Clark County School District v. Bryan

Nolan Hairr and Ethan Bryan were sixth graders at a public junior high in the Clark County School District (the district) (defendant) in Nevada. Nolan and Ethan played trombone in band class with students C. and D. During the fall of 2011, C. and D. repeatedly harassed Nolan and Ethan, targeting them with homophobic slurs, claiming they were in a homosexual relationship, and describing specific sex acts. For example, C. asked Ethan whether he and Nolan were learning about “putting penises in somebody’s ass” and how to “jerk each other off.” C. also suggestively touched Nolan’s long hair and stabbed Nolan in the groin with a pencil while questioning whether he was a boy or a girl. Nolan and Ethan did not identify as homosexual, and they and their parents (plaintiffs) reported the incidents to school officials. The dean spoke to C. and his mother, but the harassment continued. In October, C. physically scratched Ethan’s leg while continuing to direct homophobic insults at both boys. Although Nolan and Ethan were doing well academically, the harassment caused significant stress. The boys began skipping classes and faking illnesses to stay home. Ethan also contemplated suicide. In early 2012, the boys’ parents withdrew them and placed them in private school. The parents sued the district in state court, alleging that the district had violated Title IX by acting with deliberate indifference to the sex-based harassment. After a bench trial, the district court ruled that the district had violated Title IX, in part because the district’s failure to follow a state regulation requiring an investigation of any bullying report qualified as deliberate indifference. The district appealed.