You be the Judge: School Districts Must Treat

If your local school district has policies to protect students from harassment, this may interest you.

Recently the New Jersey Supreme Court considered a case involving student-on-student sexual harassment and whether the school district was liable if teachers know about it and fail to react promptly and effectively.

In the case under review, a student had complained to his teachers that fellow students used anti-gay comments and occasionally assaulted him. Administrators tried to deal with the problem through lectures, detentions and an occasional suspension to tormentors. Nothing effective was done for plaintiff until he was eventually transferred to an out-of-town school at the expense of the school district.

The school district had anti-harassment policies in place. It argued that it could not be liable unless 1) the harassment was severe, pervasive and objectively offensive and 2) the district was deliberately indifferent to the harassment.

YOU BE THE JUDGE: Can a school district be liable when a student is harassed by another student, not by a district employee?

The Supreme Court noted that New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination (LAD) is broad. Since the LAD is routinely available to protect against workplace discrimination; it would be incongruous, to be sure, if students had lesser rights.

The Court held that students are also protected by the LAD. The Court also noted a district will be shielded from liability if its preventive and remedial actions against peer harassment are reasonable in light of the totality of the circumstances. Since this analysis requires a fact-sensitive, case-by-case analysis, the case was remanded for a determination of whether the school board's actions were reasonable at the time.

The decision points out that a courtroom can bring justice and may be the only way to protect your rights. Our Firm knows courtrooms; we have harnessed the power of the law in courtrooms to bring justice for our clients for decades in Lodi, Norwood, Palisades Park, Maywood, Oradell and throughout Bergen County, in North Haledon, Ringwood, Passaic, Little Falls and elsewhere in Passaic County, in Nutley, West Caldwell, Roseland, Maplewood, Orange and throughout Essex County, in Whippany, Montville, Pompton Plains, Parsippany and Long Valley and Mendham in Morris County, in Murray Hill, Kenilworth, Plainfield and Cranford in Union County, in Long Branch, Marlboro and Oakhurst in Monmouth County, in Old Bridge and Middlesex in Middlesex County, in Kearny, Bayonne, Union City and North Bergen in Hudson County, in Hightstown, Hamilton Township, Frenchtown and Pennington in Mercer County and throughout the State of New Jersey, as well as New York City. Please contact us to discuss how we can help you in a new lawsuit or provide a "second opinion" about your pending lawsuit. There is no obligation for the initial consultation.