Schools May be Liable for Hiring Molesters

Who can you trust? As a child, you are taught about “stranger danger”—beware of those you don’t know. An unfamiliar person is a dangerous person. Right?

Contrast this with parents, relatives, family friends, and teachers, individuals who are known and seen regularly, if not every day. It seems unlikely that any would harm you. After all, they are your family and mentors, but in most cases of molestation this is not usually the reality.

According to Jessica Lynch, a legal consultant, “the usual perpetrator of abuse is someone the child knows and trusts.” Knowing this, who will be held liable for the child’s safety? The teacher? The school administration? Those in positions of authority are ultimately responsible for the well-being of those placed in their care.

This notion was reinforced in the conclusion of a 2007 case of molestation. A 15-year-old boy was sexually assaulted by the leading guidance counselor at a Los Angeles County high school. The California Supreme Court unanimously ruled that “school districts can be held liable for administrators who learn an employee may be prone to molesting children but fail to take action to protect students” (Associated Press).

This alarming case was compounded by the fact that, despite the school knowing the perpetrator had a history of sexual misconduct, the counselor was still hired. Perhaps there is merit in upholding the notion of anti-discriminatory hiring practices to combat recidivism. However, as attorney Lisa Borden observes, “an auto mechanic or call center job would be very different from a teaching or child care job, for example” (SHRM).

What about earlier cases? Look at Virginia G. v ABC Unified School District (1993) in which a junior high student reported sexual assault by a teacher. The court held that she could proceed with legal action, and that if those “responsible for hiring and/or supervising teachers knew or should have known of the prior sexual misconduct”, the employees were obligated to protect students (Glaeser and Calcagnie). To know more about Sexual Abuse Victims rights, read our California Sexual Abuse Attorney article.

References:
https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/pages/0907cadrain.aspx
http://faculty.fullerton.edu/lorozco/lawglaeser.pdf
http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1908&context=wmlr