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Doe v. Cedar Rapids Community School District9/5/2002
y School in Cedar Rapids. Roe said Lindsey placed her hands on his penis, hugged her, and kissed her. At Lindsey's request, Roe would stay in Lindsey's classroom alone with him during recess. Lindsey also blew kisses at Roe and told her she was a pretty girl and that he liked her very much.
Similar allegations were reported by Minor Doe who was eight years old and in the third grade at Van Buren. Doe said Lindsey placed her hands on his penis on more than one occasion. Lindsey testified that he "could not recall one way or the other" whether he had made Doe touch his penis. He also hugged and kissed her. Lindsey claimed he could not remember whether or not he kissed Doe. Like Roe, Lindsey asked Doe to stay alone with him in his classroom during lunch. Lindsey gave Doe a flower in a vase, though Lindsey denied this allegation.
Finally, a third student made charges similar to the above allegations. Minor Jones was eight years old and in the third grade at Van Buren. One more than one occasion, Lindsey placed her hands on his penis and hugged her. Lindsey admitted he hugged each of the three girls.
On August 7, 1998, their mothers on behalf of their minor daughters filed suit against the Cedar Rapids Community School District and Gary Lindsey. Alleging Lindsey's improper contact with the three girls, the minors premised their suit on theories of respondeat superior and negligent hiring, retention, and supervision. The School filed a motion for summary judgment challenging the respondeat superior claim asserting Lindsey's alleged misconduct was beyond the scope of his employment as a matter of law. The School also argued that judgment as a matter of law on the negligence claims was appropriate because there was no evidence the School knew or should have known of Lindsey's unfitness to teach. Alternatively, the School contends it is immune under the discretionary function exception of Iowa Code section 670.4(3) (1995).
The district court concluded Lindsey's alleged misconduct was beyond the scope of his employment and granted summary judgment on the vicarious liability claims. In the claim based on negligent hiring, retention, and supervision, the court found the minors generated a factual issue on whether the School had adequate notice of past misconduct to render Lindsey's acts foreseeable. Notwithstanding, the court concluded the School was immune under the discretionary function exception. Specifically, the court found the School did take some action regarding prior accusations against Lindsey. It then ruled hiring and supervision of employees involves the type of policy considerations the discretionary function exception was designed to shield from challenge.
The minors appeal challenging the district court's grant of summary judgment based on discretionary function immunity. They contend the immunity should not apply when a school hires, retains, or fails to supervise a teacher when it knows or should know the specific teacher has a proclivity to assault children. Specifically, the minors allege because Lindsey was previously fired from another school during the middle of a school year for misconduct, the School should have discovered this information in the hiring process. To support their claim of negligent retention and supervision, the minors show a pattern of misconduct citing a 1990 reprimand for inappropriate comments and contact with a student and 1992 allegations of improper contact. The minors further claim the School policies and the terms of the 1990 reprimand established a mandated procedure to prevent further abuse of students, and therefore there was no judgment involved in the School's failure to take corrective action. In such case, the mi
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