Facts

Charlene Ngoun, then 17 years of age, was a lesbian, honor student at Santiago High in Garden Grove Unified School District. Defendant, Principal Ben Wolf, suspended Charlene and one other student on more than one occasion for defying his directive of engaging in public displays of affection in the front of the school. Ngoun had no prior record of discipline.

According to defense counsel, principal Wolf, on-campus supervisors, and others at the school warned plaintiff and this other student on six occasions regarding this behavior. There were other incidents observed by staff members that Principal Wolf did not know about. Plaintiff and this student were also seen by at least one other teacher groping each other on a beach during school hours as well and were asked to stop this behavior.

Although plaintiff's mother claims that in a later conversation Principal Wolf disclosed plaintiff's sexual orientation to her without Charlene's knowledge or permission, Principal Wolf denied ever doing so.

As a result of this behavior, Principal Wolf suggested to Charlene's mother that one of the students be transferred to another school. Charlene's mother agreed to allow Charlene to finish her junior year mid-semester at Bolsa Grande High School, where her GPA dropped. Upon a request by Charlene's attorneys that she be allowed to return to Santiago High, the school district complied.

The ACLU filed a suit on behalf of Ngoun, her mother and the Gay-Straight Alliance Network's behalf, seeking injunctive and declaratory relief and damages pursuant to the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiffs claim that Santiago High's administration has repeatedly displayed animus toward gay students, including the prohibition of the formation of a gay-straight alliance club in 2003. Plaintiffs claim that defendants repeatedly harassed, discriminated and/or selectively enforced rules against Ngoun based on her sexual orientation. Plaintiffs also claim that Ngoun's offer for the National Honor Society was rescinded because of her suspension. Plaintiffs further claim that Santiago High has no written policy forbidding inappropriate public displays of affection.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
The defendant contended that plaintiff was not singled out at any time based upon her sexual orientation. In fact, despite numerous student witnesses that testified at trial, none of them could point to any situation in which Principal Wolf or any of the employees assigned to discipline student behavior had ignored similar public displays of affection by heterosexuals at all. The undisputed evidence was that plaintiff and her girlfriend were the only students who did not obey the repeated warnings to stop and that another heterosexual couple (who were friends of the plaintiff) was disciplined for the same behavior along with the plaintiff and her girlfriend.

Likewise, all of the students that testified for plaintiff admitted that they were aware of what was and was not inappropriate public displays of affection on campus and all admitted that the type of behavior that led to plaintiff's disciplinary action was unacceptable. Although Principal Wolf admitted that on one occasion he may have told Charlene's mother that she was kissing another girl, he felt compelled to do so as parents have a legitimate right to know all of the facts that lead to a student's suspension or discipline.

The court had already granted summary judgment on plaintiffs' theories that the district lacked policies and procedures with regard to discrimination on the basis of gender and that the district administrators failed to investigate her claim of gender discrimination and take appropriate action.

Injuries

Plaintiffs sought $1.3 million in damages.

Result

Defense. U.S. District Judge James V. Selna ruled that school officials did not violate Ngoun's civil rights, and that Ngoun was treated no differently than straight students were when caught kissing or other forms of intimacy. The court made a declaration that the school district nor Principal Wolf had not violated Charlene's rights under any of the federal or state theories that she advanced whatsoever. Plaintiff sued individually various school administrators including the superintendent and two assistant superintendents of the school district. The court found that there was absolutely no evidence to support any claims against them whatsoever.

Other Information

The ACLU intends to appeal. The school district will file a motion seeking nearly $400,000 in legal fees from Ngoun, the ACLU, Latham & Watkins and the Gay-Straight Alliance Network and $40,000 in costs.