Arkansas schools owe their students a legal duty to protect them from bullying. If your child is being bullied, they have certain legal rights, including administrative relief from the school or school district, having state and federal agencies investigate and punish the school for their negligence, and bringing a civil suit against the school or school district for monetary damages and injunctive relief.
Lento Law Firm has spent years helping students in Arkansas navigate their legal rights when it comes to their education. Call 888-535-3686 today or schedule a consultation online. We are here to help.
The Problem of Bullying in Arkansas K-12 Schools
No matter what name you give it– hazing, teasing, harassing, or bullying – any child who is subjected to bullying can develop serious mental, emotional, and sometimes even physical conditions that prohibit them from healthy development. Luckily, Arkansas has several anti-bullying laws that are meant to protect students from being bullied, even if the bully is their teacher.
Arkansas Anti-Bullying Laws
In Arkansas, schools and school districts must create and implement anti-bullying policies. For example, there is the Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education Rules Governing Documents Posted to School District and Education Service Cooperative Websites policy, which states that Arkansas school districts need to adopt and post their written bullying policies on their website unless they are in the student handbook.
There is also the Arkansas Department of Education Division of Elementary and Secondary Education Rules Governing the Code of Ethics for Arkansas Educators statutes, which instructs educators to refrain from, and discourage, bullying. The Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education Rules Governing Student Discipline and School Safety specifically defines bullying and outlines the state's anti-bullying policies.
Arkansas Bullying Definition
According to the Arkansas legislature, the definition of bullying requires intent and a subsequent consequence. So, if a person – a student or a public school employee – intentionally harasses, intimidates, humiliates, ridicules, defames, or threatens or incites violence, whether in writing, verbally, electronically, or by a physical act, they could be guilty of bullying. However, their actions must address a trait of the student that triggers or produces actual or reasonably foreseeable:
- Physical harm to the student or damage to their property;
- Substantial interference with their education;
- A hostile educational environment for one or more people because of the cruelty or relentlessness of the act; or
- Considerable disruption of the school or educational environment's ability to operate in an orderly manner; and
- Includes cyberbullying.
Cyberbullying is then defined as any form of electronic communication that is purposely sent to harass, intimidate, humiliate, ridicule, defame, threaten, or incite violence to a person.
Arkansas Liability Laws Protecting Bullying Victims
Unfortunately, Arkansas does not have any specific laws that specifically state that school officials can be held liable for failing to fulfill their anti-bullying policies. But there also aren't any statutes that provide school employees with immunity in these cases. Thus, bullying victims have every right to bring a civil suit against their teachers and their school for bullying under the state's legislation and traditional tort law (personal injury law). In some cases, these laws can even provide students and their families with monetary damages to help them recover from the bullying.
Sometimes, if a student tries to sue the state government for failing to prevent the student from being bullied, the government will claim immunity. So, if a civil suit is necessary, the student should focus on bringing it against the state agency that is in charge of protecting them from bullying.
Determining if you have standing for a civil suit is the first hurdle to bringing one, and knowing who to sue is the second. Generally, when parents decide to pursue a case, they get stuck on these steps and either end up bringing cases that are dismissed because they do not have standing or are unsuccessful for a number of other reasons. Working with the Lento Law Firm Education Law Team is a great way to figure out if you have a case, who to bring it against, and what the next steps are in the process.
Arkansas Governmental Liability Laws Protecting Bullying Victims
Many states hold that school districts can be held liable for the actions of their employees. However, Arkansas is one of a few states that does not. In a 1992 ruling by the Supreme Court of Arkansas, school districts have immunity from tort liability for the negligence of their agents and employees. So, if a teacher sees a student being bullied and does nothing to help them or participates in the bullying, the teacher can be sued, but the school district cannot. However, you can bring a case against the school district if you can show there is a continuing, widespread, persistent pattern of unconstitutional misconduct by the school district's employees; the school district is deliberately indifferent or implicitly authorizes the conduct even after being notified of it; and the student was injured by an action that resulted from the school district's custom of allowing officials to behave this way.
