The Supreme Court in Davis determined that private damages action could lie against a school board, as a recipient of federal funds, in instances of student-on-student harassment, when it acts with “deliberate indifference” to known acts of harassment in its programs or activities. While the Supreme Court concluded that a school could be liable for damages to a student due to such harassment by a teacher, in this case it found that the school was not liable.ĭavis v. The student brought suit against the school, and the Supreme Court determined that liability could only be imposed if the school official, someone who has at minimum the authority to address the discrimination, was “deliberately indifferent” to the harassment. This case involved the alleged sexual harassment of a student by a school teacher off-campus. The Supreme Court, in 1998, defined the standard of liability for cases involving sexual harassment of students by a school employee. Lago Vista Independent School District (1998) School officials have a “comprehensive authority…, consistent with fundamental constitutional safeguards, to prescribe and control conduct in the schools.” The Supreme Court has in the past recognized “that the nature of power is custodial and tutelary, permitting a degree of supervision and control that could not be exercised over free adults.” Some student misconduct, regarded as bullying, which goes unaddressed may put schools in violation of federal anti-discrimination laws and may lead to school liability. Schools are in a unique position to protect the lives of these young victims. In that same article’s Editor’s Note, another survey conducted by the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program reported that 17% of boy and girl students report being bullied two to three times a month or more within a school semester. According to an Associated Press report in Education Week, a study was conducted by the Josephson Institute of Ethics of 43,000 high school students, in which 43% of students reported being bullied in the past year and 50% reported bullying someone else. and has reached schoolchildren of all ages, genders, and races. Together we will get through this time of crisis, and throughout we remain committed to supporting our clients during these unprecedented times.īullying and School Liability Case Summariesīullying and student-on-student harassment is a pervasive problem in the U.S. The safety and health of our staff, clients and community is paramount, and we are proud to do our part in an effort to flatten the curve. E-mail addresses for specific attorneys and paralegals/educational advocates can also be found on our website at. Should you need assistance during this time, please feel free to contact the firm by phone at (847) 564-8662, through our confidential web contact portal ( ), or via fax at (847) 564-8419. We are grateful that we can continue to serve our clients and community remotely, while safeguarding the well-being of everyone impacted by the pandemic. However, we remain dedicated to our current and potential clients by fully functioning in a remote capacity, attending all school meetings and initial consultations via tele- or video-conference. In our effort to safeguard the community during the unprecedented COVID-19 global health crisis, we are eliminating all non-essential in-person meetings and consultations.
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