A lawsuit that has been filed against Ponca City Public Schools claims violations of Title IX after the school district allegedly failed to investigate complaints of sexual assault that took place on a school field trip.
According to KFOR-TV, the NBC affiliate in Oklahoma City, Attorney Paige Lee is representing the now high school sophomore and his mother who said that he was assaulted by now two former high school students in June 2017 at a camp near Tulsa for the boys varsity basketball team. At the time, the victim was an incoming freshman at age 14.
Lee said in an interview to KFOR that the client was assigned a room at basketball camp with two older boys that were ages 17 and 18. Upon leaving the shower, he was held down forcibly by one boy and was assaulted by another. Lee also said in the interview that the client’s towel was removed, and his pants were pulled down and he was assaulted. Lee said it was difficult for the client to experience and retell.
According to the lawsuit, the Ponca City school district officials conducted virtually no investigation of the assault once it was reported. It also states that the principal knew that an identical event happened to other minors on the same trip by the same two suspects and failed to investigate it, as well.
Lee continued by saying that it had escalated with her client this year, so it wasn’t quite as severe the year before. Through the investigation, Lee has determined that seven years ago is when she determined that everything had started. Lee was unsure as to what came of that, but certainly nothing that would have advised the client, the client’s mother, the basketball coach or the teammates that this was unacceptable behavior.
Even though Title IX is commonly associated with equality in sports, Lee said that it also allows for equality in education. Lee said that the school has an obligation under Title IX to ensure that students are protected not only from an actual assault in the school’s care and custody, but also from ensuring that you’re not being unfairly treated after a sexual assault occurs. Lee said there were many things the school did not follow, such as where was the Title IX coordinator in the process? Because it’s the Title IX coordinator that ensures a systematic problem doesn’t exist and makes sure all kids are safe.
The complaint also alleges “The Principal stated that he would not initiate a Title IX because IX does not to ‘boy on boy’ abuse” and district officials “made no changes to the educational environment to prevent future problems.”
The lawsuit went on to state that the student endured continued sexual harassment and retaliation during the 2017-2018 school year, which included: “taunting and stalking him at his freshman football game, stalking him at events that neither Defendant had a need to attend, using their friends to call the Plaintiff a ‘snitch."”
Lee said that the Plaintiff is a great and wonderful man, and he will grow into a wonderful man even though the road won’t be easy for him. Lee went on to say that this will be difficult for the client and is hard for him to relive the event. Lee said that it’s hard for the client to walk down the halls having to remember everything that happened.
The case is now calling for a trial by jury.
The last thing Lee said in the interview was that Title IX is very unique as far as lawsuits go. Title IX allows for injunctive relief or what we would call change. Title IX actually allows for a plaintiff to get change by getting rules enacted that a school has to follow from that point forward. One of the things that Lee’s clients want is to make sure that the rules are followed, because they’re not here.
In a statement released to news outlets across Oklahoma, PCPS Superintendent released the following statement:
The Ponca City School District does everything it can to provide a safe learning environment for students. Because of this, the District promptly investigates all allegations of sexual harassment and takes appropriate actions based on the results of the investigation. Since this lawsuit is ongoing, the School District cannot comment on the specific facts of this case. The school district can say that it is confident that once the facts come out in this lawsuit, that the court will find that the School District acted promptly.”
