A federal jury on Friday afternoon ruled against the mother of a five-year-old who sued the Hamilton County Schools, saying that her daughter with herpes was "strip searched" by a school nurse without her knowledge.
In the lawsuit brought by Brandy Madden, the jury did not find that there was an unconstitutional search of her daughter in violation of the 4th Amendment.
The panel, which had deliberated a short time on Thursday, then much of Friday, announced it had a unanimous verdict. But when the jury was polled, two female members said they did not agree with it.
Judge Curtis Collier asked them to return to the jury room to continue talks to see if they could reach a unanimous verdict.
After they went back out, Judge Collier told attorneys what had just happened was "a rarity. Ordinarily we never see that."
The jury returned a few minutes later and all 12 said they supported the verdict.
The jurors had heard four days of testimony, including from the mother, school personnel and doctors.
The suit asked unspecified compensatory damages for "great emotional distress and suffering, humiliation and embarrassment, and for all medical expenses past and future."
The suit said the child was five years old when she attended Apison Elementary School.
The mother on Aug. 16, 2012, gave written notice to the school that her daughter had congenital herpes simplex and indicated how to treat it.
The suit said the school never contacted the mother about the issue until Nov. 12, 2012, when the mother was called and told that it was urgent that she leave work and pick up her child from school because "she was contagious."
The school asked that before the child return to school she have a written statement from a doctor saying she was not contagious. The complaint says, the next day, a letter was given to the school from Dr. Janara Huff, a specialist in pediatric infectious disease, saying that the child's lesions were not contagious when covered. The mother asked that her daughter be allowed to return to school.
The complaint said the principal said the mother would have to speak to Sheryl Rogers, a nurse with the School Health Program Office of the county schools, because the child could not return to school despite the letter. Ms. Rogers told the mother the child could not return to school.
The suit said Ms. Madden then asked Sonya Neal, Apison school nurse, how the school became aware that her daughter had a lesion. The suit said Ms. Neal stated that, acting under the direction of Ms. Rogers, she "had been removing all of the minor plaintiff's clothes on a daily basis for several weeks, looking at all areas of the minor plaintiff's body, including her genitals."
The complaint said the mother was "shocked, upset and hurt to learn these facts."
It said, "Neither Sonya Neal, Sheryl Rogers, nor anyone with HCDE or Apison Elementary obtained adult plaintiff's consent to remove all of the minor plaintiff's clothes and inspect the minor plaintiff's body."
The suit said the search was unnecessary because the mother "had been taking care of the child for five years and knew how to treat any outbreaks without spreading the disease."
It said, as a result of the issue with the school, the mother had to take time off from work and ultimately lost her job.
The complaint stated, "National and state nursing guidelines restrict medical examinations of students, and prohibit a genital examination of a student absent parental consent or a medical emergency."