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Fitzgerald v. Barnstable School Committee

555 U.S. 246 (2009)

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Fitzgerald v. Barnstable School Committee

United States Supreme Court
555 U.S. 246 (2009)

  • Written by Whitney Kamerzel , JD

Facts

Lisa and Robert Fitzgerald (plaintiffs) had a daughter in kindergarten in the Barnstable, Massachusetts, school system (the school) (defendant). The daughter told the Fitzgeralds that a third-grade boy was making her lift her skirt on the bus. The Fitzgeralds complained to the principal, who conducted an inconclusive investigation. The school said the daughter could change buses or move seats on the bus. The Fitzgeralds said that these remedies punished their daughter and instead requested that the third-grade boy be transferred to a different bus or a camera be installed on the bus. The school did not implement any remedies and, even though the parents drove the daughter to school every day, the daughter continued to complain of sexual harassment by the third-grade boy. The daughter was absent for much of the school year. The Fitzgeralds sued the school in federal district court under Title IX and § 1983 for the school’s inadequate response to the sexual harassment. The district court dismissed the § 1983 claim, reasoning that Title IX was the sole means of suing for unconstitutional gender discrimination by schools. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Alito, J.)

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