CMS seeks partial dismissal of sexual assault suit filed by former Myers Park student
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education on Friday asked to partially dismiss a federal lawsuit filed by a former Myers Park High School student in June.
Serena Evans, a former CMS student and tennis player, alleges school leaders, and by extension board officials, violated her rights under Title IX because her report of being raped in a high school bathroom in 2016 wasn’t properly investigated.
Evans, now in her 20s, and her attorney Christina Graziano, of Maryland-based KBA Attorneys, allege CMS failed to protect Evans, who was a teen at the time, from sexual harassment and assault, ignored multiple other reports of sexual violence on the Myers Park campus and retaliated against Evans for reporting her alleged assault.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for North Carolina’s Western District seeks damages in excess of $75,000 for each of five counts.
On Friday, CMS’ board asked to dismiss the claims in Evans’ lawsuit of negligent supervision and retention, negligence, premises liability and intentional infliction of emotional distress because the board has “governmental immunity.” The board and its attorney Terry Wallace, of Wallace Law Firm PLLC, also filed the motion for partial dismissal “on the grounds that the district lacked jurisdiction over certain claims.”
Myers Park lawsuit
Graziano said Evans was the victim of a “massive” failure by the school’s administration to protect her under state law and Title IX mandates.
Under Title IX — part of federal education law — public schools are required to thoroughly investigate reports about possible harassment or sexual violence as well as take steps to prevent further victimization or harm.
In an investigation published in July by The Charlotte Observer, Evans and her mother Kay Mayes said it took four months for high school administrators to take an official statement about what Evans said happened in a bathroom in 2016. Evans says the assault and subsequent response led to her leaving the school, with the lawsuit alleging the district took no disciplinary action against the male student involved.
Evans said in past interviews and her lawsuit she was a freshman at Myers Park when a senior football player pushed her into the handicap stall of the boys bathroom on Oct. 25, 2016, and forced her to perform oral sex on him. He then forcibly raped Evans, the lawsuit says.
Afterward, the football player told her: “This is our little secret, you can’t and won’t tell anyone,” the complaint states.
This story was originally published August 19, 2022 at 5:29 PM.
