Cape Gazette
NEWS
TUESDAY, JULY 27 - THURSDAY, JULY 29, 2010 5
Claims dismissed in suit against school district
Family may refile
distress, due process
allegations
By Rob Kunzig
rkunzig@capegazette.com
A federal judge has dismissed
three claims in a lawsuit against
Cape Henlopen school board of-
ficials and a teacher filed by a
2009 Cape graduate and his par-
ents.
Attorneys for Cape teacher
Amanda Jester sought to strike
down the claim that she inten-
tionally inflicted emotional dis-
tress upon Roger "Dayne" Woo-
leyhan Jr. during an October
2008 incident. Then a Cape sen-
ior, Wooleyhan allegedly el-
bowed Jester in the chest as she
separated him and his girlfriend
in the hallway. The incident led
to his arrest and suspension."
Jester's attorneys also sought to
dismiss claims that the teacher
abused Wooleyhan's due process
fights.
Jester's attorneys argued that
the Wooleyhans' claims of inten-
tional infliction of emotional dis-
tress were insufficiently detailed.
Though the claim seems to
merely recite the Delaware emo-
tional distress standard, U.S. Dis-
trict Court Judge Michael Bayl-
son wrote in the June 28 memo,
earlier paragraphs describe
Jester's alleged conduct.
't this early stage in the pro-
ceedings, prior to discovery, this
court will not dismiss Wootey-
hans' emotional distress claim
for failure to sufficiently plead
emotional distress," he wrote.
Baylson found flaws in two
other emotional distress claims,
dismissing both. The Wooley-
hans allege that ]ester physically
separated the students, Baylson
wrote, and falsely accused Roger
Jr. of elbowing her; these are the
same facts used to claim that
Jester defamed Roger Jr. Citing a
Supreme Court decision, Bayl-
son wrote that emotional dis-
tress claims cannot be based on
facts that also relate to a defama-
tion claim. He dismissed the
claim without prejudice, allow-
ing Roger Jr. to amend and resub-
mit. The iudge dismissed the
third-party emotional distress
claim of Roger Jr.'s parents,
Roger and Elizabeth.
Baylson wrote their claim
failed to meet the emotional dis-
tress standards set by Delaware
law: they were not present at the
incident, and they did not claim
that Jester's actions violated their
parental rights. The claim was
dismissed with prejudice, mean-
ing Roger and Elizabeth cannot
re file.
Ah abuse of process claim was
dismissed without prejudice.
Baylson wrote the Wooleyhans
only allege Jester abused the
0tt faces more
By Henry J. Evans Jr.
hevans@capegazette.com
Thomas A. Ott, accused of sex-
ually assaulting a child younger
than 16 years old, faces 45 new
charges in addition to 53 charges
returned by a grand jury last
month.
Ott's attorney, Robert H.
Robinson Jr., a public defender
assigned to the case, entered a
not guilty plea at a Superior
Rehoboth
Continued from page 4
to have a dated and numbered
sticker, in an effort to provide an
easy opportunity to see which
signs are legal.
Originally, the stickers would
go on general business signs and
on real estate signs.
Building inspector Terri Sulli-
van said, "Right now, I have no
idea what signs are permitted be-
cause there is no way of know-
ing." However, at a July 16 public
hearing, the commissioners
amended the ordinance to not
require real estate signs to have
stickers after Realtors raised ob-
jections.
Bob Reed of RE/MAX Realty
said, "What you are talking about
is essentially a tax on real estate
'For Sale' signs. I think it's a lot
like piling on to add another tax
just to put up a sign to sell or rent
a property."
charges in child
Court arraignment in George-
town, Thursday, July 22.
Ott appeared before Commis-
sioner Alicia Howard by video
link from the infirmary in the
James T. Vaughn Correctional
Center in Smyrna.
New charges against Ott in-
clude 33 counts of first-degree
unlawful sexual contact, two
counts of third-degree unlawful,
sexual contact eight counts of
second-degree unlawful sexual
ordinance would address con-
cerns over sign enforcement
raised by building and licensing.
"I see it as an unrealistic venue
at this point for building and li-
censing to police this," she said.
Mayor Sam Cooper said the
subject of real estate signs is its
own separate discussion that the
commissioners aRd the Realtors
should take up in the future.
sex abuse case
contact, one count of offensive
touching and one count of en-
dangering the welfare of a child.
Based on the new charges,
Howard increased Ott's bond by
$178,550 in addition to the
$250,000 cash bond on which he
is being held.
Howard scheduled Ott to ap-
pear for a pretrial hearing at 9
a.m., Monday, Aug. 9, in Superior
Continued on page 9
"I believe that the Realtors
have cooperated to a certain lev-
el. But I think if we are going to
take on the real estate signs, and I
think there are some inconsis-
tencies in the code, I think there
are some things that are not be-
ing enforced that could be en-
forced. But I think that really
needs to be a discussion all on its
own," he said.
"the fuzzy side
goesup"
Realtor Camilla Conlon said, "I
think we've worked with the city
in good faith. To bring us into
this sticker system will be logisti-
cally oppressive."
Commissioner Kathy McGui-
ness moved to amend the section
requiring stickers on real estate
signs, but said the revised sign
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process with an underlying ulte-
rior motive, resulting in damage
to all plaintiffs.
"Such a brief conclusory alle-
gation that Jester's actions con-
stituted abuse of process, with-
out any supporting allegations in
the complaint suggesting that
Jester committed any act or
threat not authorized by the
process fails to sufficiently plead
a claim of abuse of process," he
wrote, adding the Wooleyhans
may amend the claim to establish
an ulterior motive.
The suit, fried Feb. 23, in U.S.
District Court in Wilmington,
names 10 other defendants, in-
eluding Superintendent George
Stone, Principal John Yore, Assis-
tant Principal Dianne Mrazeck,
teachers Lisa Coverdale and John
Walsh, Student Resource Officer
William Matt, Student Services
Coordinator Robert Maull and
the Delaware State Police. Roger
Jr. was cleared of all charges Feb.
3, 200% in Justice of the Peace
Court No. 2 in Lewes. Seven
counts remain, including mali-
cious prosecution, unlawful de-
tention and defamation. The
case is scheduled to go to trial
April 1, 2on.
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