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PATC Article Detail
Title:
Teacher Liability for Student on Student Rape
Author:
Jack Ryan
ID:
LL104
Issue:
SU1-5
Issue Date:
2004-09-01
Edition:
School
Type:
Article
Body:
In Fortune v. City of Detroit Public Schools, 2004 Mich. App. LEXIS 2660 (Ct. App. Mich. 2004), the Court of Appeals of Michigan considered a case where a student had been raped in an empty classroom by two of her peers.
Dominique Fortune, a seventh-grader attended an after-school activity along with her attackers Alonzo Seals and Kevin Thomas. The activity was supervised by a teacher, Rosalyn Collins. The schoolís policy required that ìstudents attending after-school activities be supervised until leaving the building, Collins watched Dominique, Seals and Thomas walk toward the exit, but she did not see them leave the building.î In the lawsuit, Dominique alleged that the school had been warned about Seals and Thomas regarding threats of ìbodily harm and sexual assaultî with respect to both her and other students. She also alleged that the teacherís failure to watch the students leave the building provided the opportunity for Seals and Thomas to force her into the empty classroom and rape her.Dominiqueís lawsuit was based on an allegation that her right to bodily integrity had been violated by the schoolís lack of supervision and that this conducted was a violation of her substantive due process rights. In examining the facts, the court noted that constitutionally, government actors only have a duty to protect individuals under limited circumstances. One circumstance is when the government incarcerates someone. The theory is that prisoners are deprived of any means to protect themselves, since they are in lockup, and thus, the government has an obligation to protect them. The second circumstance under which government has a constitutional duty to protect individuals is when a government actor has undertaken an affirmative act that has created or enhanced the danger to an individual.In this case, Dominiqueís allegation is that the teacherís failure to supervise her departure from the school constituted an enhancement or creation of the danger to her. In rejecting Dominiqueís claim, the court asserted: ìPlaintiff must demonstrate that the state official knows of and disregards an excessive risk to the victimís health or safetyÖ The official must both be aware of facts from which the inference could be drawn that a substantial risk of serious harm exists, and he must draw the inference. Once the inference is made, the official must act or fail to act in a manner that is consistent with reckless or callous indifference to the individualís rights.îThe court concluded that the failure of the teacher to follow the policy did not rise to the level of a constitutional violation.
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