Jury Verdicts and Settlements in School District Bullying Cases

As part of Public Justice’s Anti-Bullying Campaign, we are tracking jury verdicts and settlements in bullying and harassment cases filed against school districts in federal and state courts throughout the country. Each case, organized by state, lists the relief achieved—both monetary and non-monetary—as well as the nature of the harassment, the number of plaintiffs, the basic facts, the causes of action, and the plaintiffs’ attorneys. We hope this resource will be helpful to attorneys representing bullied students. If you are working on, or know of, a bullying or harassment case that has resulted in a judgment or settlement, please let us know so that we can include the case on this list. Please send your information to Adele Kimmel, Senior Attorney, at akimmel@publicjustice.net. In addition, if you are interested in obtaining co-counsel or other legal assistance from Public Justice on a bullying or harassment case, please contact us. School districts and officials need to comply with the law and respond appropriately to bullying. We want to make sure that they do. For more information, please read our primer, Litigating Bullying Cases: Holding School Districts and Officials Accountable.

MARYLAND

Lawsuit against Baltimore City Public Schools (Cir. Ct. Baltimore City 2013) • Settlement: $45,000. • Harassment/Injuries: Physical assault. • Single Plaintiff. • Basic Facts: Female high school student was beaten up so severely that she required three surgeries. Attacker had a history of bullying the girl, which was well known by the school. Victim alleged that the school provided insufficient supervision to protect her when the fight broke out. • Cause of Action: Unknown. • Plaintiff’s Attorney: Unknown. • More Information: http://www.wbaltv.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/baltimore-city-settlesbullying-lawsuit-for-45k/-/10131532/20437604/-/kqltiu/-/index.html.

Lawsuit against Prince George’s County Public Schools (Cir. Ct. Prince George’s Cnty. 2017) • Jury Verdict: $100,000. • Harassment/Injuries: Physical assault. • Single Plaintiff. • Basic Facts: The plaintiff, a female elementary school student, was attacked by another female student on a school bus as other kids recorded and encouraged the beating. Although the bus driver stopped the bus to address the attacker on two occasions, the beating still occurred afterwards, and the bus driver did nothing as the attack took place. The bus driver also did not report the incident to the school or police. The plaintiff’s mother had previously reported to 21 school administrators that the attacker was physically bullying the plaintiff, but the school took no action prior to or after the beating. • Cause of Action: Unknown. • Plaintiff’s Attorney: Unknown. • More Information: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/im-not-fighting-youjury-awards-100000-to-family-of-girl-in-school-bus-assault/2017/04/20/89dd6234-25e9-11e7-b503-9d616bd5a305_story.html?utm_term=.f7c01d3ea955 highlig