidence that the law in this area is unclear. See D.J.M.,
As the above discussion shows, however, the general rule that schools may not regulate merely inappropriate out-of-school speech (as opposed to truly threatening or substantially disruptive speech) has been well-established for decades. See Morse,
Courts have applied such an exception sparingly, applying it only to the most violent and threatening forms of speech and consistently declining to expand it to extremely offensive but nonviolent out-of-school speech. The Third Circuit sitting en banc recently concluded, for example, that a school district impermissibly punished a student for setting up an out-of-school “parody profile” of his school’s principal on the website MySpace — a social networking website similar to Facebook. Layshock ex rel. Layshock v. Hermitage Sch. Dist.,
The result was the same in the case of an eighth grader who created a MySpace profile which featured the picture of another school principal, referred to him as “your oh so wonderful, hairy, expressionless, sex addict, fagass [sic], put on this world with a small dick PRINCIPAL,” and contained myriad other examples of “profanity and shameful personal attacks aimed at the principal and his family.” J.S. ex rel. Snyder v. Blue Mountain Sch. Dist.,
If Tinker’s black armbands — an ostentatious reminder of the highly emotional and controversial subject of the Vietnam war — could not “reasonably have led school authorities to forecast substantial disruption of or material interference with school activities,” [Tinker,393 U.S. at 514 ,89 S.Ct. 733 ], neither [could the student’s MySpace] profile, despite the unfortunate humiliation it caused for [the principal].
Such cases demonstrate that the existence of the narrow exceptions recognized in D.J.M. does not render unclear the established general rule against school regulation of merely inappropriate or offensive out-of-school speech.
The standard for showing a clearly established right is certainly stringent, but that standard has been met here thus far. Several high-profile Supreme Court cases have distinguished between regulation of in-school speech and out-of-school speech. Recent cases approving of school regulation of particularly violent and threatening out-of-school speech have little applicability here and do not cast doubt on the general rule which, assuming the veracity of the facts alleged in the complaint, controls here. The facts alleged in Plaintiffs’ complaint place R.S.’s speech in the heartland of protected nonviolent and nondisruptive out-of-school speech. - The Court concludes that a reasonable official would understand that punishing such speech would transgress R.S.’s right to free speech. As R.S.’s right to speak as alleged without school interference was clearly established, the Court will deny the school defendants’ motion for qualified immunity at this early stage.
3. Alleged Fourth Amendment Violation
Students enjoy a Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures by school officials. See New Jersey v. T.L.O.,
Defendants question whether R.S. had a reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to the private information posted to her Facebook account and private communications that she made with other students via Facebook. Here it is important to note that Facebook provides different means of communication. Postings to a user’s “wall” are generally accessible by the user’s Facebook “friends,” a potentially large group of acquaintances. Other sorts of messages operate in the same manner as email—that is, they are sent from one user to one or more other specified users. They are not open to perusal by one’s “friends” or by the general public.
Courts have long recognized that a person’s reasonable expectation of privacy “turns in large part” on their “ability to exclude others from the place searched.” Minnesota v. Carter,
“Given the fundamental similarities between email and traditional forms of communication, it would defy common sense to afford emails lesser Fourth Amendment protection.” United States v. Warshak,
Based on Plaintiffs’ complaint, at least some of the information and messages accessed by the school officials were in R.S.’s exclusive possession, protected by her Facebook password. R.S. controlled those items until she involuntarily relinquished her password. As with a private letter, the content of R.S.’s electronic correspondence was available only to her and her correspondent. The Court concludes, based on established Fourth Amendment precedent, that R.S. had a reasonable expectation of privacy to her private Face-book information and messages.
The facts in the complaint allege that the school officials conducted an exhaustive search of R.S.’s Facebook account, and possibly her personal email account. There is no indication at this stage that they tailored their search in any way. It would have been difficult for them to tailor their search in pursuit of a legitimate government interest because, as discussed below, such an interest appears to have been lacking.
iii. Government Interest in the Search
The school defendants assert that since the reasonable search analysis requires a complicated and fact-intensive balancing of interests, the Court cannot conclude that their alleged behavior violated R.S.’s clearly established rights. Plaintiffs respond that the search was clearly unreasonable because one of the interests to be balanced — a legitimate school interest motivating the search — is completely absent.
