Lawyers for a 12-year-old Seven Hills Middle School student are waiting for the Nevada City School District’s response to allegations that a school counselor forced the girl to take a pregnancy test.

Local attorney Troy Vahidi, who is affiliated with the conservative legal group Pacific Justice Institute, filed a lawsuit on behalf of the girl in October, alleging the counselor, Steve Davis, violated her right to privacy and inflicted emotional distress. The school district has denied the original claim, but Vahidi filed an amended complaint Jan. 30.

The suit alleges that in late March 2008, Davis pulled the student, identified only as C.R., out of class because he had heard rumors spread by another student that she was pregnant. C.R. denied she was pregnant and told Davis that false rumors had been spread about her in the past. According to the suit, Davis got a pregnancy test from the nurse’s office and ordered C.R. into a bathroom to give a urine sample.

“Feeling intimidated, coerced, scared and alone,” C.R. allegedly complied; the test was negative.

According to Vahidi, C.R.’s parents had not given their consent for such a test and they were never notified of the incident.

Nevada City School District Superintendent Roger Steel denied the allegations.

“There is no merit to the claim,” he said. “The district has never had pregnancy test kits on the school site.”

The suit is being handled by the school district’s attorney, Carol Wieckowski, who decried the institute’s decision to publicize the case.

“I just hope the resolution of this case gets as much press,” she said. “It’s a difficult situation because there’s a minor involved. We have to protect her rights.”

The issue could have been resolved easily, Vahidi said.

“What we wanted initially was an apology and a promise not to invade the student’s privacy ever again,” he said.

Vahidi said he asked the Pacific Justice Institute — where he clerked as a McGeorge School of Law student — to come on board.

On its Web site, the institute is represented as a “nonprofit legal defense organization specializing in the defense of religious freedom, parental rights and other civil liberties.”

“I know they specialize in these kinds of cases,” Vahidi said. “It’s right up their alley. And as a solo practitioner going up against the school district, you need a little more firepower.”

The attorney said he wanted to take on the case because of the larger issues of parental control and the right to privacy.

“There are lots of issues with schools doing things without parental consent or notification,” he said. “Protecting individual rights and freedoms — this is the kind of case I’ve always wanted to defend.”

Vahidi said he considers himself “on the conservative side,” but denies he took the case solely due to his politics.

“I don’t think people even on the liberal side of the spectrum would want their kids asked about their sex life and being forced to take a pregnancy test,” he said. “Why would the school do this? The only answer is, because they’re trying to act like parents ... it’s a creeping of the state and schools’ authority.”

Vahidi also denied that his decision to involve the Pacific Justice Institute — whose Web site features testimonials from the likes of popular TV and radio commentators Bill O’Reilly and Dr. Laura Schlessinger — was a political one.

“You can say, to be a devil’s advocate, that the only reason you’re taking this case is to make a political point along the lines of parental notification — but it would not be fair to say that,” he said. “Wouldn’t it be nice if this case made people think about these points? That’s certainly a nice residual effect, but ... if there’s an implication I’m using my client to make a larger political point, then no.”

While the district’s stance is that the allegations simply are untrue, Vahidi said it would have been “stupid” for him to take the case if he thought the girl was lying.

“You can’t make up these kinds of details,” he said. “For what benefit? There’s no motivation. This is not about money.”

The father of the girl did not want to comment.

The lawsuit asks for both monetary and punitive damages, but the Vahidi declined to estimate the amount being sought.

“This is not like a car accident case where you add up the damages,” Vahidi said. “You can’t put a number on it. What are my parental rights worth?”

Vahidi seemed prepared to take the case to trial, saying that local residents feel strongly about personal rights and family values.

Both Vahidi and Pacific Justice Institute chief counsel Kevin Snider said they are looking to the discovery phase of the lawsuit for more answers.

“Our client was told to urinate into a depository and the counselor brought out a pregnancy test,” Snider said. “Whether or not the school keeps those things in stock in the nurse’s office or whether he went out on his own to purchase them will be for future discovery to determine.”

Snider suggested, too, that the incident might have been a “sick joke” perpetrated on a “shy and emotionally fragile girl.”

“Either he’s a rogue counselor or this is school policy,” Vahidi said. “That’s the question.”

To contact Staff Writer Liz Kellar, e-mail lkellar@theunion.com or call 477-4229.