Student sues Lynden School District, educators for discrimination, defamation

A former Lynden High School student has filed a federal lawsuit against the school district and two educators alleging the district discriminated against and defamed her when a teacher allegedly started and spread a false sexual rumor about the student, ultimately impacting the student’s education.

The female student, whom The Bellingham Herald is not naming at this time, filed her federal civil rights lawsuit Wednesday, Nov. 8, in the Western District of Washington in Seattle, against the Lynden School District, Lynden High School Principal Ian Freeman and high school teacher Julie Clift, according to federal court records.

The student’s lawsuit alleges that Clift started and spread a false sexual rumor about the student earlier this year and that Freeman and the district failed to take steps to rectify the harm caused by the rumor and the impact to the student’s education, and failed to follow district policy regarding sexual harassment of its students.

The student’s lawsuit accuses Clift, Freeman and the district of violating her civil rights, including discrimination under federal Title IX protections, defamation, intentionally inflicting emotional distress by committing extreme and outrageous conduct, invasion of right to privacy, failure to properly train and supervise school district personnel, discrimination in a place of public accommodation under Title IX, and creating a hostile environment by placing the student “in an intimidating and offensive environment that significantly interfered with her education,” federal court records state.

The student has requested general, special and punitive damages. She has also demanded a trial by jury on all issues, the court documents show.

In a statement sent Friday, Nov. 10, Lynden School District Superintendent David VanderYacht said that while the school district was “not at liberty to go into detail about pending litigation, we can say we were surprised and disappointed to have received this but will always take complaints of this nature seriously.”

“The Lynden School District takes its responsibility to provide a safe and supportive learning environment very seriously,” the statement said. “We work hard to cultivate a district and school culture where all students can learn and grow.”

“The District is aware of the circumstances surrounding the incident which occurred in March, 2023. At that time, an internal investigation was conducted. The District worked with the employee and per the progressive discipline policy, she was appropriately counseled.”

The Herald has reached out to the former student’s attorney, Freeman and Clift for comment and more information.

The rumor

The female student’s lawsuit alleges a false rumor started and spread by Clift created an unsafe learning environment for the student, disrupted her education, impacted her emotionally and mentally, and that Freeman and the district failed to take action once they became of aware of the allegations.

The female student attended Lynden High School between 2019 and June 2023. Prior to March 2023, the student had a close friend die by suicide, which created a significant hardship for the student. By the student’s senior year, she had been accepted into a new friend group and was seeing improvements to her mental health, court records state.

Clift was employed as a teacher and golf coach at Lynden High School in 2023. She worked in a mentor role to students and was in a position of authority.

Around March 29, Clift allegedly began to spread rumors of a sexual nature about the female student to other students and teachers at Lynden High School. While at the high school, Clift pulled one of the female student’s new friends aside and told her that the female student had sex with a male student whom had previously dated one of their other friends. Clift then told the friend to “stay away” from the female student because she was “a bad influence.”

The statements made by Clift regarding the female student having sexual intercourse with a male student were false, the lawsuit states.

Clift allegedly repeated the rumors about the female student in front of at least two other students and a faculty member over the next several days. By the end of the week, dozens of students at Lynden High School had heard about Clift’s statements and were repeating them back to the female student.

The female student’s mental health started to decline and she became so distressed that she left school early, had difficulty returning to her classes and was ostracized from her new friend group, court documents state.

The female student’s mother learned of Clift’s actions and emailed her concerns about Clift’s behavior to a school counselor at Lynden High School on March 29, and requested an investigation into the matter.

The student’s mother went to the high school the following day, where she had a conversation with a separate faculty member. The faculty member told the mother that she had heard the rumors about the female student and that Clift had been the source of those rumors, court records state.

Around 11 a.m. on the same day, the student’s mother emailed Clift, who never responded. Instead, Clift removed the female student from her math class in front of other students and spoke with her alone without any other adults present. Clift allegedly admitted to the student that she had “made inappropriate comments” about her and asked the student “to not take this incident any further.”

Because of the conversation with Clift, the student missed a section of her math class, court documents state.

Later in the day, Clift allegedly called the student’s mother and admitted that she spread the sexual rumors about the student, but did not take any efforts to protect the female student’s reputation or correct the false information being spread throughout the high school.

Clift did not make similar assertions and statements about the male student whom she claimed also had sexual intercourse, did not tell other students to stay away from him, and did not speak negatively about him to his teachers, the student’s lawsuit states.

“Clift had only encouraged students to shun and disassociate with (the female student). It is alleged that Defendant Clift treated (the female student) different from a male student based upon her gender,” federal court records state.

On March 31, the female student’s mother left a voicemail for the high school’s dean of students. Throughout the next week, the mother called two more times in an attempt to learn what the school district was doing to protect her daughter and how the incident was being handled.

