General Terms
The term for the doctrine that the sovereign government cannot commit a legal wrong and is immune from civil suit or criminal prosecution.
What is Sovereign Immunity?
For a person individually to be immune to suit, they must be acting as an arm of the government.
feelings of distress, anxiety, depression, grief and/or physical symptoms suffered by a plaintiff that is separate from physical pain from an injury caused by a defendant's negligence
What is mental anguish and suffering
A teacher of eight grade student Margaret Sheehan was sued for being negligent and leaving students unsupervised at an athletic field. Shortly after the teacher left, a group of boys playing baseball on the field began throwing pebbles at the female students. Although the girls pleaded and asked the boys to stop, they did not. Margaret Sheehan was injured after she was struck in the eye with one of the pebbles. Her parents decided to sue the school and claimed that since the teacher left the children unsupervised, she was responsible for the incident.
Sheehan v. St. Peter’s Catholic School (1971)
Why would the teacher be held liable for this incident?
What is failing to show reasonable care?
is the degree of care a teacher of ordinary prudence would have under like circumstances. The Circumstances considered would include the maturity and experiences of the students, and the extent of danger involved.
In this court, a Louisiana physical education teacher played a trick on a kindergarten student stating that he hanged his two kindergarten peers in his class and they pretended to be dead. After this incident the plaintiff developed a wide range of psychological issues that medical experts said were the result of the incident. What type of emotional damage would the school district be liable for?
Spears v. Jefferson Parish School Board (1994)
What is mental anguish and suffering?
The school was responsible for the emotional injuries that the student suffered as a consequence of the incident described in this court case. The school district had to pay the parents of the plaintiff $117, 658 in damages to cover the emotional distress of the child.
Term for the law that requires teachers to perform as reasonable persons, and when a teacher's actions are not aligned with the standard of care. This states that the teacher may be responsible for the resulting injury.
What is Liable?
Plaintiff's that are entitled and receive attorney's' fee because they have successfully proven their stance on a significant issue within their case
What is the Prevailing Party?
Small symbolic award that is given to the plantiff when they have been wronged but could not prove actual damages
What is Nominal Damage(s)?
Father of thirteen-year-old student sued the counselors at a school in Maryland for not exercising the proper concern and doing all that they could do to prevent his daughter’s suicide. The parent said that his daughter told several friends that she intended to kill herself and the friends had told the two counselors. The counselors questioned the girl but after she denied the allegation, the counselors didn’t investigate further. They did not get a hold of the parents.
Eisel v. Board of Education (1991)
Why would the school be held liable in this court case?
What is duty of care?
Teaching staff owe a duty to take reasonable care for the safety and welfare of students whilst students are involved in school activities
In this court case, a teacher working under a school district was sexually assaulted by a student and sued the school for negligence and damages for her injuries. Can this school be held liable for Simpon's injuries or would she get awards from the state? Simpson v. State (1999)
What is worker's compensation by the sate?
More often than not when a teacher's suffer injuries in the course of their employment will generally be awarded under state laws that provide protection for all state employees. Therefore, the school is not held liable and does not have to pay damagesIf you report child abuse as an educator, what protections do you have to make sure there are no liability in reports that are made with good intent and without malice?
What is civil or criminal immunity?
The age that individuals cannot be legally incapable of contributory negligence
What is seven years old or younger?
When the defendant ridicules, embarrasses or display a plaintiff in a negative light most commonly in a public place
What is Personal Humuliation?
In this court case, Peggy Strickland and Virgnia Crain, sophmores at Mena Public High School in Mena, Arkansas, heard about a school meeting that had both students and teachers in attendance. They decided to put alcohol in the punch at the meeting. Ten days after the incident a teacher (Powell) heard of the prank and confronted the students. The girls confessed since they thought that the teacher would be in charge of their punishment. However, she forced them to tell the principle and the girls were suspended for two weeks. The parents sued the members of the school board, administrators and school district for the damages resulting from their suspicion, which they claimed violated the right of due process.
Wood v. Strickland 1975
Why were the school officials held liable in this case?
What is they didn't qualify for Governmental Immunity?
The U.S. Supreme court rules that school officials could not rely upon qualified immunity when they knew or should have known that their actions as official employees of the school district would violate the constitutional rights of the students. School officials can't be protected if they purposefully deprive students of their rights.