The Supreme Court has made clear that the school interest balanced against a student’s reasonable expectation of privacy is the “substantial interest of teachers and administrators in maintaining discipline in the classroom and on school grounds.” T.L.O.,
Moreover, Plaintiffs argue that the school officials had no “reasonable grounds for suspecting that the search [would] turn up evidence that the student has violated or is violating either the law or the rules of the school.” Id. at 342,
At this stage, based on the facts alleged in Plaintiffs’ complaint, the Court cannot disagree. It is difficult for the Court to discern what, if any, legitimate interest the school officials had for perusing R.S.’s private communications. The officials’ search of R.S.’s private correspondence does not appear to have been motivated by an interest in “maintaining discipline in the classroom and on school grounds” or in “dealing] with breaches of public order.” Id. at 337, 339,
b. Right Clearly Established
A student’s right to be free from an unreasonable search- — -that is, a search without a justifying and legitimate government interest — of private correspondence in school is clearly established. See T.L.O.,
For the above reasons, and at this early stage in the litigation, the Court denies qualified immunity to the school defendants with respect to Plaintiffs’ Fourth Amendment claim.
D. Claims against Individuals in their Official Capacities
The school defendants ask that the claims against them in their official capacities be dismissed because those claims are duplicative of the claims against their employer. See Kentucky v. Graham,
E. Supervisory Liability of Superintendent Ohl
“A supervisor may be held individually liable under § 1983 if he directly participates in the constitutional violation or if he fails to train or supervise the subordinate who caused the violation.” Brockinton v. City of Sherwood,
Plaintiffs respond that their complaint sufficiently raises facts which, when read as a whole, indicate that Superintendent Ohl failed to train or supervise the District employees who engaged in the challenged conduct. The complaint alleges that he was responsible for “ensuring that the District and its officials act in conformity with the United States Constitution and applicable federal and state laws.” (Compl. ¶ 7.) Plaintiffs further allege that the District is “responsible for implementing district-wide policies and procedures, and for training its employees.” (Id. ¶ 6.) They also allege that the policies, customs, and practices in the District permit or encourage unconstitutional behavior by staff members. (Id. ¶ 26.)
While it may be difficult for Plaintiffs to prove their allegations regarding Superintendent Ohl’s role in supporting a custom of unconstitutional practices as alleged, the Court concludes that Plaintiffs have alleged facts sufficient to find him liable for such a custom. Discovery will allow both sides an opportunity to explore Superintendent Ohl’s role in the alleged behavior of his subordinates.
F.Conspiracy Claims
To establish a conspiracy to violate a plaintiffs civil rights in breach of 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3), the plaintiff must prove: “(1) the existence of a civil conspiracy; (2) that the purpose of the conspiracy was to deprive [her] either directly or indirectly of [her] civil rights; (3) that a conspirator did an act in furtherance of the object of the conspiracy; and (4) damages, shown by demonstrating either injury to person or property or the deprivation of a civil right.” Mettler,
Moreover, “to prove [a conspiracy to violate civil rights], Plaintiff must allege specific facts indicating a mutual understanding among the conspirators to take actions to an unconstitutional end.” Feist v. Simonson,
Without reaching the other requirements for a claim under § 1985, the Court concludes that Plaintiffs have not sufficiently pled facts which could lead to a conclusion that the conduct alleged in this case was motivated by “some racial, or perhaps other class-based, invidiously discriminatory animus.” Griffin,
For this reason, the Court will grant the school defendants’ motion to dismiss as to Plaintiffs’ § 1985 claim. And, since Plaintiffs’ claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1986 requires a valid § 1985 claim, the Court will dismiss the § 1986 claim as well. See Jensen v. Henderson,
G. State Constitutional Claims
The school defendants argue that there is no private right of action under Minnesota law for deprivations of rights contained in the Minnesota Constitution. In support, they correctly note that “Minnesota has not enacted a statute equivalent to § 1983.” Thomsen v. Ross,
In response, Plaintiffs note that this Court has explained that “Minnesota courts have recognized direct causes of action for violating certain sections of the Minnesota Constitution” and that the Minnesota Constitution provides a “‘certain remedy in the laws’ for injuries and wrongs.” Thomsen,
In Knudtson v. City of Coates,
As for R.S.’s claim regarding an unreasonable search under Art. I, § 10 of the Minnesota Constitution — the language of which is identical to the Fourth Amendment — there does not appear to be any authority on the question, apart from this Court’s assuming, but not deciding, that such a claim could proceed in Thomsen,
While the parties have spilled much ink on this issue, its practical effect is minimal. R.S.’s freedom of speech and freedom from unreasonable search are substantially the same and coextensive under the United States and Minnesota Constitutions. See State v. Wicklund,
H. State Tort Claims
1. Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
To succeed on a claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress (“IIED”) under Minnesota law, a plaintiff must establish four elements:
(1) the conduct must be extreme and outrageous; (2) the conduct must be intentional or reckless; (3) it must cause emotional distress; and (4) the distress must be severe.
