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Editor’s note: This story has been updated to more accurately reflect the judge’s decisions.
United States District Judge Rita Lin denied most of the Sequoia Union High School District’s motions to dismiss most of claims in the lawsuit involving the arrest of a then Menlo-Atherton High School student in April 2023 in an Oct. 15 decision. The suit is against former M-A Vice Principals Stephen Emmi and Nick Muys.
The reported incident occurred on campus shortly before police arrested then-M-A student known as K.C. in the suit, near the Atherton campus.
“I’m very positive about the ruling,” said John Burris, the plaintiff’s attorney. “The cause of actions that we made were based upon the conduct of the school district, the people there and the impact so I fully expected the court would recognize those issues.”
The judge opted not to dismiss allegations against Emmi, SUHSD’s current wellness programs coordinator, for assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and the Bane Act, which protects individuals from threats, intimidation or coercion that interfere with federal or state rights. The district’s motion to dismiss the negligence claim against Muys were denied.
The district’s motion to dismiss K.C.’s request for punitive damages from Emmi and Muys was denied. Punitive damages would award K.C. further payment from the defendants in addition to compensation. The court ruling states that “it is premature to conclude that K.C. is not entitled to such a reward.”
The only motion of dismissal that was granted to the district was the Ralph Act claims against Emmi. The Ralph Act is a law that prohibits hate crimes motivated by bias. The ruling found that the allegations were insufficient to suggest that Emmi’s alleged actions were driven by his bias against disabled children.
“At the heart of it all was this young man who had disability problems that the school district was aware of and they treated him in a harsh, disrespectful manner that was unbecoming,” said Burris. “That’s the part that’s most disturbing to me is that they didn’t respect him as a human being.”
The lawsuit alleges that Emmi forcefully grabbed a confiscated water toy from K.C. and that he physically pushed the student. The court found that the allegations are enough to “infer that Emmi touched K.C. in a harmful or offensive manner with the intent to do so” charging him with assault and battery.
The plaintiff K.C alleges a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress, as he alleges Emmi continued to escalate the situation with K.C. while aware of his intellectual disability. The order states that “the allegations plausibly suggest that Emmi at least recklessly disregarded a probability of causing emotional distress.”
The court is also allowing for claims that administrators violated K.C.’s rights to be protected from harm under the Bane Act when he physically blocked and pushed into him in remain in the suit.
Allegations against Muys on negligence were found sufficient by the court stating that in his role as the school’s vice principal he “had a duty of care to protect [K.C.] from harm which was reasonably foreseeable while [K.C.] was on school grounds.”
“On a motion to dismiss, these allegations plausibly support that Muys failed to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances and that this failure caused harm to K.C,” writes the court order.
Burris hopes that the school district will “get a profound lesson from [the lawsuit]” and hopes that the district will learn to treat special needs children in accordance with what they need.
“I think kids of color who have special needs problems should be treated like all kids with special needs,” he added.
The court is allowing K.C. 21 days to file an amended complaint correcting any deficiencies in the claims. According to lead investigator Dan Molieri, K.C.’s attorneys are in the process of amending the Ralph Act claim, the only item dismissed by the judge.
The district has not responded to this news organization on the judge’s ruling.
“Allegations against the district, Mr. Muys and Mr. Emmi in the complaint are allegations only and have not been proven or established in the court of law,” said the counsel representing SUHSD.
A case management conference is scheduled for Nov. 13 at 10 a.m. via videoconference. During the conference, all parties and the judge will discuss the following steps including a discovery process, alternative dispute resolution and a trial date.
View the full ruling below:
Chez TJ owner wants to call it quits but can’t because of financial worriesOctober 31, 2023 11:46 am
Simple review, as stated numerous times the entire board and administration should face charges and pay back the citizens who funds are being used to defend such unlawful actions. When will the students parents, teachers and employees be safe with this type of criminal environment the police and school district have abused the system and they should be out of their own pockets not citizens. .
This is just so twisted around. The Almanac should do better than to continue to support all of these false claims against Mr. Emmi who was the one who was assaulted and called a homophobic slur, which is a hate crime. Stop perpetuating these ambulance chasing people, they care nothing about the student and only about their wallets. Shame on you all.
It is not twisted around. This administration that is consistently reactionary regarding many, many major issues past and present covered up their egregious mistakes, and Emmi had a well-known reputation in that school. I worked with that student daily and he was incredibly eager to learn and always asked me for more work after he finished whatever he had to do. Emmi and that administration is the problem. They created a problem out of nothing and this entire event should have never happened if that staff were doing what they were supposed to do and abiding by the student’s IEP, the law, basic student rights, decency, and professionalism. The incredibly low standard they set for handling situations is what you’re trying to defend. Shame on you and people like you.
You must be Emmi’s friend or a friend of the administration. There is a group of sycophants in that school who attempted to defend administration and bought their lies hook, line, and sinker. I don’t know what to say about them other than I feel sorry for them and the bubble they exist in. They don’t understand that people outside of that bubble can see things for what they really are.
Nobody reasonable who isn’t drinking the kool-aid in that cult-like school culture would defend Emmi or the admin’s unprofessional actions, or believe their made-up version of events that they concocted to attempt to smear a student with disabilities. The lack of professionalism and inadequacy in that school leadership finally caught up with them. This is some of the accountability that is long overdue. More will come.
You can try to run from the truth, but it’s got better shoes.
Truth told
Do you know how to read . Are you calling a federal judge not knowing law. Were you there. Stop playing a dummy and u set stand your friend Emmi is done as is that district. You must be one of the suspects who hurt the child.
This article reads as though they are already guilty, but that is probably your spin. The only one hurting the child is you at this point by dragging this out. You were not there either, also learn how to type a coherent sentence please.
Nobody is dragging anything out but the school district by not firing or demoting Emmi and others immediately after this situation, and for promoting a complete lie to the entire community about what happened. It wouldn’t be the first time. This entire situation would not exist if not for the lack of professionalism that exists within that administration. The difference in how they treat some students and some families versus others. I saw it for myself daily.
This is called righting a wrong and holding public school employees accountable for their actions. Something sorely missing in that cliquey, low standard environment. The way the administration created that situation and problem for no reason at all is completely fitting of their behavior, and the way they disrespected and then hurt a child is pathetic. There are really no words for it. Who would defend that? What kind of person? You surely must be a friend of Emmi or someone in the administration. I know it is hard but you will just have to get over the conditioning of that environment and face that their mistakes finally caught up with them.
The truth is like laundry—you can let it pile up, but sooner or later, you’ve gotta deal with the mess.
Truth told dummy
Right I was t there but I’ve got the tapes videos and reports . So go cry to someone else but you’re more than welcome to pay for your district and friends unlawful acts . Sorry but your little world of corruption is gone. And worst your so called leaders have multiple other cases. So yes this is going to cost taxpayers a lot but it should not be them but people like you or the ones who are named with their checkbooks