Judge dismisses four defendants but allows Title IX lawsuit against Mason schools to proceed

GRAND RAPIDS — A federal judge dismissed four defendants from a complaint stemming from a sexual assault at Mason Public Schools but allowed the lawsuit to continue against the school district.

The dismissed defendants include Mason High School Principal Lance Delbridge and Assistant Principal Nicholas Toodzio, along with the parents of the boy whom the district expelled for a school year following an investigation but later reinstated.

Brandon Wolfe, the attorney who sued the district on behalf of the girl and her family, saw positives for his clients and his case in the judge's ruling.

"I think it's a big win for the Plaintiff all the way around given the high bar to bring claims against the government," he wrote in an email, adding that while the judge dismissed the boy's parents from his federal lawsuit he intends to sue them in state court.

The district had argued that the federal lawsuit should be dismissed because the district is shielded by governmental immunity and that after the boy's reinstatement it took "all possible steps to ensure (the girl) would not face further sexual harassment."

The State Journal is not identifying the girl because she reported a sexual assault and is a minor, and is not naming the boy because he's a juvenile and has not been charged with a crime.

Messages were left seeking comment from an attorney and spokesperson for the district, as well as Mike Nichols, an attorney who represents the boy's parents.

On Friday, after the State Journal published this story, the boy's mother, Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum, released a statement to the newspaper.

"From the beginning, this lawsuit was frivolous, false and utterly irresponsible," Byrum wrote. "The salacious allegations against my integrity in this suit were designed to embarrass my family and were a blatant attempt to shake me down because I am a public figure."

She added that while she was happy with the judge's ruling, the lawsuit has taken a toll on her and her family.

"I have stayed silent on this matter, in an effort to allow the legal system to play out, knowing that this case was so detached from reality that it would never stand up to judicial scrutiny," she wrote.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker issued his ruling on several motions. He dismissed Delbridge, Toodzio and Byrum and her husband, but denied the district's request for it to be dismissed. He also denied a motion by the boy's parents to award them attorney fees.

Wolfe filed the lawsuit in February in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids. The filing claimed that the boy sexually assaulted the girl while they were in a class in May 2022. The girl reported the incident, which prompted a criminal investigation by police and a Title IX investigation by school officials.

More: Mason schools reinstated student expelled after sexual assault, prompting federal lawsuit

The district expelled the boy for the 2022-23 school year following its investigation but later reinstated him for the next school year following a petition from his parents to the school board, which is allowed under the law.

Former Mason Police Chief Mark Wriggelsworth previously declined to comment on anything related to the investigation, citing the involvement of juveniles and a local school. It's not clear whether a prosecutor reviewed the investigation.

By reinstating the boy, Wolfe wrote in his filings, the district acted with "complete indifference" to the girl's educational experience and environment, and "acted with deliberate indifference to known acts of sexual misconduct."

Contact reporter Matt Mencarini at 517-377-1026 or mjmencarini@lsj.com. Contact Sarah Atwood at satwood@lsj.com, or follow her on X @sarahmatwood.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Title IX lawsuit against Mason schools can proceed, judge rules