PITTSBURGH - A federal judge has mostly dismissed a bullying lawsuit against Beaver Area School District but will let the plaintiff proceed with claims a football coach created a state-created danger.
Pittsburgh federal judge Cathy Bissoon on Dec. 27 adopted a magistrate judge's report and recommendation that suggested she dismiss six claims made by an eighth-grade football player who was called names and concussed with a tennis racket.
Shyler Drumm sued BASD and football coach Jeffery Beltz over bullying at Beaver Middle School, but Magistrate Judge Maureen Kelly in November recommended his claims be dismissed.
Bissoon agreed, except to the state-created danger claim. Beltz had told the football team to stop bullying Drumm because his mother had complained.
This led to bullies furthering their instances of harassment. Kelly said this statement was not a "drastic change" in the status quo.
Bissoon refused to dismiss the claim because of the early stage of litigation, writing it is not a "strong one." Drumm will have to prove Beltz's comment to the team reflected "a degree of culpability that shocks the conscience" and left Drumm more vulnerable to danger than if the statement had never been made.
"The mountains to climb are, indeed, high," Bissoon wrote. "The Court must bear in mind, however, the relatively lenient standards applicable at this stage. In light of them, there has been some reluctance to resolve such issues at the 12(b) stage."
Bissoon cited a decision in 2023 in a case against the Greater Latrobe School District over an alleged sexual assault on a junior varsity wrestling team. The plaintiff in that case alleged coaches looked the other way as he was tied up, assaulted and penetrated with a wooden stick.
After claims moved forward, the case settled last January. That could happen in Drumm's lawsuit too, depending on an amended complaint ordered by Jan. 10 and issues of qualified immunity for the defendants.
"The District Court cannot resolve these issues on the present record," Bissoon wrote. "Doing so would require a good deal of extrapolation given the sparsity of the actual pleadings."
Drumm's eighth-grade year came in 2017-18. The school was aware of diagnoses of generalized anxiety disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
He joined the football team but was met with harassment. He was called "mama cry baby" and had rubber bands shot at him.
When his parents informed Beltz, he allegedly said it was "kids being kids" and did not investigate. He did, however, tell the students to stop bullying Drumm because of his mother's complaints.
It was alleged that as a result of the bullying, Drumm suffered a broken toe during practice and was hit on the head with a racket in gym class.
Months later, a student put him in a headlock until Drumm passed out. The student dropped him on the ground and Drumm suffered another concussion that led to post-traumatic stress disorder, it is alleged.
That was Drumm's last year in that school district.