Category: Minor parties
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School District Was Statutorily Immune from Liability for Student’s Off-Campus Suicide, Because None of the Exceptions Immunities Applied
In Vallejo City Unified School District v. Superior Court (Caguin), ordered published January 27, 2026, the First District Court of Appeal, Division 4 issued a writ directing a trial court to grant a motion for summary judgment/summary adjudication in part. A sixth-grade student had conflicts with other students. The student reached out to her teacher…
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School District That Lacks Actual or Constructive Knowledge of Propensities of Third Party’s Employee Bars Liability for Negligent Supervision
In Rancho Cucamonga v. Superior Court (Flowers), ordered published December 3, 2025, the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division 2 issued a writ reversing a trial court’s denial of summary adjudication of a cause of action. The plaintiff alleged that when he was a minor the director of his school’s childcare program sexually abused him.…
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AB 218’s Revival of Abuse Claims Barred by Claim Deadline Is Not Unconstitutional Gift of Public Funds
In O.B. v. Los Angeles Unified School District, ordered published August 27, 2025, the Second District Court of Appeal, Division 1 reversed judgment on the pleadings granted to the defendant district. The plaintiff filed a lawsuit in 2021 arising out of alleged sexual assault by a teacher in 2003. The plaintiff alleged that the district…
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School District Was Statutorily Immune from Liability for Negligent Hiring and Supervising Employee Who Killed Student Off-Campus
In Taylor v. Los Angeles Unified School District, ordered published July 2, 2025, the Second District Court of Appeal, Division 3 reversed a judgment based on a jury verdict. The defendant district hired a man as a part-time playground worker and supervisor for an afterschool program at an elementary school. In 2019, the district later assigned…
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School Personnel Can Be Found Negligent for Failing to Comply with District and School Anti-Bullying Policies
In E.I. v. El Segundo Unified School District, published June 13, 2025, the Second District Court of Appeal, Division 8 affirmed a jury verdict for the plaintiff. The plaintiff who was a middle-school student who was subjected to extensive online and in-person bullying by two classmates. The plaintiff, her parents, and schoolmates repeatedly reported the bullying…
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Existence of Fundamental Rights Protected by Substantive Due Process Is Not Determined by Applying the Qualified Immunity Analysis
In Regino v. Staley, published April 4, 2025, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed dismissal of a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 suit at the pleading stage. A school district had a policy that prohibited conduct such as refusing to address a student by a name and pronouns consistent with the student’s gender identity and…
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Social Worker and County Entitled to Discretionary Immunity for Allegedly Maintaining Foster Placement Despite Reports of Sexual Abuse
In K.C. v. County of Merced, published March 11, 2025, the Fifth District Court of Appeal affirmed dismissal of the plaintiff's action after demurrer. The plaintiff alleged that she was sexually abused and assaulted while in two foster care placements between 1971 and 1977. The plaintiff alleged she repeatedly reported the sexual abuse at the first…
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Jury Properly Assigned Liability for Student’s Injury to Him and Other Student Fighting Him, Rather than Teacher Who Fell on Student while Trying to Break Up Fight
In I.C. v. Compton Unified School Dist., ordered published February 6, 2025, the Second District Court of Appeal, Division 8 affirmed a judgment entered after jury trial. The 16-year-old plaintiff and his friend started a fist fight during an art class. Their teacher intervened. The teacher weighed 375 pounds, and had recently been using a…
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County Child Welfare Agency That Received Complaints from Child That He Was Being Hurt Had Duty of Care to Child
In D.G. v. Orange County Social Services Agency, ordered published January 31, 2025, the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division 3 reversed the summary judgment granted to the defendant county. The plaintiff and his siblings were first placed in a foster home in 1972, when the plaintiff was three. The foster parents were licensed, had no…