Running Head: LEGAL CASE ANALYSIS

Legal Case Analysis

Tanya Pardungkiattisak

University of St. Francis

21st Century Educational Leadership

EEND 680Z

Lea Sloan

November 26, 2017

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Requa vs. Kent School District No. 415

Social media has an ever-growing presence in todays culture. Social media sites have

become the main way of communication between people in society. Facebook, Google+,

Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube are just a few of the social media companies that have

capitalized on the need to communicate with one another. The presence of social media has

made its way into education. Schools and teachers have begun harnessing social media in

different ways and students have been found using social media inside and outside the classroom.

The increase in the use of social media has caused some controversy. The misuse of social

media has resulted in some legal cases between students and the school districts. The area

between First Amendment rights and the schools rights can be quite grey. In this analysis, the

legal case presented is a high school senior student versus the school district over a suspension

following something that was posted on a social media site. The issue addresses what

jurisdiction a school has over videos that are posted online by a student. The analysis will

include an overview of the legal case, the court findings, what could have been handled

differently, and insights on how to fine tune user agreements or district policies.
Gregory Requa was a senior at Kentridge High School when he was suspended by the

Kent School district. Like most students, Gregory, or Greg, had a Youtube account that he

regularly posted to. When he was a junior he posted a video compilation of a teacher that had

been originally taken on at least two different days. The video was edited to include music, text,

and graphics and was posted to Youtube.com. From the court legal documents, the completed

product includes commentary on the teacher's hygiene and organization habits, and also features

footage of a student standing behind the teacher making faces, putting two fingers up at the back

of her head and making pelvic thrusts in her general direction. (Leagle, 2007). The video also

showed several close ups of the teachers buttocks with accompanying text commenting on her
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buttocks. The video was posted in 2006 on the students MySpace page but was not discovered

until 2007 when a reporter found the video and it was aired on television as part of a segment on

student Youtube videos. The news coverage played the video compilation and asked the school

for comment. The video was taken down immediately from the students MySpace page. This

launched an investigation as to the source of the video where it was discovered that two students

took the video, one of them being Requa, and that he posted it to his MySpace page. As a result,

the school issued a 40-day suspension, with with 20 days "held in abeyance" if he completed a

research paper while on suspension (Leagle, 2007). As the plaintiff, Greg sued the school

district for violating his First Amendment rights and his right to due process by law. The case

became known as Requa v. Kent School District No. 415.

The court upheld the school districts decision to give the suspension. There were several

reasons the court argued that the school had a right to suspend the student. The first was that

they believed he was more involved than he claimed due to other student allegations that he told

them he had edited and posted the video. The second reason was that the intention behind the

video was to embarrass and humiliate the teacher. The student argued that he was trying to take

the video for hygiene purposes but the court felt that the nature of the video accompanied by the

graphics, music, and text was meant to be offensive to the teacher. The third argument was that

the video was considered under the districts definition of sexual harassment because the video

focused on her buttocks and was deemed a personal, intimate part of the body. Moreover the

pelvic thrusts and the fact that the video was of the teacher bending over with close-ups on the

buttocks made it a definite case of sexual harassment. The edited video was found to constitute

activity or conduct of a sexual nature that creates an intimidating, hostile, and offensive work

environment for any teacher who might be subjected to such conduct by students made without

their knowledge (Leagle, 2007). The court also argued that the district student handbook has a
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policy that strictly states students are not allowed to use personal electronic devices at school.

Last but not least, the findings of the court concluded that although the video was edited off-

campus, the video footage was on-campus therefore under the jurisdiction of the school. The

court concluded that the suspension was appropriate and aligned to the district standards as a

result of this misconduct and misuse of social media.

There are several things that could have been done or could have been handled differently

to avoid this situation. In my own professional opinion, I agree with the findings of the court. I

think that because the video was taken without the consent of the teacher, posted without her

consent, and the fact that the video was taken on school property, the school had every right to

take action and give disciplinary consequences. I do believe that the suspension could be

handled differently. I think that the work that he should be doing should be productive and

address the misconduct that the student committed. The suspension should be used to have the

student contribute to the issue of digital citizenship and the effects on his digital footprint. The

misconduct should be addressed through the days the student received the suspension. Having

the student design a digital boot camp or instructional sequence for his peers would be beneficial

to all parties. The other thing that I would have handled differently is investigating more with

the other students involved who may have reposted this video or helped take the video to begin

with. These students also participated in the misconduct by allowing the video to be reposted on

their social media accounts. Moreover I would have handled it differently if I was the plaintiff.

There is a misunderstanding about First Amendment rights when the teacher who was recorded

without her knowing clearly experienced a violation of her rights. I believe it went wrong in

several different ways. Students did not realize the implications it would have by reposting or

posting this video on their social media. There is a clear lack of education or knowledge about

the school policies or legal issues involving social media. According to the National Association
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of Secondary School Principals, As with any other behavior, when schools teach and set

expectations for appropriate technology use, students rise to meet the expectations (NASSP,

2017). There needs to be more opportunities for students to participate and help build the misuse

of technology policies in order for students to truly understand the implications. I believe that

this case will help set a precedent for all other interactions on social media students in the Kent

District might be involved in.

This case also gives insights into how to fine tune user agreements and other district

policies. Students need to be involved in the process of developing or contributing to district

policies so that they clearly understand that any video footage taken on school property of others

without their knowledge is a clear violation of their rights and that the school has every right to

enforce the school policies. The district policies and user agreements should emphasize the use

of personal devices and school-issued devices. Due to the fact that the school policy clearly

outlawed the use of personal devices during the school day made the court side with the districts

standards. The district policies and user agreements need to be very clear so that students,

parents, and teachers understand the implications of their actions. Anything that is vague or

unclear will result in confusion and possibly more legal cases involving misuse of social media.
Social media can be a powerful tool that can create opportunity for learning and growth.

However, the misuse of social media in schools can have severe consequences. In the case of

Requa v. Kent School District No. 415, it is clear that there was misuse of technology and that

there were consequences for both parties involved. A teacher was unaware that videos were

being taken of her and the student was unaware that creating this video and posting it would

result in misconduct. After looking at the background of the case, the court findings, analyzing

what could have been done differently, and gathering insights into how to fine tune user

agreements and other district policies, it is clear that school districts and students want to avoid
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misuse of technology. This case is one of many involving social media. Some of the issues

addressed in this lawsuit could have been avoided. Parents and schools need to be aware of what

students are doing on their social media. Schools need to address issues regarding social media

through a clearly defined social media policies and user agreements. Due to the fact that the post

caused a clear disruption in the school day and function of the school, it is clear that there was

misconduct. When it comes to schools being involved in student social media, it is clear that

there are clarity and communication are key.

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References
Decisions, B., F.Supp.2d, 4., United States District Court, a., & United States District Court, a.

(2017). REQUA v. KENT SCHOOL DIST | 492 F.Supp.2d 1272 (2007) | 2d127211648 |

Leagle.com. Leagle. Retrieved 24 November 2017, from

https://www.leagle.com/decision/20071764492fsupp2d127211648

Using Mobile and Social Technologies in Schools | NASSP. (2017). Nassp.org. Retrieved 24

November 2017, from https://www.nassp.org/who-we-are/board-of-directors/position-

statements/using-mobile-and-social-technologies-in-schools?SSO=true