By Alyson Palmer, From Daily Report

An Atlanta-based federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit brought by a young woman who claims that she was raped in a middle school bathroom in Alabama as school officials attempted to use her as bait in a sting operation.

At the time of the 2010 incident, the plaintiff was a 14-year-old eighth-grader at Sparkman Middle School near Huntsville. After she complained to a teacher’s aide that another eighth-grader had been badgering her to have sex with him in the bathroom, the aide suggested that the plaintiff meet up with him so school officials could catch him harassing her. The aide says she described her plan to an assistant principal, a point the assistant principal disputes.

The plaintiff claims she was then anally raped by the boy in the bathroom before school officials intervened. The boy was never prosecuted by the county district attorney’s office, Wednesday’s ruling notes, and he was eventually allowed to return to the school. The plaintiff moved out of state to finish eighth-grade and claims her mental health suffered as a result of the incident.

The young woman’s father filed suit on her behalf against the Madison County School Board and several school officials under Title IX and the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. The woman has now reached the age of majority and will be allowed to proceed as the plaintiff under the pseudonym Jane Doe.

A district court judge granted summary judgment to the defendants. Wednesday’s decision revives some of the plaintiff’s claims: her Title IX claims against the school board and her equal protection claims against the school principal, an assistant principal and the teacher’s aide. Eleventh Circuit Senior Judge Susan Black authored the opinion, joined by Judge Frank Hull and visiting Senior U.S. District Judge John Antoon II.

Black’s decision cited several factors supporting the plaintiff’s case, including school officials’ knowledge of the alleged perpetrator’s history of sexual harassment, their policy that students had to be “caught in the act” of sexual harassment before they would be disciplined and their “failure to respond at all, much less adequately” to the alleged rape, including failing to update their sexual harassment policies afterward. “These are highly unique and extreme facts that will hopefully never again be repeated,” wrote Black.

The plaintiff is represented by lawyers with the National Women’s Law Center and the Huntsville firm of Mastando & Artrip. She also received amicus backing from the U.S. Department of Justice. Eric Artrip, whose colleague Teresa Mastando argued the appeal, said Wednesday, “The opinion as written, we hope, provides a greater level of protection for young women in the educational setting.”

The defendants’ lawyers at Boardman, Carr, Bennett, Watkins, Hill & Gamble in Chelsea, Alabama, could not be immediately reached for comment.

IMAGE: Elbert P. Tuttle U.S. Court of Appeals Building Rebecca Breyer

For more on this story go to: http://www.dailyreportonline.com/id=1202734605599/Eleventh-Circuit-Revives-Lawsuit-by-Woman-Who-Claims-She-Was-Raped-in-Middle-School-Sting-Operation#ixzz3ihq4Gtip