Recently the California Supreme Court decided in C.A. v. William S. Hart
Union High School District (2012) 53 Cal.4th 861.
In this Case the
court held that a school district under Section 815.2 of the Government Code
could be held liable for negligent hiring and/or supervision which resulted in
the plaintiff being sexually harassed and abused by a counselor. Factually, the
case involved a high school counselor who harassed and abused a student. The
student sued, and the superior court and Court of Appeal held that the school
district could not be held vicariously liable for the counselor’s misconduct,
which was outside the scope of her employment, and also could not be held liable
under a negligent hiring or supervision claim. The Supreme Court unanimously
reversed, permitting the plaintiff to move forward with his claim that the
district can be held vicariously liable for the negligence of supervisory or
administrative personnel who allegedly knew, or should have known, of the
counselor’s propensities and nevertheless hired, retained and inadequately
supervised her. The court reasoned that because school personnel owe students
under their supervision a protective duty of ordinary care, if a supervisory or
administrative employee of the district is proven to have breached that duty by
negligently exposing the plaintiff to a foreseeable danger of molestation by his
guidance counselor, liability may be imposed.
The Government Code does
not protect school districts when they negligently hire a employee who harasses
and abuses a child.
Contact RAXTER LAW today for a confidential free consultation
at (951) 226-5294.
No comments:
Post a Comment