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PATC Article Detail
Title:
School Not Liable For Peersí Pencil Prank
Author:
Jack Ryan
ID:
LL111
Issue:
SU1-6
Issue Date:
2004-11-01
Edition:
School
Type:
Article
Body:
In order for school officials to have liability for harm caused by other students, the school officials must have notice of the potential harm.
An appellate court in Lousiana recently concluded that school officials did not have any notice of a pencil puncture case so as to create liability. In Peretin v. Caddo Parish School District, 2004 La. App. LEXIS 3075 (La. 2nd Dist. Appellate Court), the court was faced with a lawsuit that was the result of one studentís harm against another. Tyler Laws was working on a class project at the front of the class. When he returned to his seat, a female student, seated in close proximity, positioned a pencil on Tylerís seat, such that when he sat down he was punctured by the pencil. His parents filed a lawsuit alleging that the teacherís failure to properly supervise the class led to this injury. In rejecting the claim against the teacher the court recognized that the injury was caused by an unforeseeable and spontaneous act which could not have been prevented by a school official who had no knowledge/notice of what was about to occur. The case was dismissed.
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