School lawyer asks about birds-and-bees talk, mom's terminated pregnancy in teen's bullying suit
A lawyer representing Nashville, Tennessee, schools wants to know how a teen suing the school has “developed sexually” and whether she is aware of her mother’s sexual history.
The lawyer has already questioned the teen’s mother in a March 21 deposition about the termination of the mother’s 2001 pregnancy and the timing of her birds-and-bees talk with her daughter, the Tennessean reports. Now he is opposing a request for a protective order barring an inquiry into the teen’s sexual history.
The $3 million suit, filed by the mother on behalf of her daughter, says the school district did nothing to stop a widely shared video of a sexual contact between the teen and a male student in a high school men’s bathroom. The suit says the sexual contact was either unwelcome or the result of pressure by the male student.
The plaintiffs, identified as Sally Doe and Sally Doe #2, contend the school violated Title IX because it didn’t properly investigate the incident and discipline the students involved. The teen is being harassed and bullied because of the video, the suit contends.
School district lawyer R. Alex Dickerson asserted in a court filing that the teen put her sexual history at issue when she contended the sexual contact was unwanted or pressured. In addition, the filing says, the teen is contending she faces ongoing harassment, and the school district needs to find out if other incidents might be contributing to her problems.
According to Dickerson’s filing, the teen is suggesting she won’t develop into a healthy adult because of the unwanted sexually activity. That kind of allegation puts the school district in a position where it will need to see how the girl “has developed sexually to this point in her life,” Dickerson wrote.
The school district is also seeking information on the mother’s financial history. Dickerson argues the information is relevant because it affects the teen’s development.
During the deposition (see here, here and here), the school lawyer asked the mother:
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• About the mother’s 2001 pregnancy and whether it “terminate[d] naturally.” Dickerson said in his later legal filing that he had intended to ask whether there were other pregnancies by the mother, which could affect the teen’s attitude toward sex in high school.
• Whether her daughter was aware of her mother’s sexual history.
• About books she obtained to teach her daughter about sex. The mother said she obtained the books to teach her daughter about her period when she was about 9. “And was that about the time she was coming into her period?” Dickerson asked.
• Whether the daughter had seen pornography.
• Whether her daughter had sought birth control.
The lawyer for the mother and daughter, Stephen Crofford, raised objections to some of the questions.
When Dickerson asked about termination of the pregnancy, Crofford told the mother she didn’t have to answer. “If you want to tell the judge how that’s relevant,” Crofford told Dickerson, “go for it.”
At another point, during questioning about financial information concerning the mother’s business, Crofford told the mother he was instructing her not to answer on grounds of relevancy. “I’ve given you more leeway than you should have been given on all this other irrelevant information,” Crofford told Dickerson.
“You can’t instruct her not to answer questions,” Dickerson told Crofford.
“I just did,” Crofford replied.