In this court case seventeen-year-old high school student named Jodeen Miles was working on a senior project in her school's woodshop. In the shop she attempted to take some wood out of the machinery even though that is not in accordance to the safety policies of the workshop. She lost two of her fingers and sued her instructor for negligence. Although her teacher was not there to supervise when this happened, he claimed to have completed a safety demonstration and had assigned the safety manual prior to the date when she operated the machinery. Given this information, why wasn't the teacher held liable for contributory negligence in this case?
Miles v. School District No. 138 of Cheyenne County
What is proximate cause?
The court found that the student's lack of safety was solely responsible for her injuries and that she did not act reasonably for her age/maturity. Her instructor's lack of supervision wasn't found to contribute to her physical injuries since he gave her the safety material and education beforehand.
Can you be held liable as an educator for not providing supervision to students outside of school hours?
Yes, in the case that a teacher assigns a homework assignment or extra curricular activity where a student must engage in potentially dangerous activities in order to complete the assignment.
the legal standard that states that public officials are protected from liability regarding civil damages as long as their conduct does not violate established stature or constitutional rights that would be known by the average person
What is good faith standard?
The most common award that is given during a court case dealing with teacher liability. It is given to an injured individual to cover their actual losses including medical expenses, salary loss and other costs that increased due to the defendant's negligence
Compensatory Damages
The plaintiff of this court case entered kindergarten in New York City school and shortly after was reccomended that he be put in a class for Children with Retarded Mental Development. Although he had great speech problems however he was in the 90 percent tile for reading readiness. After, he no longer was qualified to be in special education courses he was not allowed to be enrolled in school. He then sued the school board for being negligent and assessing his learning ability incorrectly. What legal accusation is the plaintiff making against the school board?
What is Educational Malpractice?
This is the legal action that alleges that schools should be held liable for negligent teaching that impairs a student intellectually or psychologically
A high school student was sexually assaulted by a teacher under the school district board of orange county. The mom of this student sued the school board and superintendent for being negligent for a the retention of the teacher who sexually assaulted the plaintiff's daughter. What is the legal issue that the school district would be held liable for in this case?
School Board of Orange County v. Coffey (1988)
What is Negligent Hiring?
The school board and superintendent in this case did not adhere to their legal duty to protect others from an injury that was foreseeable. In this case the teacher was found to have willful conduct that was foreseeable by the school and could have been prevented by the retention of this employee.
Can an eductor be held liable if a student injures another student or a teacher if they suspect or know that the event could take place?
Yes, a teacher has a duty of care to prevent an injury that might occur when they suspect, hear or know that a student or teacher will harm others. They can be held liable if they did not act reasonably given the specific case.
A common law theory claiming that state's employers are liable to employees or third persons when they employ workers whom they know or should have reasonably known to be unfit or a harm to others
What is negligent hiring?
term for the damages rewarded where defendants have shown malice, fraud, or reckless behavior that jeopardized a person's safety or constitutional rights.
What is Punitive Damages?
In this court case a nine-year-old girl broke her leg jumping off a piece of recess equipment (merry-go-round). The court compared the negligence of the child to the negligence of the school board. In this court case the court found the student to be negligent and the school board negligent for lack of supervision of the playground at that time. What legal term describes the outcome of this court case?
Rollins v. Concordia Parish School Board (1985)
What is comparative negligence?
This permits the plaintiff and defendants of the case to compare their liability for the accident. This allows an estimated recovery if both parties were somewhat responsible for the injury of the plaintiff.
In this case, custody of Joshua Deshaney to his father Randy DeShaney after a police report of child abuse was filed after a hospital visit earlier that year. On the recommendation of a team of professionals working in social services the case was dropped and he wad given back to his father. The boy passed away from injuries from his abusive father. There was no action taken to remove the boy from his home even after the social worker suspected that there was child abuse occurring in that home. According to Section 1983, why was government agency not liable for negligence regarding their actions in this case? (2 reasons)
Deshaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services (1989)
What is governmental immunity and Section 1983 was not violated?
The court claimed that the government's failure to protect this child from abuse by a custodial parent does not go against the child's right to liberty under the 14th amendment which is protected under Section 1983
In states where the governmental immunity is legal, can students sue individual teachers for negligence?
Yes. Even if the state has a law granting a teacher with governmental immunity, this immunity can protect school districts from negligent suits whereas an individual educator or school employee can be sued by a plaintiff. They can also be personally liable for damages due to their proven negligence.