Category: School District Liability
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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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Although School Administrator’s Political Social Media Post Was Protected Speech, the School District’s Interests in Workplace Harmony Outweighed the Administrator’s 1st Amendment Interests
In Thompson v. CVSD No 365, published December 29, 2025, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for the defendant school district and administrators. The plaintiff was a middle school assistant principal. He posted a comment on Facebook, shared with his Facebook “friends” only, about the Democratic National Convention that used epithets, slurs,…
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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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Government Code section 855.4 Immunizes School District from Liability under FEHA and Labor Code for Work-at-Home and Vaccination Decisions
In Allos v. Poway Unified School District, ordered published July 7, 2025, the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division 1 affirmed summary judgment in favor of the defendant school district. The plaintiff, a senior business systems analyst for the district, started working at home when the COVID-19 Pandemic shut down the district's in-person operations in March…
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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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School District Forfeited Appellate Argument It Had No Mandatory Duty to Inform Teachers of Available Defibrillator
In Tillinghast v. Los Angeles Unified School Dist., published May 5, 2025, the Second District Court of Appeal, Division 8 affirmed the judgment in favor of the plaintiff. The plaintiff's decedent, a middle-school student, passed away in PE class, after jogging, of sudden cardiac arrest. He had an unsuspected heart defect. When the decedent collapsed, teachers…
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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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Qualified Immunity for Academic 1st Amendment Retaliation Claim Was Not Amenable to Resolution at Pleadings Stage
In Jensen v. Brown, published March 10, 2025, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal of a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 lawsuit without leave to amend. The plaintiff is a mathematics professor at a state community college. The board of regents for the state college system adopted a policy that lowered the academic level…