A $15 million federal lawsuit filed against Cleveland schools and school officials in December 2020 over the alleged repeated sexual assaults of a female student at Cleveland Middle School in 2019 has been dismissed after the girl's attorney missed deadlines and failed to provide court-ordered case information to school system attorneys.
According to federal court records, the case in U.S. District Judge Travis R. McDonough's court in Chattanooga was dismissed without prejudice to refiling it, meaning the plaintiffs can file the suit again if they wish under federal law cited in the matter.
School system attorney Jonathan Taylor acknowledged the dismissal but otherwise did not comment on the case or details of the most-recent action.
"On Feb. 28, 2022, the plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their case and all of their claims against the Cleveland City Schools Board of Education and all of its employees that we represented in this matter," Taylor said Tuesday in an emailed statement. "As our filings in federal court reflect, we vigorously defended the Cleveland City Schools Board of Education and its employees against the claims made by the plaintiffs while this matter was pending before the court."
J. Taylor Thomas, the girl's attorney, argued against the judge entering a default judgment in favor of the defendants over the problems and placed the blame on himself. Thomas has recently been hired onto the city of Chattanooga staff of attorneys. He did not respond to requests for comment on the case but explained his version of events in court filings.
"Defendants' motion to dismiss is not the result of plaintiffs attempting to conceal facts or delay the judicial process, but a product of plaintiffs' counsel's inability to marshal all the requested discovery in a timely fashion," Thomas said in the Feb. 28 court filing. "Additionally, counsel for plaintiffs acknowledge the unfortunate breakdown in communication, which, again, rests squarely on counsel's shoulders.
"Regrettably, for reasons he can only ascribe to his inexperience, the undersigned encountered a series of circumstances and events, both personal and professional, that he failed to convey to opposing counsel," Thomas said, continuing his third-person legal monologue. "Had the undersigned done so, he can only imagine opposing counsel would have been more than understanding, particularly considering opposing counsel's approachability and reasonableness."
According to the original lawsuit filed Dec. 11, 2020, by attorneys Thomas and Russell L. Leonard, the girl was repeatedly sexually assaulted while school officials looked the other way and her parents were only told days later by the Tennessee Department of Children's Services. The student's identity is being shielded during the proceedings.
In the original suit, the plaintiffs claimed the assault "was done forcefully, with Jane Doe being shoved up against a locker, molested and brutalized, resulting in physical injuries from which Jane Doe had to recover more than a week after the assault. Her psychological injuries remain with her and shall remain for the foreseeable future."
The lawsuit initially sought $10 million, but in an amended filing in July seeking $15 million, the plaintiff's family added the allegation a seventh-grade principal held a streamed or closed-circuit assembly April 19, 2021 - with the alleged victim in attendance - on the subject of sexual assault and harassment, according to federal court documents.
According to the court filing, the seventh-grade principal during the assembly told students "even if you look the wrong way, you'd probably get sued" and "trivialized" such conduct as "bottom slaps" or "pats."
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In court papers, the district has generally denied the allegations.
"These defendants deny having any knowledge that the physical nature of the alleged assault was more than a pat on the bottom," the district's response stated in March.
School system officials didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the dismissal of the case. The school system also has not responded to questions about whether school policy allows remarks such as those alleged to have come from the seventh-grade principal during the assembly.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton.