Founding Partner Eugene P. Ramirez, Orange County Partner Scott Wm. Davenport, and Los Angeles Senior Counsel Darin L. Wessel recently obtained a summary judgment order on behalf of their clients the City of Redlands, former Chief of Police Mark Garcia, Officer Joseph R. Aguilar, and Officer Nicholas Nuzum.
According to the complaint, in March 2020 a Redlands High School student and cheerleader allegedly sent pictures of herself to two fellow classmates. The classmates then allegedly sent the photographs to the larger student body. The cheerleader brought a civil rights lawsuit in federal court under 42 USC section 1983 against the Redlands police officers, the Redlands Unified School District, and others for failing to adequately investigate or discipline the classmates.
Against the City defendants, the cheerleader claimed her substantive due process rights and equal protection rights were violated by the allegedly inadequate investigation. Plaintiff further claimed the City maintained unconstitutional policies and failed to properly train the officers.
The District Court granted summary judgment finding the undisputed facts established no basis for a section 1983 claim against the City or the individual officers for either equal protection or substantive due process violations, and absent a constitutional injury, no possible claim against the City. This was another great team effort by members of the firm’s Governmental Entity Liability Team and the Appellate Law Team.