Scarborough v. Frederick Cnty. Sch. Bd.
517 F. Supp. 3d 569 (W.D. Va. 2021)
never trained on First Amendment law and
viewpoint discrimination as they relate to the use
of social media.
Defendants make the valid point that this
conclusion requires a leap of logic, and that the
alleged failure of school officials to take certain
actions in connection with Scarborough's critical
social-media posts does not necessarily lead to the
conclusion that FCSB failed to train them, or
trained them inadequately. Defendants may
ultimately be proven correct on this point, but
Scarborough's supposition is plausible enough to
survive dismissal on the pleadings. See, e.g.,
Farrar v. City of Chi. , 291 F. Supp. 2d 747, 753
(N.D. Ill. 2003) ("Plaintiff, however, consistently
alleges that Defendant City of Chicago has a
policy of failing to train police officers how to
respond to domestic violence. At this [ Rule 12(b)
(6) ] stage of the proceedings, Plaintiff needs only
provide Defendant City of Chicago with fair
notice of her claim. She has done so.").
By construing the Second Amended Complaint in
the light most favorable to Scarborough, as this
court must for a motion to dismiss, Scarborough's
allegations regarding FCSB's failures are
sufficient to infer that FCSB acted with deliberate
indifference by failing to train their employees on
sound social-media policies and the First
Amendment. See City of Canton , 489 U.S. at 390,
109 S.Ct. 1197 (explaining that city officials could
"reasonably be said to have been deliberately
indifferent" if "the need for more or different
training is so obvious, and the inadequacy so
likely to result in the violation of constitutional
rights."); see also Littell v. Hous. Indep. Sch. Dist.
, 894 F.3d 616, 627 (5th Cir. 2018) ("[A]nd if the
586
school district nonetheless failed to provide those
officials with any legal training on the subject—
then the factfinder will be entitled (but not
required) to infer that the school district acted with
deliberate indifference to its students' Fourth
Amendment rights."); In re MicroStrategy, Inc.
Sec. Litig. , 115 F. Supp. 2d 620, 627 (E.D. Va.
2000) ("In considering a motion to dismiss a
complaint [under Rule 12(b)(6) ], a court must
construe the complaint in the light most favorable
to the plaintiffs, read the complaint as a whole,
and take the facts asserted therein as true."
(citation omitted)). Moreover, Scarborough
alleged that Mr. Edwards—FCSB's employee—
messaged her on Facebook and espoused their
"terms and conditions" as the reason she was
blocked from Facebook. This indicates that
Defendants made conscious decisions and had a
policy about what was and was not allowed on
their online platforms, further *586 supporting
Scarborough's claim. The court will therefore deny
the motion to dismiss the failure-to-train claim.
CONCLUSION
For these reasons, the court will grant in part and
deny in part Defendants' motion to dismiss (ECF
No. 37). The court will dismiss (1) Scarborough's
equal protection claim as to all Defendants with
prejudice and (2) her procedural due process claim
only against Defendants Sovine and Angelo with
prejudice. The motion will be denied in all other
respects. The court will issue a separate order.
13
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