An Alachua County judge on March 31 dismissed a lawsuit filed against the city of Alachua over the alleged sexual harassment of a student at Santa Fe High School. The judge on April 1 also dismissed an amended complaint against the Alachua County School Board in the same case, but left the door open for a second amended complaint to be filed.
According to the lawsuit, the student, who was a sophomore at the time, initially reported to SFHS Assistant Principal Mac Rendek that Travis Yeckring, the school’s baseball coach, “intentionally exposed” her to an “explicit image of himself” on his cellphone. About a week later, she said, Yeckring stopped her in the hallway and made “sexually charged statements” to her.
Both Rendek and Yeckring are currently on leave.
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The lawsuit also says a pre-litigation investigation revealed that prior to Yeckring’s interactions with the victim, the School Board and the school’s resource officer had received complaints from “numerous children” regarding “sexual misconduct” by Yeckring.
The victim, now a senior, suffered “overwhelming psychological and emotional trauma,” the lawsuit states.
In Judge Donna M. Keim’s order granting the city of Alachua’s motion to dismiss, Keim wrote that the plaintiff failed to identify the city employee alleged to have been negligent and failed to show what information the city would be expected to have regarding the alleged abuse.
Keim also wrote that while those deficiencies in the case alone were enough to warrant a dismissal, the unknown city employee’s failure to report the abuse would qualify only as a criminal action under Florida statutes, not a civil cause.
The case against the city was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be reopened.
Keim referenced the same statute — 39.205 (1) — in dismissing the first count against the Alachua County School Board.
“[A] person who knowingly and willfully fails to report to the central abuse hotline known or suspected child abuse, abandonment, or neglect, or who knowingly and willfully prevents another person from doing so, commits a felony of the third degree.”
Keim also dismissed a count of negligent supervision against the school board but gave the plaintiff 10 days to file a second amended complaint.
In her ruling, Keim cited Florida’s impact rule, which states that if the plaintiff “never suffered an impact, the mental or emotional distress must be manifested by a discernible physical injury within a short time of the incident.”
She notes that previous case law provides that claims of insomnia, depression, short term memory loss and extreme fear of loud noises “have been found insufficient to overcome the impact rule.”
“Therefore, the Court finds that Plaintiff fails to state a cause of action and Count I must be dismissed,” Keim wrote.
If an amended complaint is filed, the school board will have 10 days to respond. If a complaint is not filed within 10 days, the case will be permanently dismissed.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Judge dismisses sexual harassment lawsuit against city of Alachua, school board
Reporting by Staff report / The Gainesville Sun
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