Show:
Vocabulary
Court Case Outcomes
Negligence
Special Case
Damages
100
To be held legally responsible in a court of law is known as being this. Source: Teachers and the Law, 9th Edition Conlon, Fischer, Schimmel, Stellman
What is liable?
100
In this case, a student attending a field trip to a museum was assaulted by a group with no connection to the school while he was away from the teacher. The court found that the teacher was not liable for negligence on the grounds that the museum is an educational facility posing no foreseeable danger, so the teacher does not need to supervise every student every second of the field trip experience. Source: Teachers and the Law, 9th Edition Conlon, Fischer, Schimmel, Stellman
What is the Mancha case?
100
This is a failure to prevent a foreseeable physical or psychological injury. Source: Teachers and the Law, 9th Edition Conlon, Fischer, Schimmel, Stellman
What is negligence?
100
This was brought on in a Maryland case that held two high school counselors liable for failing to attempt to prevent a student's suicide. In the case, the father of a thirteen-year-old student sued when his daughter joined in a mutual suicide pact with another girl and killed herself. The daughter had told many friends that she was going to kill herself, and those friends had reported back to the counselors, but the counselors failed to act when the daughter denied the suicide threat. The court found the counselors liable, stating that there is a duty to attempt to prevent an adolescent's suicide by reasonable means. The concept became known as this. Source: Teachers and the Law, 9th Edition Conlon, Fischer, Schimmel, Stellman
What is duty of care?
100
This is the most common award used to compensate injured parties for their actual losses. It can include medical costs, lost salary, and other provable costs as a result of the defendant's negligence. Source: Teachers and the Law, 9th Edition Conlon, Fischer, Schimmel, Stellman
What is compensatory damages?
200
The degree of care a teacher of good judgement would have used in similar circumstances is this. Source: Teachers and the Law, 9th Edition Conlon, Fischer, Schimmel, Stellman
What is reasonable care?
200
In New York, a student who had a history of aggressive behavior toward a fellow student cause serious injury to the student by pulling out her chair in the cafeteria. The aggressive behavior was known to the administrators. Neither the school board nor the teacher were liable despite it being this. Source: Teachers and the Law, 9th Edition Conlon, Fischer, Schimmel, Stellman
What is a foreseeable danger?
200
Employers can be held liable for this when they hire or retain employees who are known or who have been known to put others at unreasonable risk of harm. Source: Teachers and the Law, 9th Edition Conlon, Fischer, Schimmel, Stellman
What is negligent hiring?
200
For a teacher to be liable for damages, the plaintiff must prove that the teacher's negligence was this of the injuries sustained. Source: Teachers and the Law, 9th Edition Conlon, Fischer, Schimmel, Stellman
What is the proximal cause?
200
This is awarded in cases where the defendants have shown malice, fraud, or reckless disregard for an injured party's safety or constitutional rights. It is used to punish the defendants for their wrongful actions and deter similar actions in the future. Source: Teachers and the Law, 9th Edition Conlon, Fischer, Schimmel, Stellman
What is punitive damages?
300
Under this, the government cannot be sued for money damages without consent. Source: Teachers and the Law, 9th Edition Conlon, Fischer, Schimmel, Stellman
What is sovereign immunity?
300
In a case where a student was diagnosed as mentally retarded and placed in a segregated classroom, the foster mother sued the school for negligently misplacing her daughter. The Montana Supreme Court agreed. Under the Montana State Constitution, the school has a duty of care to test and place special needs students. The school was held liable for this. Source: Teachers and the Law, 9th Edition Conlon, Fischer, Schimmel, Stellman
What is educational malpractice?
300
When the plaintiff's own negligence was, at least in part, the cause of the injury sustained, courts look at this. Source: Teachers and the Law, 9th Edition Conlon, Fischer, Schimmel, Stellman
What is comparative/contributory negligence?
300
Under Section 1983, plaintiffs are entitled to recover their attorneys' fees in successful civil rights lawsuits; however, in cases where only nominal damages were awarded, the plaintiffs are still this. Source: Teachers and the Law, 9th Edition Conlon, Fischer, Schimmel, Stellman
What is prevailing parties?
300
This is a small, symbolic award where the plaintiff has been wronged but has not been able to show actual damages. Source: Teachers and the Law, 9th Edition Conlon, Fischer, Schimmel, Stellman
What is nominal damages?
400
Under this, school districts are viewed as persons and cane be liable for violating a student's or teacher's constitutional rights. Source: Teachers and the Law, 9th Edition Conlon, Fischer, Schimmel, Stellman
What is Section 1983?
400
In a Louisiana case, a teacher pretended to hang his kindergarten student's friends. The court found him liable for emotional damages and the school had to pay the parents $117,658 in damages to cover the costs of psychotherapy for this. Source: Teachers and the Law, 9th Edition Conlon, Fischer, Schimmel, Stellman
What is mental anguish and suffering?
400
In Pennsylvania in 2012, teachers were not allowed to invoke immunity under this when they repeatedly placed a disabled female student next to a known sexually proprietorial classmate and the girl- ended up getting assaulted numerous times. Source: Teachers and the Law, 9th Edition Conlon, Fischer, Schimmel, Stellman
What is Coverdell Act?
400
In a New York case, the court ruled that neither a teacher's aide nor the school district was liable when a sixth grade student was injured because a classmate pulled his chair out from under him as he went to sit down. The court explained that the injury was not the cause of negligence, but rather the cause of this. Source: Teachers and the Law, 9th Edition Conlon, Fischer, Schimmel, Stellman
What is an unforeseeable prank?
400
If this is practiced, reporters of suspected child abuse are protected from liability from their reports by being granted civil or criminal immunity. Source: Teachers and the Law, 9th Edition Conlon, Fischer, Schimmel, Stellman
What is the good faith standard?
500
A common-law theory that holds that the state and those who work for the state cannot be sued without their consent and should not be held liable for negligence of their employees. Source: Teachers and the Law, 9th Edition Conlon, Fischer, Schimmel, Stellman
What is governmental immunity?
500
In a Maryland case, parents sued a school for educational malpractice for intentionally and maliciously injuring their child by giving false information about the student's learning disability, altering school records to cover up their actions, and demeaning the child. The district was relieved of liability, but the teachers were not due to this. Source: Teachers and the Law, 9th Edition Conlon, Fischer, Schimmel, Stellman
What is the willful misconduct?
500
In New York, a student was critically injured when he jumped for a basketball and bumped heads with another student. His father sued the school for failure to supervise the game properly. The court ruled in favor of the school because, even though failure to supervise constituted negligence, that negligence was not this. Source: Teachers and the Law, 9th Edition Conlon, Fischer, Schimmel, Stellman
What is the proximal cause?
500
The No Child Left Behind Act contains a provision known as the Paul D Coverdell Teacher Protection Act that immunizes teachers from liability who were acting within the scope of the teacher's responsibilities to the school. In 2009, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that the new law would not protect a teacher whose physical contact with a student was this. Source: Teachers and the Law, 9th Edition Conlon, Fischer, Schimmel, Stellman
What is excessive or unreasonable?
500
If proved, this can cause the court to award punitive damages because it hinders the plaintiff's ability to present him/herself professionally and is brought on by slander. Source: Teachers and the Law, 9th Edition Conlon, Fischer, Schimmel, Stellman
What is impairment of reputation?