If your teacher, administrator, school
board or principal suggests "There is no bullying problem at our school" or
says "There is no bullying epidemic" or "We do not feel responsible for the
safety of your child" (yes, I have heard reports of educators saying this)
... then send them to this page. This might change their tunes.
Keep in mind newspapers often rotate
content depending on their own policies. So some of the reference links in
this list may be defunct by the time you find this page. When I get enough
time, and there are enough entries, I will make the cover page into a PDF
that will get the point across, and will be easy to print or email to your
particular administrator, teacher or principal. If you know of a successful
lawsuit or settlement in a bullying case that is not listed here, please
let me know. Keep in mind I will need
(ideally) the name of the case (eg: "Bob Smith Vs XYZ School District), the
dollar value of the settlement, and the date it was settled. No unresolved
cases, please ... I don't have the time or ability to keep them up to date.
I am also interested in hearing about criminal cases. When we have enough
data, I'll make a separate page for that.
Nabozny v. Podlesny
Status: $900,000 settlement against a Wisconsin school district that failed
to protect him from years of bullying. 1996.
Davis v. Monroe County
No. 97—843
Status: Appeal Upheld ruling in favor of plaintiff. The U.S. Supreme
Court held that schools may be liable under Title IX, the federal statute
that prohibits sex discrimination in schools that accept federal funding,
for knowingly failing to address sexual harassment of one student by
another. 1999.
Washoe County District Nevada. Status: Settlement $451,000. Former
student Derek R. Henkle filed a federal lawsuit alleging that school
officials failed to respond properly to a pattern of harassment that
included an alleged incident in which fellow students lassoed him with a
rope in the school parking lot and threatened to drag him from the back of a
truck. Aug 2002
Visalia, California. Status: Settlement $130,000 of a federal
lawsuit filed by George Loomis, who alleged that he was subject to a pattern
of harassment from fellow students and some of his teachers without
appropriate responses from school officials. Aug 13 2002
Theno v. Tonganoxie Unified School District No. 464, 377 F. Supp.2d
952, 394 F. Supp.2d 1299, 2005 WL 3434016 (D. Kan. Dec. 13, 2005).
Status: Jury award $250,000, and in Theno’s
subsequent action to recover attorneys’ fees and expenses, awarded an
additional $268,793.51, to be paid by the district and its insurance
company. January 2004.
The Anchorage School District and its insurance company
Status:
Settled for $4.5 million to the family of a middle-school student who
attempted suicide after bullying at school. The insurance company paid $3.5
million of the settlement. The district paid $1 million out of its general
fund. July 2004.
Shaposhnikov v. the Pacifica School District and John Roes 1-10
Status:
Mixed, still in process. Several parents settled. October 2005 Note: Shaposhnikov suit is the
second time the district has found itself sued because of alleged failure to
stop harassment of a student.
L.W. v. Toms River Regional Schools, 2005 WL 3299837 (N.J. Sup.).
Status: Court
award of $50,000.
Dec. 7, 2005
