Tort and Liability 1

Tort and Liability

Kelsey Crouch

College of Southern Nevada

Tort and Liability 2

Tort and Liability

Middle school student, Ray Knight, was accidently shot while visiting a friend during the

first day of suspension from school. School districts procedures require a telephone notification

and a prompt written notice by mail to the parents of the student. In this case, the middle school

only sent a notice home with the student, who threw it away.

Johnson Johnson v. School District of Millard

In the Jonson Johnson v. School District of Millard case, a music teacher taught her class

how to play a game called London Bridges which involves swinging one student back and forth.

While she was turned around, Robbie Johnson was swung by his classmates into a bookshelf and

required 50 stiches on his head. His parents sued and they won. The teacher was not supervising

her students as she should have. Ray Knight should have received a phone call because that was

the proper way the school district was set up. (Johnson)

Leeann Mitchell v. Cedar Rapids Community School District

In the fall of 2007, a fourteen-year-old girl, referred to as “D.E”, was a ninth-grade

special education student at Cedar Rapids Community School District's Kennedy High School.

She had a boyfriend they refer to as “M.F”. M.F. and D.E skipped class to go meet with a friend,

V.M, who was also a special education student. The school usually had a system that called the

parents if a student was not in attendance for one of their classes. Skipping sixth hour, M.F. and

D.E. entered the garage of V.M and remained for about twenty minutes. M.F. raped D.E. in the

garage while V.M. watched from a window and shot at D.E. with a BB gun. D.E’s mother sued

the school district 2 years later when she found out. The court found Cedar Rapids Community

school district guilty for not having a closer eye watch on the students, especially because they
Tort and Liability 3

had IPE placed on them. If the school has an obligation to call, rather it is for suspension like in

Ray Knight’s case, or for ditching class, it should be known to the parents. (Mitchell v Cedar

Rapids)

Brahatcek v. Millard School District

In the case of Brahatcek v. Millard School District, Darlene Brahatcek brought a

wrongful death action against the school district after her son David died succeeding an accident

in a physical education class. David, who was a ninth grade student 14 years of age, was struck

by a golf club swung by a fellow student, Mark Kreie. He was rendered unconscious and died 2

days later without regaining consciousness. Although the death was unfortunate, the court did

not plea in favor of the mother because the PE teacher followed all the rules he needed to. He

went into detail about the rules of the class. David was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ray

Knight was given a note that should have been given to his parents. He should have even

confronted his parents to let them know he would not be attending school but rather he would be

visiting a friend’s house. (BRAHATCEK v. MILLARD)

THOMPSON V. BOARD OF EDUCATION

In a public school in New York City, a fourteen year old girl was descending the stairs

with her class. When they were about to reach the bottom, a boy ran down the stairway, collided

with her and caused her to fall and to sustain injury. The complaint is based upon "defendant's

negligence in allowing overcrowding to take place and to permit roughing by large boys, wholly

without any supervision whatsoever". There was no proof of negligence on the part of the

teacher. (Thompon v. Board of Education) The Board of Education won. In the Ray Knightly
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case, he was at fault to some degree because he was given a paper to give to his parents. It was

his fault for not showing his parents the note.

Conclusion

Personally, I believe that the parents of Ray Knightly could find fault in the school

district because they were supposed to receive a phone call home regarding the suspension of

their child. After doing researches on other court cases I feel like the school district was not

completely at fault, but some negligence could be found.

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References

BRAHATCEK v. MILLARD SCH. DIST., SCH. DIST. # 17. (n.d.). Retrieved February 11,

2016, from http://www.leagle.com/decision/1979953273NW2d680_1949/BRAHATCEK v.

MILLARD SCH. DIST., SCH. DIST.

Johnson Johnson v. School District of Millard FindLaw's Supreme Court of Nebraska case and

opinions. (n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2016, from http://caselaw.findlaw.com/ne-supreme-

court/1305437.html

Mitchell v Cedar Rapids Community School District. (n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2016, from

http://judicialview.com/State-Cases/iowa/Education/Mitchell-v-Cedar-Rapids-Community-

School-District/20/580887

Thompon v. Board of Education. (n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2016, from

https://casetext.com/case/thompson-v-board-of-education-1?page=96