Recent Cases

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• Baker v. Birmingham Bd. of Educ., No. 07-12349 (11th Cir. Jun. 25, 2008) [HTML 2,393kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (AL, FL, GA) has reversed a U.S. district ruling that a former teacher’s Section 1981 claims for race discrimination and retaliation brought under Section 1983 were barred by § 1983’s two-year statute of limitations.
  
• Milligan-Hitt v. Board of Trustees of Sheridan County Sch. Dist. No. 2, No. 06-8086/06-8087 (10th Cir. Apr. 22, 2008) [HTML 5,216kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (CO, KS, NM, OK, UT, WY) has ruled that neither a Wyoming school district nor its superintendent is liable under Section 1983 for employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.
  
• Sahli v. Woodbine Bd. of Educ., No. A-92-06 (N.J. Jan. 30, 2008) [HTML 3,199kb]
  The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that a school board’s attorney who acted as secretary pro tem during an executive session of the board was entitled to district indemnification in that capacity, but not in his capacity as the board’s attorney.
  
• Phillips v. Anderson County Bd. of Educ., No. 07-5103 (6th Cir. Jan. 15, 2008) [HTML 2,710kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (KY, MI, OH, TN), in an unpublished, per curiam (unsigned) decision, has ruled that a Tennessee school board was not liable for sex discrimination under Title IX for a high school principal’s decision to remove a female student from a weightlifting class.
  
• Fitzgerald v. Barnstable School Committee, No. 06-2596 (1st Cir. Oct. 5, 2007) [HTML 3,638kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (CT, ME, MA, NH, P.R., RI, VT) has ruled that a Massachusetts school district was not liable for student-on-student sexual harassment under Title IX because the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate that the school had exhibited deliberate indifference to reports of the harassment.
  
• O’Connor v. Burungham, No. 20060090 (Utah July 31, 2007) [HTML 2,489kb]
  The Utah Supreme Court has ruled that a high school basketball coach was not a “public official” for purposes of his defamation lawsuit and, therefore, was not required to prove actual malice in order to succeed on his claim.
  
• Murphy v. Bajjani, No. 06-1483 (Ga. June 25, 2007) [HTML 3,024kb]
  The Georgia Supreme Court has ruled that individual school board members and school officials were entitled to immunity from a lawsuit accusing them of negligently failing to adopt a statutorily required school safety plan.
  
• Jerkins v. Anderson, A-49-06 (N.J. June 14, 2007) [HTML 4,524kb]
  In a unanimous decision, the New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that schools in that state have a duty of reasonable care for supervising students’ safety at dismissal times.
  
• Lee v. Pine Bluff School District, No. 05-2011 (8th Cir. Jan. 8, 2007) [HTML 5,090kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has ruled that an Arkansas school district did not violate the due process rights of a student who died soon after returning from a school band trip by failing to seek medical attention for him.
  
• Henderson v. Walled Lake Consolidated Schools, No. 05-1814 (6th Cir. Nov. 16, 2006) [HTML 5,005kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ruled that a Michigan school district was not liable for a high school soccer coach’s threatening conduct and communications to a player.
  
• Kline v. Mansfield, 2006 WL 2817464 (E.D. Pa. Sept. 28, 2006) [HTML 3,767kb]
  A Pennsylvania federal district court has ruled that a school district was not liable under Section 1983 for a middle school teacher’s sexual abuse of a student.
  
• R.L. v. State-Operated School District of the City of Newark, No.2086-05 (N.J. Super. Ct., App. Div. Aug. 14, 2006) [HTML 4,700kb]
  A New Jersey state appellate court has ruled that a former student who allegedly contracted HIV as a result of a sexual relationship with his high school band director can bring a claim against the school district, even though he failed to file notice of the claim within the statutory period.
  
• Jerkins v. Anderson, No. 3838-02 (N.J. Super. App. Div. June 20, 2006) [HTML 4,185kb]
  A New Jersey appellate court has ruled that elementary school officials had a duty to ensure that student was properly supervised upon release from school.
  
• L.W. v. Toms River Regional Schools Board of Education, No. 7884-03 (N.J. Super., App. Div. Dec. 7, 2005) [HTML 7,168kb]
  The Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, has upheld the state's Director of the Division of Civil Rights' (DDCR) ruling that a school district was liable for peer sexual harassment based on sexual orientation under New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination (LAD).
  
• Dobrich v. Walls, 2005 WL 1812933 (D. Del. Aug. 2, 2005) [HTML 5,258kb]
  A Delaware federal district court has ruled that individual school board members enjoy absolute legislative immunity from a lawsuit brought by parents alleging that the board had developed, adopted, or implemented policies, practices, and customs permitting religious worship and prayer in the district's schools in violation of U.S. Constitution's Establishment and Free Exercise of Religion Clauses.
  
• Coleman v. School Board of Richland Parish, No. 04-20445 (5th Cir July 25, 2005) [HTML 4,566kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled that a Louisiana school board's insurance carrier had no duty to provide coverage for legal claims alleging that the board members committed acts of intentional racial discrimination, because the carrier's policy contained an exclusion coverage for "acts committed with the knowledge of their wrongful nature or with intent to cause damage."
  
• Meeker v. Edmundson, No. 04-2301 (4th Cir. July 13, 2005) [HTML 3,957kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has ruled that a student who alleged that he was beaten by teammates at the instigation of his wrestling coach stated a valid claim against the coach under Section 1983.