A.B. v.

Rhinebeck Central School District & Thomas Mawhinney

On March 18, 2004, the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York
and the Section moved to intervene in A.B. v. Rhinebeck Central School District and Thomas
Mawhinney, a sexual harassment case brought against the Rhinebeck Central School District and
the former high school principal Thomas Mawhinney. The case was filed in the United States
District Court for the Southern District of New York on May 9, 2003, by four current and former
high school students and a school employee. The plaintiffs alleged that the school district and
Mawhinney violated state and federal laws, including Title IX. The United States filed an
intervention brief and complaint-in-intervention alleging that Mawhinney sexually harassed the
four plaintiff students as well as other female high school students during his ten-year tenure as
principal and that the school district violated Title IX by acting with deliberate indifference to
known sexual harassment of these students. The district opposed the United States' intervention,
and the United States filed a reply. On August 25, 2004, the court granted the United States'
intervention motion.

On March 22, 2006, the court approved a consent decree that requires the district to develop and
implement a comprehensive plan that will ensure a discrimination-free educational environment
for all students. The district must retain an expert regarding sexual harassment training and
prevention to assist in developing the comprehensive plan, to evaluate the district's sexual
harassment policies, to conduct a school climate assessment, and to develop a mandatory training
program. The consent decree also requires the district to educate school board members and
employees regarding how to respond to sexual harassment complaints. Lastly, the district must
pay $152,500 to compensate the student victims and to pay their attorney's fees. On December 9,
2009, the parties informed the court that the case could be closed based on the district's
implementation of the consent order.