R.M.R. v. Muscogee County School District

Facts

Thirteen-year-old P was sexually molested at school by his music teacher, Carr. P then brought this suit against D alleging that D was vicariously liable for this abuse under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Carr had been teaching at the school since 1982, and he was both well-respected by other teachers and well-liked by the students. P did not immediately tell anyone about the incident. Eventually, P explained to the school counselor what Carr had done. The school counselor immediately reported the incident to the principal, William Arrington. The next morning, Arrington confronted Carr with P's claim, and when Carr did not deny the charges, Arrington suspended him from teaching classes. Carr directly admitted to D that he had molested Robbie. The superintendent gave Carr the option of resigning or facing termination, and on May 4 Carr tendered his resignation. On the third day of trial, after Ps had rested their case and D had presented most of its defense--four of its six witnesses (including Arrington)-P moved the court for leave to reopen their case in order to call a witness whom they had not listed in the pretrial order. This witness, Daniel Lance Jordan, had appeared at the courthouse that morning, after hearing about the case in the media. Jordan had been a student in Carr's class in 1984, and, according to Jordan, had been molested by Carr approximately fifty times. Jordan claimed that he repeatedly told Arrington about this sexual abuse. D opposed appellants' motion in that it did not have an opportunity to depose him and conduct whatever investigation might be required to rebut his testimony, which would be highly prejudicial. The district court agreed, and therefore denied P's motion. The jury found in favor of D. P appealed on grounds that the court improperly excluded Jordan from testifying. 

Issues

Rule of Law

Holding and Decision

Legal Analysis

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