Oxford to appeal order allowing some school shooting lawsuits to proceed

Detroit — A lawyer for Oxford Community Schools on Thursday signaled plans to appeal a federal judge's ruling that civil claims against an Oxford High School counselor and the dean of students stemming from the 2021 deadly school attack can proceed against them for their alleged actions before the shooting.

The notice of appeal was filed three weeks after U.S. District Court Judge Mark Goldsmith said Shawn Hopkins, a counselor at the school, and Nicholas Ejak, the high school's dean of students, will continue to face "state-created danger claims" made by multiple Oxford families and survivors of the Nov. 30, 2021, attack. That includes claims that Hopkins and Ejak pushed convicted school shooter Ethan Crumbley closer to violent action by threatening in his presence to report his parents to Michigan's Child Protective Services.

Ejak and Hopkins — who were put on leave and later reinstated — met with the teen shooter a few hours before he opened fire inside the school, killing students Hana St. Juliana, 14; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; and Justin Shilling, 17; and wounding six others and a teacher.

The families, in their lawsuits against school officials and the district, allege the meeting "directly subjected (Crumbley) to the shame, fear, humiliation, and embarrassment of having his parents ignore, ridicule, and embarrass him, thus increasing the risk of violence upon his release from the office to the school environment."

"This appeal of the denial of qualified and absolute immunity does not involve disputed facts on this issue, but rather, presents the purely legal question of whether the district court mistakenly held that held that Hopkins and Ejak’s actions violated plaintiffs’ clearly established constitutional rights," Oxford lawyer Timothy Mullins wrote Thursday.

Deborah Gordon, a lawyer who represents Kylie Ossege, an Oxford graduate who survived the shooting, said she was not surprised by the appeal notice.

"Governmental entities have a right to an immediate appeal only as to the issue of their possible 'immunity' from suit," Gordon wrote in an email to The Detroit News. "I think Judge Goldsmith’s opinion was very thoughtful and well-reasoned."

Goldsmith's order last month came in response to 10 lawsuits alleging the district failed to protect students and downplayed the threat Crumbley posed to the school. Oxford students and their families contend in their lawsuits that the district took actions that created or increased the danger that Crumbley presented to students and teachers.

The ruling, which means attorneys can continue to seek more information to try to prove their civil litigation, contrasted with Oakland County Circuit Judge Mary Ellen Brennan's decision in early March to dismiss all Oxford governmental employees and entities from the civil lawsuits related to the shooting. Brennan determined the district and its employees had governmental immunity and could not be sued.

Mullins telegraphed an upcoming appeal in a court filing late last month that also signaled Oxford schools planned to request that civil lawsuits filed against the district be placed on hold while awaiting a decision from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.

"Once defendants file their notice of appeal from the denial of qualified immunity, there should be no future proceedings in this court until the Sixth Circuit decides the qualified immunity issue on appeal," Mullins wrote.

The district is not entitled to have the civil lawsuits put on hold indefinitely, lawyers for victims and their families said in an earlier court filing.

The civil lawsuits are pending along with criminal cases against Crumbley and his parents.

Ethan Crumbley has pleaded guilty to 24 criminal charges in the shooting deaths of the four Oxford High School students and the wounding of six other students and a teacher.

Ethan's parents are charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter each. A three-judge panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in March that there was enough evidence to send the parents to trial.

James and Jennifer Crumbley have appealed the case to the Michigan Supreme Court.

rsnell@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @robertsnellnews