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Doe v. Board of Education

Conn. App. Ct.June 7, 2022No. AC44153, AC44122
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Case Details

Judge(s)
Moll; Alexander; Bear
Status — whether other courts must follow this ruling
Published
Procedural Posture — the stage the case had reached
Summary judgment granted on most claims; denied as to assault claims against principal S

Related Laws

No specific laws identified for this ruling.

Claim Types

Retaliation

Outcome

Trial court granted defendants' summary judgment motions on most claims against the town, board of education, superintendent, and certain school employees, but denied summary judgment on assault claims against principal S in the first action.

Excerpt

In each case, the plaintiff minor child, A and B, respectively, and his parents, sought to recover damages from the defendants, the town of Westport, its board of education, the town's superintendent of schools, L, and certain employees of one of the town's middle schools, namely, the principal, S, the vice principal, M, and a physical education teacher, Q, for injuries allegedly sustained as a result of, inter alia, the defendants' negligence in responding to reports of bullying of A and B by their classmates while they attended the middle school. Both cases arose out of the same incident, during which A and B were attacked by other students while in gym class. The plaintiffs filed reports detailing the gym incident and prior incidents of bullying with the school's administration. Thereafter, A and B both had bullying complaints filed against them by other students involved in the gym incident and they received suspen- sions as a result thereof. A few weeks later, A was again bullied by a fellow student. He reported the incident to S, who insisted that he write down his account of what had occurred. When A instead asked to speak with his father, S grabbed his arm in a hostile manner and shook it. The plaintiffs alleged, inter alia, that, in their handling of the bullying incidents, the defendants failed to comply with the safe school climate plan that had previously been implemented at the direction of the board in accordance with the applicable statute ((Rev. to 2015) § 10-222d). The plaintiffs further alleged that the defendants retaliated against them for filing their bullying complaints by, among other things, issuing sus- pensions to A and B. Additionally, in the first action, the plaintiffs alleged that S assaulted A when she grabbed and shook his arm. The trial court consolidated the cases and granted the defendants' motions for summary judgment with respect to all claims except those against S in connection with the first action, as it found that there was

What This Ruling Means

**What Happened** Two families sued the Westport Board of Education, school officials, and staff after their children (referred to as A and B) were allegedly bullied at a middle school. The parents claimed the school district failed to properly respond to bullying reports and that this negligence harmed their children. They also accused a principal of assault and said the school violated its anti-bullying policies. The lawsuit targeted the town, school board, superintendent, principal, vice principal, and a physical education teacher. **What the Court Decided** The court dismissed most of the claims against the school district and its employees, ruling in favor of the defendants on summary judgment. However, the court allowed one significant claim to proceed: assault allegations against the principal in one of the cases. This means that particular claim will go to trial. **Why This Matters for Workers** This case shows that while school districts and most employees often have legal protections from negligence lawsuits, individual staff members can still face personal liability for their direct actions. School employees should understand that certain conduct—particularly physical actions that could constitute assault—may not be covered by their employer's legal protections. Workers in education should follow proper protocols when dealing with student issues and avoid any physical confrontations.

This summary was generated to explain the ruling in plain English and is not legal advice.

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This ruling information is sourced from public court records via CourtListener.com. Case outcomes, claim types, and summaries are extracted using AI analysis and may be incomplete or inaccurate. It is provided for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

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