Some Charges In Timothy Norton Case Dismissed

STOUGHTON, MA — Some of the charges in a federal lawsuit against Superintendent Marguerite Rizzi, Stoughton High School Principal Juliette Miller, and the Town of Stoughton have been dismissed, according to court records.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani granted the defendants a partial dismissal of the charges in the Timothy Norton case. The victim identified as Jane Doe, alleges that she had a sexual relationship with Norton while she was a Stoughton High School student and he was a teacher and school officials did nothing to stop it.

Talwani dismissed claims that the victim’s rights under the Massachusetts Civil Rights Acts and Title IX were violated. The victim’s legal representation did not oppose the dismissal of the Civil Rights Act charge and did not disagree with the motion to dismiss the accusation of a Title IX violation.

The dismissals leaves no claims against Rizzi. Miller still faces charges of violating the mandatory reporter statute, anti-bullying statute, and a statute requiring schools to notifying people on their duties as a mandated reporter. The victim also alleges that Miller and the town violated the Massachusetts Fair Educational Practices statute and Miller violated section 1983 of the U.S. code which states that a supervisor can be held liable for a subordinate's behavior if the supervisor’s action or inaction can be described as supervisory encouragement, condonation or acquiescence or gross negligence amounting to deliberate indifference, according to court documents.

The victim alleges that the relationship between her and Norton began during the 2014-15 school year, with the two being questioned by Miller in the fall of 2015. Nether the victim or Norton were disciplined, but the woman claims that Miller interrogated and shamed her for a half hour as part of the investigation.

Following the end of the relationship in September 2017, the victim confided to another Stoughton High School teacher about it. The teacher then brought the information to Miller, who notified Norton that he was going to be served with an "intention to dismiss" notice and the information would be passed to the Stoughton Police Department. Norton resigned a short time afterward.

Neither Norton nor school officials have publicly commented on the allegations. The remaining charges are still pending in U.S. District Court.

Below is the full decision:

Court Decision by DanLibon on Scribd

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