Fox Rothschild's North Carolina Appellate team, led by Nathan W. Wilson, Morgan McCall Reece, and Matthew Nis Leerberg, secured a landmark pro bono victory before the North Carolina Supreme Court on behalf of a middle school student who was violently assaulted by her teacher.

In its Aug. 14, 2026 decision in K.H. v. Dixon, No. 290A24, the Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling and held that the student's complaint stated a colorable constitutional claim for violating her right to access a sound basic education under Article I, Section 15 and Article IX, Section 2 of the North Carolina Constitution.

The case arose in fall 2022, when Katherine (a pseudonym), a middle school student was assaulted by her teacher with known disciplinary issues. The teacher repeatedly slammed Katherine’s head into the ground while other students yelled for her to stop. Afterwards, the school board’s superintendent initially suspended Katherine for ten days, reversing the suspension only after video of the attack reached local news. But Katherine was still transferred without her consent to an alternative school.

Katherine, brought a claim directly under the North Carolina Constitution asserting that the board’s actions infringed on her constitutional right to a sound basic education. The trial court dismissed the claim, however, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. At that point, Fox’s appellate team took the case pro bono and appealed to the Supreme Court.

In a 6-1 decision, the Supreme Court sided with Katherine, reinstating her case. It held that “[e]ffectively punishing a student when a teacher violently assaults her in the classroom is clearly unreasonable” and constitutes “deliberate indifference” that denies “equal access to a sound basic education.” Because Katherine had no other avenue for vindicating this claim, the Supreme Court held that Katherine could proceed with her claim directly under the State Constitution pursuant to its Corum doctrine.

Connection to Deminski: Building on Fox's Prior Landmark Victory

This is the second time Fox’s Appellate team has brought a case to the Supreme Court on behalf of students denied access to a sound basic education through severe harassment. The first was Deminski v. State Board of Education, 2021-NCSC-58, in which a Fox team led by Matthew Nis Leerberg represented a mother and her three children subjected to months of relentless bullying and sexual harassment at their elementary school. Despite repeated notifications, the school took no action. Fox took the case to the Supreme Court which held that deliberate indifference to severe, ongoing harassment prevents a student from accessing his or her constitutionally guaranteed right to a sound, basic education. Deminski effectively created this area of law, and claims of this nature now known as “Deminski claims.”

In K.H. v. Dixon, the Court applied the Deminski framework to a single, severe incident of teacher-on-student violence followed by an unreasonable institutional response. The court drew on Deminski's core holding that “the right to a sound basic education rings hollow if the structural right exists but in a setting that is so intimidating and threatening to students that they lack a meaningful opportunity to learn.”

Katherine’s case is a powerful reminder that constitutional guarantees must have practical force. As the Supreme Court reaffirmed, the right to a sound basic education demands a learning environment in which students are free from violence and intimidation. With this victory, Fox Rothschild continues to demonstrate its dedication to pro bono advocacy and to ensuring that the right of every North Carolina child to a sound, basic education is more than just words on paper.