Ethics

Appeals court sends student harassment case back for trial

By Ed Brayton

A 6th Circuit Court of Appeals panel has ruled in favor of a student who claims that officials at Hudson middle school in Southeast Michigan were deliberately indifferent and failed to take any action to stop systemic harassment from other students - and even from at least one teacher.

The appeals court ruling does not settle the case, it merely remands it back to the district court for a full trial. The district court had granted summary judgment to the school, avoiding a full trial. The student's attorneys appealed, arguing that the district court had erred in concluding that the school was not intentionally ignoring the harassment problem; the appeals court agreed and has ordered the district court to hold a full trial on the matter.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on January 08, 2009 (boomark / email).