Schools May be Liable for Teacher Sexual Assault

Unfortunately, childhood sexual assault in schools is prevalent throughout the United States, and due to lack of adequate training and proper administrative oversight, thousands of children are wrongfully put at risk of sexual assault every year.

In fact, between 2010 and 2019, the number of number of complaints alleging sexual violence against K-12 schools increased nearly by 3 times what it was the previous decade.

Although sexual assault in schools may seem like an isolated incident, it can also be indicative of systematic failures that enabled the abuse to occur in the first place. However, according to a 2024 New York Supreme Court ruling, in cases involving teacher sexual assault, the institution responsible for overseeing the teacher may also be at fault for failing to prevent the assault from occurring (J. B. v. Monroe-Woodbury Cent. Sch. Dist., 2024).

Prior to joining the Jacob Fuchsberg Law Firm, Attorney Hardeep Shergill represented children involved in abuse and neglect cases specialized in cases involving the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS). Her work in this field has given her a unique insight into proving negligence and deliberate indifference in order to pursue relief in civil cases involving minors.

Judge Holds that School May be Liable for Teacher Sexual Assault

The historic 2024 New York Supreme Court case involved a student who was sexually assaulted by a school physician during an examination. According to school policy, students are not allowed to be in a room alone with the doctor to prevent a situation like this from occurring. However, there was also no evidence that the physician would behave inappropriately towards the student, thus the Court had to determine if the school would be held liable despite the fact that there was no warning.

The Court ruled that this was an instance of negligent supervision based on the reasonably prudent parent standard, which is independent of the school’s knowledge (or lack of knowledge) of the physician’s inappropriate behavior (J. B. v. Monroe-Woodbury Cent. Sch. Dist., 2024). The reasonably prudent parent standard is characterized by the careful and sensible decisions to maintain the health, safety, and best interest of a child, and is most often applied in the foster care setting.

The ruling held that schools also have a duty to exercise the same degree of care towards its students as a reasonably prudent parent and schools will be held liable for foreseeable injuries that are proximately related to the absence of supervision (J. B. v. Monroe-Woodbury Cent. Sch. Dist., 2024).

The Judge stated, “The potential for sexual abuse in an instance that was foreseeable—demonstrated by district’s policies—and district put child in danger regardless of whether they had notice that perp might be an abuser.”

Teacher Sexual Assault Attorney

While a child is at school, the school district assumes physical custody over students, in place of the parents, thus it is their duty to ensure that your child remains safe.

If you or your child has been a victim of sexual assault, you are entitled to take action against your abuser(s) pursuant to the Child Victims Act, which extended the statute of limitations for childhood sexual assault cases until the victim turns 55 years old.

We can help when the unimaginable happens.

Citations

J. B. v.Monroe-Woodbury Cent. Sch. Dist., 224 A.D.3d 722, 206 N.Y.S.3d 98 (2024)