Appellate Case: 21-6123 Document: 010110734017 Date Filed: 09/06/2022 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT September 6, 2022 _________________________________ Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court RUSSELL NATION, individually and as parent and next friend of J.N., a minor; CAROL NATION, individually and as parent and next friend of J.N., a minor, Plaintiffs - Appellants, v. No. 21-6123 (D.C. No. 5:18-CV-01090-R) PIEDMONT INDEPENDENT SCHOOL (W.D. Okla.) DISTRICT NO. 22; HOLLY NOELLE MORRIS, Defendants - Appellees. _________________________________ ORDER AND JUDGMENT* _________________________________ Before HARTZ, BALDOCK, and McHUGH, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ Russell and Carol Nation filed this suit on behalf of themselves and J.N., their minor child. J.N., who is autistic and nonverbal, was one of eight or so students in Holly Morris’s special-education class at Piedmont Middle School in Piedmont, Oklahoma, during the school years of 2016–17 and 2017–18. It is undisputed that during the 2017–18 school year, Morris physically and verbally abused J.N. and other students. Morris reportedly slammed J.N.’s head against a bathroom wall, punched * This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1. Appellate Case: 21-6123 Document: 010110734017 Date Filed: 09/06/2022 Page: 2 him, knocked him out of his desk, pulled his hair, and made disparaging comments to him. The Nations filed suit against Piedmont Independent School District No. 22 (the District) seeking damages under 42 U.S.C § 1983 on multiple grounds, including failure to train and supervise its employees, and under Oklahoma’s Governmental Tort Claims Act on various state-law claims. After denying as untimely the Nations’ motion to amend to add claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma entered summary judgment for the District on the § 1983 claims, stating that there was insufficient evidence of violations of J.N.’s constitutional rights after the District was made aware of Morris’s pattern of abuse. It also held that the District was not liable for negligence under state law. The Nations appeal these decisions. We affirm the district court’s denial of the Nations’ motion to amend. We also affirm the summary judgment for the District on the § 1983 claim, but on a ground different from that relied on by the district court. Even if there was sufficient evidence of injury after the District was put on notice, the Nations nevertheless failed to demonstrate that the District acted with deliberate indifference to the risk of further injury to J.N. As for the negligence claim, after summary judgment was granted on the § 1983 claims the district court should have declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over any state-law claims. We therefore remand with instructions to dismiss the negligence claim without prejudice. 2 Appellate Case: 21-6123 Document: 010110734017 Date Filed: …
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