Background
Shannon Mullen sued the Town of Sunset Beach and Officer Isaac Krammes, alleging that the town was liable for Krammes’ sexual assault of her while on duty. Mullen claimed the town failed to adopt policies prohibiting such conduct and failed to train or supervise its officers. She also asserted state law claims for negligent hiring, supervision, and retention. The district court granted summary judgment to the town, and Mullen appealed.
The court’s reasoning
The court affirmed the district court’s judgment, holding that Mullen failed to establish municipal liability under Section nineteen eighty-three. To succeed, a plaintiff must show that the municipality’s omission manifested deliberate indifference to citizens’ rights, which requires proof that policymakers knew or should have known of a substantial risk of constitutional injury. The court found that prior incidents involving other officers were consensual and did not resemble the alleged sexual assault, so they did not place policymakers on notice of a pattern of sexual assault. Additionally, there was no evidence that the police chief knew of Krammes’ specific misconduct toward Mullen before the officer resigned. Regarding state law claims, the court found that the background check did not reveal a specific propensity for sexual assault, and the town could not be held liable for negligent hiring, supervision, or retention.
What it means going forward
The decision reinforces the high bar for proving municipal liability in sexual assault cases, requiring a specific pattern of similar constitutional violations to establish that policymakers were deliberately indifferent.
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