Are The Bigger Boobs In The Email Or On The School Board?

MayorBob.

Posted to Legal on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 06:14:40 AM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.

Beverly Plamp says she was inappropriately touched by her teacher back in 2006.  She is suing for damages from the Mitchell School District of Mitchell, South Dakota.  She wants to have some emails used as evidence in her case.  However, her name and the incident involving her are not mentioned in the emails.  The school district wants to have the emails sealed.  Plamp's claim is that, even if they don't pertain to her case, they do draw a picture of a school district with rather lax and offensive attitudes towards sex - attitudes which could translate to a favorable verdict for Ms. Plamp.

According to Plamp's complaint, Andrew Tate a history teacher and golf coach at Mitchell High, raised Plamp's shirt to her bra level and fondled her "whole butt" while he was supposedly counseling her on health and eating habits.  As the incident took place in private, it essentially is a "she said, he said" sort of thing.  The school district moved to have the complaint thrown out on the basis of no evidence.  However, Plamp came by two (pdf and NSFW) emails (pdf and likewise NSFW) she thinks the court should really consider before dismissing her case.  She believes they "illustrate the insensitive attitude" of school district officials on matters of sexual harassment and discrimination, therefore supporting her case.

The school district filed a motion (pdf doc) to suppress the emails on the grounds they were "irrelevant" to Plamp's claims.  According to the motion, "it is anticipated the documents would be used by Plaintiff primarily to attempt to `shock' the jury."  The first email was sent by School Board Bob Eversen to Tate and Terry Aslesen in December of 2005.  Aslesen is identified as a former principal of Mitchell High and a current teacher there.  The second email was sent from Aslesen to Tate and two other individuals in February of 2006.  Plamp's response to the sealing motion (pdf doc) makes the point that:

"This case involves a South Dakota school district accused of permitting sexual harassment and/or discrimination to occur within the hallways of its schools.  This is a case where the public should not be deprived of access to the information in the case.  The e-mails are of a sexually inappropriate and harassing nature because they objectify women."

Everson said he didn't realize his email went to a school account and he stopped sending them once he realized that fact.  The school superintendent reprimanded both Everson and Arlesen for the email traffic.  And Arlesen apologized for what he called a "tasteless joke."  A school guidance counselor testified that two other girls had reported feeling uncomfortable in Tate's class.  He was also counseled regarding what the principal considered an overly graphic description of the rape of Colonial women by British soldiers during one of his history classes.