The mother was later connected with Freeman, the principal at Lynden High School. Freeman, who has been principal since the 2015-16 school year, told the student’s mother that Clift confirmed she had made inappropriate statements about the female student and apologized. Freeman then told the student’s mother that he was moving the incident to the human resources department.

The mother and female student claim that following that conversation, they never again heard from Freeman, the school, the school district, administration or any other involved parties regarding the incident.

The lawsuit claims that Clift appears to have received no repercussions for her actions, that she was not placed on administrative leave, and that she is still actively employed with the high school.

In its statement issued Friday, the school district said it was aware of the circumstances surrounding the incident between Clift and the female student.

“At that time, an internal investigation was conducted. The District worked with the employee and per the progressive discipline policy, she was appropriately counseled,” the statement reads.

The Herald has asked additional questions regarding the counseling Clift received, whether additional discipline was issued, whether there are past complaints regarding Clift’s behavior with students, whether a Title IX investigation was conducted, what services or supports were provided to the female student, what steps the district took once it became aware of the allegations and more.

Between April and June 2023, the female student struggled to attend class and finish her senior year due to the harm to her reputation and the distress caused by the rumors circulated by Clift. The lawsuit states that she no longer felt safe at the high school, where an adult who was “bullying her had the ability at any moment to pull her from her classes.”

Following policy

The student’s lawsuit alleges that Freeman and the Lynden School District failed to follow its own policies in regards to sexual harassment of its students.

The district’s sexual harassment policies and procedures state that sexual harassment is defined as “unwelcome conduct or communication of a sexual nature” and that it can occur between an adult and student, two students, or a group of students or adults. The policy, which provides several examples of sexual harassment — including unwelcome sexual or gender-directed conduct or communication that interferes with a person’s education or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment — states that the district will promptly investigate and take appropriate steps to resolve the situation once the district knows or reasonably should know about the harassment.

The district’s policy requires that if an investigation determines a hostile environment has been created, it will take steps to end the sexual harassment, eliminate the hostile environment, prevent its recurrence and remedy its effects. These actions are to be done every time a complaint, whether formal or informal, alleging sexual harassment comes to the attention of the district, the district policy states.

The female student’s lawsuit states that Freeman and the school district all had knowledge of Clift’s harassment and misconduct related to the student.

Freeman, Clift and at least one other faculty member at Lynden High School admitted the incident occurred, and Freeman and Clift both reached out to the student’s mother and apologized for Clift’s actions.

The district, Freeman, the dean of students, a high school counselor and at least two faculty members were all aware of and had the incidents and Clift’s actions reported to them, the lawsuit claims.

“Despite this knowledge, the school district and Defendant Ian Freeman both acted with deliberate indifference by failing to take action to correct the wrongdoing. The incident was not only insufficiently addressed, but (the female student) was not offered any supportive measures, as required by policy.”

The lawsuit states that as a result of Clift, Freeman and the school district’s actions and failure to act, her mental health worsened considerably, she suffered significant emotional harm and disruption to her education and no longer wished to attend school, and her reputation has been irreparably damaged in the community where she was raised.

“The statements made by Defendant Julie Clift and the school’s failure to protect (the student) from them have subjected (the student) to ridicule and harassment by her peers. In violation of the Lynden School District policy, no one took immediate action to eliminate the harassment or prevent its recurrence,” the federal court documents state. “After Defendants were all put on notice of the harassment, Defendant Julie Clift was still allowed to pull (the student) from her class and continue to disrupt her education, make her uncomfortable and worsen the effects of her conduct.”

In an additional statement provided to The Herald Friday, VanderYacht, the superintendent, said the news of the lawsuit “was very hard for us to receive.”

“I can’t get into the specific details into what I know surrounding this. But any time in which there is a situation where a young person feels as though they have been wronged, it hurts my heart,” VanderYacht said. “We are — and I am personally — committed to making sure hcildren feel safe in an environment where they can learn and grow, and we’ll continue to do our best to make sure all students receive the highest standard of service.”

Resources

▪ Brigid Collins Family Support Center: 360-734-4616, brigidcollins.org

Brigid Collins Family Support Center professionals are on-call between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., Monday through Friday, to answer questions about children, families, abuse prevention or treatment at (360) 734-4616.

▪ Child Protective Services: Washington state hotline for reporting child abuse and neglect, 866-829-2153.

▪ Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Services: 24-hour Help Line: 360-715-1563, Email: info@dvsas.org.

▪ Lummi Victims of Crime: 360-312-2015.

▪ Tl’ils Ta’á’altha Victims of Crime: 360-325-3310 or nooksacktribe.org/departments/youth-family-services/tlils-taaaltha-victims-of-crime-program/

▪ Bellingham Police: You can call anonymously at 360-778-8611, or go online at cob.org/tips.

▪ WWU Consultation and Sexual Assault Support Survivor Advocacy Services: 360-650-3700 or wp.wwu.edu/sexualviolence/.

If you or a child is in immediate danger, call 911 and make a report to law enforcement.

To report child abuse or neglect call 1-866-END HARM.