The school officials being sued by a former Bradford Area School District teacher are asking a federal judge to dismiss the case, while police officers named in the case are asserting a different narrative of the situation from which the suit arose.
The suit was filed in April by Ann Nuzzo against Ken Coffman and David Ray of the district, former school resource officer Michael Spencer and Bradford City Police Chief Chris Lucco.
According to her complaint, it arose from an incident at the school in April 2016 when some students alleged she had been recording them on her iPad without their permission. Ray got her from her classroom and escorted her to Coffman’s office, where she was questioned by police.
She became very upset and sick, she alleged, and wasn’t permitted to use the restroom or go to the hospital. She was repeatedly questioned despite not knowing where the iPad was, and ended up walking to the emergency room where she alleged Spencer wouldn’t leave, and had to be asked to leave by medical personnel, the suit read.
Her husband found the iPad and turned it over to police, who found no such footage on the device, the suit stated. Her claims include false arrest or imprisonment, excessive force, denial of medical care and illegal search and seizure.
The school officials countered that the only claim referring to them was conspiracy, and it was not adequately proven in her complaint. Also, the response claims, Ray and Coffman would be entitled to raise qualified immunity as a defense, as would Spencer to the extent that he was employed by the school district, as they were acting in the course of their duties.
As for the affirmative defenses from Lucco and Spencer, the court records allege that the two were engaged in their official duties in an investigation of potential misconduct.
While the officers’ accounting of events is substantially similar to Nuzzo’s, the court records stated that Spencer offered to call an ambulance when Nuzzo became ill, but she refused. She insisted on walking to the hospital across the street, and Spencer followed “out of concern for (Nuzzo’s) well being,” the documents stated.
At the hospital, Spencer was in the waiting room when he was told Nuzzo was asking to speak to him. He went in the treatment room, where Nuzzo asked him to retrieve and destroy an envelope with personal items from her classroom. He said he would do so as long as there was no evidence of criminal misconduct. He retrieved the envelope, determined the items were personal and did not involve any sort of crime, and destroyed them as requested, the documents read.
After Nuzzo’s husband brought the iPad to the police, Spencer viewed the contents and determined there was no evidence related to the allegations made against Nuzzo. He did note there were photos of a sensitive personal nature. The device was returned to the Nuzzos, the documents stated.
While at the station, Ann Nuzzo asked to speak privately to Spencer. She told him she had “a lot going on” in her life; Spencer said he had no intention of disclosing the personal information on her iPad. She “expressed her gratitude and in fact hugged Officer Spencer and left the police station,” the documents read.
The officers alleged Nuzzo was “afforded all rights and privileges to which she was entitled” during the course of the incident. They also alleged her health issues including post traumatic stress disorder and anxiety that she claimed in her suit were not brought about by their actions, but rather by pre-existing conditions or her own conduct, the documents stated.
The officers, too, asked for the suit to be dismissed.
