Court Reinstates Sexual Assault Lawsuit By Oakton High Student

OAKTON, VA — A federal appeals court reinstated a lawsuit from a Northern Virginia student who said her school failed to take appropriate action after she said she was sexually assaulted on a 2017 band trip to Indianapolis.

At a trial in 2019 in federal court in Alexandria, a jury found she had been assaulted but threw out the case on a technicality, ruling that the school system had no “actual notice” of the assault.

But in Wednesday’s 2-1 ruling from a three judge-panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond, a judge wrote in the opinion it was obvious that the school had notice, given that the girl herself told administrators she had been touched without her consent, and multiple students and parents reported the alleged assault as word got around.

The student, who has since graduated, said administrators at Oakton High School treated her with indifference after she said another student touched her inappropriately without her consent on a school bus during the trip to Indianapolis in 2017.

The court opinion, released Wednesday, stated "Jane Doe" can retry her Title IX case against the Fairfax County School Board. "We hold that a school’s receipt of a report or complaint alleging sexual harassment is sufficient to establish actual notice under Title IX," the court ruled.

ALSO READ: Oakton Student Sues Over Sexual Assault On Band Trip

"FCPS respects the court’s decision. We have seen today’s opinions and are reviewing them," Fairfax County Public Schools said in a statement to WJLA.

The lawsuit claims a 17-year-old band member sexually assaulted the 16-year-old girl during a band trip to Indianapolis last March. It alleges the victim was forced to touch the boy's genitals, and he touched her breasts and put his hand down her pants.

According to the lawsuit, the girl's friends told staff on the trip about it. She claims the staff did not properly help and that FCPS officials discouraged her from reporting to police and warned her about punishment.

"After the band trip, Doe sought and received professional counseling for multiple weeks, and she was diagnosed with adjustment disorder with anxiety," the appeals court wrote in its opinion released Wednesday. "During the rest of her junior year, Doe was terrified of seeing or being near Smith, which caused her to go out of her way to avoid him at school and also to refrain from fully participating in band activities."

In a statement provided by her attorney to WJLA, Linda Correia of Correia & Puth, PLLC, Doe said she is grateful to have another trial, and that the appeals court "recognized Fairfax's legal arguments would lead to 'absurd results' for student survivors like me."

Correia told the news station that "this ruling is totally common sense."

"The court held that the school’s receipt of a report that can be taken to objectively allege harassment is sufficient to establish actual notice or knowledge under title IX Is a huge victory for student survivors," Correia said.

This story includes reporting from the Associated Press.