Liability 1
This term refers to the circumstances regarding the degree of care by a teacher, such as in the case Gibbons v. Orleans Parish School Board (1980) where a young girl was injured on playground equipment and the school board was found to be negligent because there was only one aid on the playground with too many students and the equipment was unsafe.
Reasonable Care
Proximate cause
These type of damages are symbolic because the plaintiff is unable to show damages.
Nominal damages
This term refers to teaching practices that harm the student, such as in the case B.M. v. State of Montana (1982) where a student with special education needs was negligently placed in a segregated classroom.
Educational malpractice
Plaintiffs, which are known as this term, are allowed attorney's fees if they are successful in the case.
Prevailing party
This term was used in the case Hunter v. Board of Education of Montgomery County (1982) when a students’ records were intentionally and incorrectly altered to cover up the fact that the school had lied about a student’s disability and degraded the student.
This term refers to when school officials hire or keep an employee that they know is potentially harmful to the students, such as in the case School Board of Orange County v. Coffey (1988) where a teacher sexually assaulted a student, and the school board and superintendent were found to be negligent for keeping that teacher employed.
Negligent hiring
In the case Miles v. School District No. 138 of Cheyenne County (1979) where a 17-year-old student lost two fingers after improperly using power tools, the teacher was not found to be negligent because the student had been taught how to safely use the tool and had demonstrated to the teacher how to properly use it, and this term was refers to the student being responsible for her injury.
Contributory negligence
This is a theory that protects the government from being sued without its consent and protects it from being liable for employee's negligence; however, this term cannot be used by teachers as a defense for negligence.
Governmental immunity
This refers to a part of the 1871 Civil Rights Act, and the US Supreme Court case Monell v. Department of Social Services of the City of New York ruled that school districts can liable for violating the constitutional rights of teachers and students.
Section 1983
This refers to harm to a person's character or standing in the community.
In the case Spears v. Jefferson Parish School Board (1994), a PE teacher pretended to 'hang' a kindergarten student's friends. This term refers to the pain that this incident caused the student and the reason that the school board was required to pay the parents damages equal to the cost of mental health treatment for this child.
Mental anguish and suffering
In a 1982 Supreme Court case, this term was used to a guideline for protecting public officials from liability as long as they do not violate a person's reasonably known statutory or constitutional rights.
Good faith standard
Being responsible for an incident due to action or inaction
Liable
This term refers to the 'sharing' of responsibility for an incident, such as in the case Rollins v. Concordia Parish School Board (1985) where a 9-year-old girl jumped of off a merry-go-round and broke her leg; the student and the school board were found to be equally responsible for her injury.
This refers to when the damages awarded are above the actually damages because the intention is to deter that type of action in the future.
Punitive damages
Compensatory damages
This term refers to intentionally acting with malice.
Willful conduct
This protects the government from being sued, without its consent, for monetary damages.
Sovereign immunity