Jane Doe 1 v. City View Independent school District

Wichita Falls, Texas personal injury lawyer represented the Plaintiff on a civil rights violation claim.



Jane Doe attended high school in City View ISD from the fall of 2016

to the spring of 2020.1 Robert Morris was employed as a teacher and coach

at City View ISD while Doe was a student there. In 2016, Morris allegedly

began emotionally and sexually abusing Doe, then a fifteen-year-old

freshman. Doe alleges that the abuse continued until she graduated in May

2020.

Doe alleges that she was physically mature for her age and emotionally

vulnerable; Morris took advantage of both. Doe claims that it started small,

that he would take her phone and make her stay late after class. Doe alleges

that while alone in class, Morris would kiss her. On one occasion, Doe alleges

that Morris demanded a kiss on the cheek before Doe could get her phone

back, but Morris turned his head and kissed her on the lips. Morris told Doe

that he loved her and would leave his wife and children for her. Morris

allegedly stated, "[T]his isn't just a high school flame.” Morris told Doe

that he loved her every day for over three years.

Doe lost her birth mother in October of her freshman year in 2016.

Doe alleges that one night, the anniversary of her mother's death, Morris

asked Doe to meet and told her, "'You've been good.' . . . 'I know I can trust

you. So, I want to have sex.'” (alteration in original). He then took Doe into

his truck, where she alleges that he statutorily raped her. Afterward, he

threatened to fail her if she said anything. Doe alleges that Morris would have

sex with her before or after school, sometimes up to ten times a week. She

alleges that it occurred in school "where she would masturbate him,” in the

field house, and in community and school parking lots. Doe alleges that

Morris treated her as his "private sex slave” from the time she was fifteen

until she graduated at eighteen.

In 2018, Doe allegedly reported Morris's sexual abuse to the school

principal, Daryl Frazier, and the City View ISD superintendent, Anthony

Bushong. Bushong was the school district's designated Title IX coordinator.

However, instead of reporting the complaint to law enforcement, Bushong

allegedly told Doe, "If this gets out, you will be expelled.” Bushong told Doe

that if she said anything, her family would be affected and embarrassed. Doe

claims that this was "a veiled threat of retaliation,” because Doe's aunt

works for the school district and her cousins have attended school and work

in the community. Frazier allegedly told Doe not to speak to anyone about it

ever again. Doe alleges that he threatened that if she did, her reputation

would be ruined, and it would "blackball” her from college.

In Doe's senior year, she attempted to end the abusive relationship.

Doe alleges that in response, Morris "kept trying and grabbing Doe” and

repeatedly asking, "Are you going to tell?” He told her, "[P]lease don't tell

anyone, this can't get back to my family.” Later, Morris allegedly

threatened, "[I]f you don't do as I say your grade will drop and it will fail

you,” a threat he had made from the start of their sexual relationship. Doe

alleges that he "threatened her over and over,” and she "lived in fear he

would corner her and molest her again which continued until she graduated

high school.” The abuse continued until May 2020.

Case: 24-10592No. 24-10592

4

On June 23, 2022, Morris was named coach of the year. In response,

public outcry erupted on social media as several former female students

claimed that Morris sexually abused them. The subsequent law enforcement

investigation revealed that Morris's sexual abuse had been reported to school

officials on four specific occasions since 2014, including Doe's report.

Morris had been placed on administrative leave after the report in 2014, but

he continued to have access to female students until 2022. None of the

school officials reported Morris's conduct or the complaints to law

enforcement or the Department of Family and Protective Services. A former

school board member stated that many people in the school district knew that

Morris had sexual contact with underage female students as well as

adulterous relationships with female staff members. On June 27, a few days

after the public outcry, Morris committed suicide.

At some point after the public outcry, Doe was interviewed by the

local press and "made a public statement that she was too scared to talk about

what happened to her because she was scared she would be expelled if she

brought it up any further.” She reported that she had complained to

Bushong, but he had done nothing. Shortly thereafter, on or about July 27,

2022, Doe alleges that she received a letter from Bushong "pressuring her

not to speak any further on the topic.” She alleges that the letter threatened

her with litigation if she continued speaking about him publicly.

Doe still suffers from severe anxiety and depression and takes

medication for those conditions. Doe alleges that she was unable to attend

college despite offers because of her health conditions, which arose out of the

acts and omissions of Morris and the school officials.



Doe sued City View ISD and four school officials2 in federal district

court on April 4, 2023. There were two rounds of motions to dismiss.



* * *



Title IX claims, like claims pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, are

"governed by state statutes of limitations for personal injury actions.” King-

White, 803 F.3d at 759. Thus, Texas's two-year personal injury statute of

limitations applies here. Id. at 761; see Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann.

§ 16.003. The statute of limitations begins to run the moment the plaintiff's

claim accrues, unless tolling applies. King-White, 803 F.3d at 762. Tolling

interrupts or pauses the statute of limitations after it has begun to run. Heath

v. Bd. of Supervisors for S. Univ. & Agric. & Mech. Coll., 850 F.3d 731, 739 (5th

Cir. 2017). Federal law determines when a claim accrues. King-White, 803

F.3d at 762. However, when a federal cause of action borrows a state statute

of limitations, it also borrows state tolling rules. Id. at 764. Accordingly,

federal accrual rules and Texas tolling rules apply to Doe's Title IX claims.

See id. at 762, 764.

In response, Doe filed a first amended complaint and second amended

complaint. The remaining defendants, City View ISD and Bushong, then

moved to dismiss her second amended complaint. The district court granted

both motions and dismissed Doe’s claims. It concluded that Doe’s Fourth

Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment, and Title IX claims were barred by

the statute of limitations and that her First Amendment claim failed to

identify a constitutional violation. Although Doe’s response to City View

ISD’s motion to dismiss asked that she “be permitted to file an[] amended

complaint,” the court did not address that request in its order and dismissed

the claims with prejudice.



Affirmed