Second lawsuit filed

A second lawsuit has been filed against the Jay County Junior-Senior High School dean.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana on Tuesday filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court Northern Division of Indiana (Fort Wayne) against Brad Milleman and nurses Rebecca Hudson and Nancy Snyder alleging two separate searches were invasive and violated a girl’s rights against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government.

Milleman has been placed on administrative leave.

Last week, Milleman and Hudson were named in a similar lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Indiana on behalf of a junior high student.

“The searches being conducted at Jay County Jr. Sr. High School are completely unreasonable and have caused emotional harm to these young girls,” said Ken Falk, legal director at the ACLU of Indiana, in a press release. “Schools are not constitutional dead zones and we are hopeful that the court will hold these school officials accountable.”  

Jay Schools superintendent Jeremy Gulley said assistant principal for curriculum and instruction James Myers will take over dean duties on an interim basis. Myers served as dean from 2014 through 2022.

Jay County Junior-Senior High School principal Chad Dodd informed parents and staff via email Friday morning about Milleman’s administrative leave “for the duration of this legal review and investigation,” though his name is not mentioned in the email.

The email does not address either of the nurses who have been named in the suits.

“The Jay School Corporation is working with legal counsel to conduct a full review of these allegations,” the email says.

“As this is a personnel matter, appropriate information will be communicated to the extent, and at such time, as is consistent with the School Corporation’s confidentiality obligations,” it continues. “We are committed to maintaining a safe and secure learning environment, while preserving due process rights of our students and employees.”

Jay School Corporation is not named in either lawsuit.

The Commercial Review learned Thursday that a tort claim has been filed against the school corporation in connection with the initial lawsuit against Milleman and Hudson. A tort claim is a notification of intent to pursue legal action against a government agency.

The complaint filed with the court details two alleged incidents involving a sophomore girl, identified as “S.H.” in the document, during which she was searched by school staff for an electronic cigarette (referred to in the document as a “vape”).

It says on Aug. 24 Milleman instructed her to leave her classroom and took her to Snyder’s office. It says the student was ordered, in the presence of Milleman and Snyder and with the door closed, to pull down her shirt to show her bra straps. It says Milleman then left the office and returned with a metal detector that alerted when it passed over the mid-point of her back. Milleman put his hand on her back and asked what he was feeling, the complaint says, with S.H. responding that it was the metal clasp of her bra. The document says S.H. was also ordered to pull out the front of her bra and shake it out, which exposed her breasts to Milleman and Snyder.

A second incident alleged in the complaint occurred Nov. 29 when S.H. was taken to Milleman’s office after she was in a bathroom while skipping a class. According to the document, she was again required to unzip her sweatshirt and show her cleavage as well as pull out the front of her bra and shake out the bra, again exposing her breasts.

“The fact that this has happened to multiple young girls at Jay County High School is extremely disturbing,” said Torry Hernandez, the father of the plaintiff, in the press release. “Being made to expose herself in front of school officials is a nightmare for any young girl, and is certainly a nightmare for any parent. This is clearly a pattern and there must be consequences.” 

Like the previous lawsuit, the complaint from S.H. requests a jury trial. It also asks that the court find that the student’s Fourth Amendment rights were violated and that she be awarded nominal, compensatory and punitive damages for the violation as well as “emotional harm, anguish and other related injuries.”