Court allows lawsuit to proceed to trial after district discloses student’s sexual orientation

A 16-year-old student who played on the softball team alleged that two coaches led her into an empty locker room after a game, locked the door, and questioned her about her relationship with an 18-year-old female. They also accused her of spreading rumors that the 18-year-old was the ex-girlfriend of one of the coaches. The student alleged that the coaches yelled at her, called her a liar, threatened to sue her for slander, and told her that she could not play on the softball team until they spoke with her mother. The student admitted that she and the older girl were having a sexual relationship, even though at that time, they had arranged a date but were not yet “dating.” Shortly after this incident, the coaches met with the student’s mother and revealed the student’s sexual orientation to her by telling her that the student was dating a girl whom the coaches described as her “girlfriend.” Prior to that time, the mother did not know that her daughter was homosexual.

The mother filed a lawsuit against the district, alleging that the coaches violated her daughter’s right to keep her sexual orientation private by disclosing her sexual orientation to her mother. The district responded by claiming that the reason the coaches spoke with the mother was to inform her that her daughter was in a potentially inappropriate, and possibly illegal, relationship with an adult. The school district filed a motion to dismiss the case without a trial, but the district court denied the request. In doing so, the court found that the student had a reasonable expectation of privacy in her sexual orientation and that the school district did not have a legitimate interest in disclosing the student’s sexual orientation to her mother. The case was allowed to proceed to trial.