## Facts

- Sadonya Costello, a seventh-grade student in Nebraska, had previously received special education services at another school but was not verified as qualifying for special education under state regulations when she later attended Mitchell schools.
- After transferring, she struggled academically.
- Her band teacher allegedly called her “stupid,” “retarded,” and “dumb” in front of classmates, threw a notebook at her on one occasion, and told her she was “too stupid” to participate in band.
- After a meeting involving school officials and Sadonya’s therapist, the teacher allegedly became angry and left; Sadonya was removed from band and reassigned to a different music class taught by the same teacher.
- Sadonya later withdrew from the school and was homeschooled; she experienced depression and received psychological treatment.
- Sadonya and her parents sued the school district, board, and individual school officials and the teacher, asserting federal claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state-law tort claims, including intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED).
- The district court granted summary judgment to all defendants on all claims.

## Issues

1. Whether the alleged teacher conduct and the school’s response could satisfy Nebraska’s elements for IIED, including “extreme and outrageous” conduct and “severe” emotional distress.
2. Whether the alleged conduct and omissions amounted to a substantive due process violation actionable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

## Decision

- The Eighth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for all defendants on all claims.
- On IIED, the court held the alleged conduct was not “extreme and outrageous” as a matter of Nebraska law and the evidence did not show distress sufficiently severe to submit to a jury.
- On the federal claims, the court concluded the alleged verbal abuse and related conduct did not rise to the level of a substantive due process violation.

## Legal Principles

- Nebraska IIED requires: (1) intentional or reckless conduct, (2) conduct so extreme and outrageous as to go beyond all possible bounds of decency and be utterly intolerable in a civilized community, and (3) emotional distress so severe that no reasonable person should be expected to endure it.
- Nebraska’s IIED standard excludes liability for mere insults, indignities, threats, annoyances, or petty oppressions.
- On summary judgment, the court views the record in the light most favorable to the nonmovant but may decide IIED as a matter of law where no reasonable jury could find extreme and outrageous conduct or legally severe distress.
- Substantive due process liability under § 1983 requires conduct sufficiently egregious to “shock the conscience”; verbal abuse and noncustodial school misconduct generally do not meet that threshold absent recognized, extreme circumstances.

## Conclusion

The Eighth Circuit held that a teacher’s alleged repeated insults, a single thrown notebook, and exclusion from band—though inappropriate—did not meet Nebraska’s demanding requirements for IIED and also did not amount to conscience-shocking conduct necessary for a substantive due process claim under § 1983, so summary judgment for the defendants was affirmed.


Costello v. Mitchell Pub. Sch. Dist. 79, 266 F.3d 916 (8th Cir. 2001)