Hubbard v. United Press Int’l, Inc.,
As troubling as R.S.’s allegations may be, the Court concludes that they do not meet the requirements for an IIED claim. The Court concludes that a reasonable fact-finder could not- find that the alleged behavior of the school defendants was utterly intolerable to the civilized community. “[S]chool authorities” may be held liable for emotional distress arising from “abuse[s] of their position,” but not for mere “indignities ... that are not extreme or outrageous.” Restatement (Second) of Torts § 46 cmt. e. The behavior alleged here was arguably a callous, intrusive, and insensitive abuse of power, but a reasonable fact-finder could not find it so “utterly intolerable” or “particularly egregious” as to support an IIED claim. For
2. Invasion of Privacy
To assert a claim for invasion of privacy under Minnesota law, a plaintiff must prove that the defendant committed “(a) an intrusion; (b) that is highly offensive; and (c) into some matter in which a person has a legitimate expectation of privacy.” Swarthout v. Mut. Serv. Life Ins. Co.,
Defendants argue that R.S. had no reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to her private Facebook messages. They note that she was below the age required by Facebook’s terms of service. It is unclear to the Court why a violation of a website’s terms of use vitiates an expectation of privacy.
I. Claims by S.S.
The school defendants request that the Court dismiss all direct claims brought by plaintiff S.S. in her individual capacity. The dispute on this point seems centered around the caption of the case which states that S.S. is a party “individually and on behalf of her daughter [R.S.]” and a statement in Plaintiffs’ complaint which states that S.S. “brings this action individually and on behalf of her minor daughter, R.S.” The parties appear to agree that S.S. has no independent claims for individual damages or other relief.
Guardians may sue on behalf of their children. Fed.R.Civ.P. 17(c)(1)(A). While the Court agrees that dismissal of any direct claims by S.S. would be appropriate, none have been asserted. To clarify this matter, the Court will amend the caption of the case, so that it is clear that S.S. is a party to the suit on behalf of her daughter only.
J. Declaratory Judgment Claim
The school defendants argue that Plaintiffs’ declaratory judgment claim should be
The school defendants note that some courts have reasoned that, “[ajlthough the availability of alternative remedies is not a bar to declaratory relief ... the district court may in its discretion refuse declaratory relief if the alternative remedy is more appropriate.” Smith v. Metro. Prop. and Liab. Ins. Co.,
It would be premature to dismiss an otherwise viable claim at the motion to dismiss stage simply because it appears to be duplicative. Given that other claims may be dismissed upon summary judgment, the Court declines to dismiss the declaratory judgment claim at this time.
K. Motion to File Supplemental Brief
Shortly before oral argument in this matter, the school defendants filed a motion to file a supplemental memorandum of law in support of their motion to dismiss. The school defendants submit that they recently discovered that R.S. has moved out of the District. They therefore argue that her claims for injunctive relief against the District are now moot. See McFarlin v. Newport Special Sch. Dist.,
Plaintiffs respond by noting that the Eighth Circuit has indicated that claims for injunctive relief may remain where a plaintiff may return to the school district in question. Schanou v. Lancaster Cnty. Sch. Dist. No. 160,
The Court concludes that the school district’s motion would be more appropriate as a motion for partial summary judgment, brought after both sides have had time to explore this issue through discovery. The Court will therefore grant the school defendant’s request to file their “supplemental brief’ but will deny the motion to dismiss Plaintiffs’ injunctive relief claim.
Y. Conclusion
As the Court has already explained, this case is still in its infancy. The Court’s rulings here are based on an assumption that the facts alleged by Plaintiffs in their complaint are true. The Court’s denial of the school defendants’ qualified immunity claims should not be taken as an assessment of their ultimate liability for the actions alleged by Plaintiffs. Discovery may reveal facts which change the Court’s analysis of the school defendants’ qualified immunity claims or of the ultimate merits of Plaintiffs’ claims. These issues will be
Accordingly, based upon the files, records, and proceedings herein, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED:
1) The school defendants’ Motion for Dismissal [Docket No. 13] is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART as follows: Counts I, II, IV, V, VI, and VIII REMAIN, Count III is DISMISSED without prejudice, and Count VII is DISMISSED with prejudice;
2) The school defendants’ Motion to File Supplemental Memorandum of Law [Docket No. 22] is GRANTED, the Proposed Supplemental Memorandum is deemed filed, and the motion to dismiss on mootness grounds is DENIED without prejudice;
3) The caption of the case is amended such that the plaintiffs in this case are identified as “R.S., a minor, by and through her mother, S.S.”
Notes
. If it is true that R.S. violated the Facebook terms of service, she was not alone. According to a recent study, there are approximately 7.5 million Facebook users in the United States who are under the age of 13, and there are over 5 million who are under the age of 10. See, e.g., Shan Li, “Consumer Reports: Facebook has 7.5 million underage users,” Los Angeles Times, May 10, 2011, available at http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/ 2011/05/facebook-has-75-million-underage-users-survey-says.html. Any argument that these young children should be afforded fewer privacy protections from involuntary intrusions by non-parents holds no water.