Federal appeals court rules gum-chewing lawsuit against Knoxville school can proceed

It's back to court for the family of a girl who sought to ban gum-chewing from her classes at L&N STEM Academy in Knoxville. A lawsuit filed by Jane Doe and her parents had been languishing in the appeals process since August after a federal judge ruled it was not properly filed.

Now, the appellate court has ruled in the girl's favor, reversing the dismissal of the complaint and sending the suit back to a federal courtroom in Knoxville.

"We're happy," said Justin Gilbert, the family's attorney. "The issue was really about what is the right court. ... We maintained that the U.S. District Court was the right venue for the lawsuit. Now we've won the right to file in district court."

What is the lawsuit all about?

Jane Doe, who was a ninth-grader at L&N STEM Academy when the suit was filed in February, suffers from misophonia, a rare disorder characterized by an extreme reaction to hearing certain sounds such as chewing.

The complaint filed on behalf of Jane Doe alleges Knox County Schools violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. According to Doe's attorneys, the case is believed to be a first-of-its kind involving misophonia.

Sounds as apparently innocuous as chewing or tapping cause extreme anxiety in a person with misophonia. For Jane, that means she cannot function in classrooms where her fellow students are allowed to eat or chew gum.

"The best way I can really describe it is kind of a panic attack," she told Knox News. "It just feels like I'm trapped."

Jane's parents tried, starting in July 2021, to get the school to change its policies so that gum-chewing and eating would be prohibited in Jane's classes. The family said they later discovered the L&N faculty handbook gives teachers the right to set food and gum policies in each classroom.

The lawsuit asks for reasonable accommodation for one student's disability, a ban on eating and chewing gum in her classrooms only. The student and her parents also filed for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, emphasizing this was not a request for a schoolwide ban.

But after a hearing in March, U.S. District Judge Katherine Crytzer sided with the Knox County Board of Education on the jurisdictional issue, which argued Jane Doe needed to exhaust any possible remedy through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act before she could file an ADA complaint in federal court.

What did the appeals court decide?

In an opinion issued Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit agreed with Doe's attorneys that the complaint was properly filed.

Requiring Jane Doe to first exhaust administrative remedies was not appropriate because, the appeals court ruled, that provides relief only to students who need "specially designed instruction." And "because no ordinary English speaker would describe a ban on eating and chewing as 'instruction,'" her parents did not need to go through that process, the opinion stated.

The appellate court declined to issue any opinion on the merits of her case. Judges denied a request for a preliminary inunction and instead sent back the complaint for further proceedings.

What are the next steps?

Jane Doe's parents made the decision at the end of last school year to send her to boarding school. In part, her parents said at the time, they were afraid she would continue to face retaliation if she returned to L&N STEM Academy.

But that doesn't mean there is no reason to continue with the lawsuit, Gilbert said.

"Now it becomes a reimbursement case, since her parents were forced to place her elsewhere," he said. "The original suit goes back to district court, and we can amend the complaint, we will explain the private placement and request reimbursement."

Liz Kellar is a public safety reporter for Knox News. She can be reached by email at lkellar@knoxnews.com. Unlock premium perks and support strong local journalism at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Appeals court rules Knoxville school gum-chewing lawsuit can proceed