To pursue a tort claim against the school district, their employees, the Arkansas Department of Education, or your child's school, you must file your complaint and a summons in the county where the defendant lives, works, or where the bullying occurred. If the complaint is for more than $25,000, it will be filed in the Circuit Court. But if it is for less, it will be filed in the District Court.
You have three years to bring a tort claim, and it must include the following:
- Your child's name, address, and telephone number.
- The defendant's legal name and address.
- The amount you are asking for in damages or a description of other damages you hope to recover.
- A description of what happened to your child and your family that led to the loss or injury.
- A statement of why you think the defendant owes you the amount of money you are asking for.
Once your claim is filed, the Court Clerk will give you a summons to give to the defendant to notify them of the claim. You can either send it to them by certified mail, use an authorized process server to deliver it, have it delivered by a sheriff, or personally deliver it to the defendant. The defendant is supposed to respond to the summons within 30 days. Their response must be filed with the Court Clerk and delivered to you.
The process of bringing a civil suit against anyone can be incredibly overwhelming, but trying to bring one against your child's school, teachers, or anyone else involved in their bullying can be downright frustrating and exhausting. The Lento Law Firm Education Law Team understands this and will work diligently to help you prepare your claim and file it with the appropriate courthouse. They will also help you figure out the best way to notify the defendant of your claim and how to strategize your argument, finding relevant evidence and witness testimony to support it.
Potential Lawsuit Defendants for Arkansas Bullying Liability
While Arkansas laws make it difficult to sue school districts for the behaviors of their agents or employees, it does not seem like they offer their agents and employees the same immunity. As such, you can bring a claim in civil court against your child's teacher, a school official, or even a particular employee from the Arkansas Department of Education if you believe they had a hand in your child's bullying.
For example, teachers generally owe their students a duty of care. So, if your child's 10th-grade teacher witnessed them being bullied for their weight day in and day out, fails to report it or stop it, and maybe even encourages it in the name of “fun,” then your child takes drastic measures to make the bullying stop, that teacher can be sued for their negligence.
Bringing a claim against your school or one of its employees is complex and highly nuanced. You don't want to lose the fight before you've even begun. Let Lento Law Firm determine whether your child has a civil claim for damages for the negligence of school officials, including teachers and the administrative staff.
Arkansas Personal Injury Laws Protecting Bullying Victims
Even though the Arkansas legislature may allow you to sue your child's school, their teachers, or the Department of Education itself, the laws don't specify whether you have a claim or not. Instead, you have to review all of the tort laws to determine how you can hold these people or entities accountable for your child's bullying harm.
Negligence tends to be the main tort claim that your student can recover from bullying because these individuals owe your child a duty of care. If any of them fail to use reasonable care in protecting your child from bullying harm, you may be able to prove negligence. Some examples of possible negligence include failing to:
- Stop bullying when they see it happen.
- Separate the bullying students from their victims.
- Protect victim students from further acts of bullying.
- Monitor classrooms, playgrounds, or other common areas for bullying.
- Investigate complaints of bullying.
- Follow school procedures for complaints of bullying.
- Prevent bullies or their parents from retaliating for complaints of bullying.
In cases where the teacher or other school officials were involved in the bullying, your student may also be able to bring other tort claims, like:
- Invasion of privacy
- Defamation
- Intentional infliction of emotional distress
- False imprisonment
- Assault
- Battery
Determining whether your child has a tort claim because of the bullying they have experienced can be difficult. Lento Law Firm will comb through the incident to see who was involved and begin gathering relevant evidence and testimony to support your claim. You do not have to do this alone. Let Lento Law Firm help.
Arkansas Private School Liability to Bullying Victims
Unlike public schools, private schools have no immunity for the actions of their employees or agents. As such, you have every right to bring a civil claim against it for their participation – or lack of interference – in your child's bullying harm.
To bring such a claim, you will have to follow the same steps described above, including identifying the tort claim, describing the situation or events that led to your child's harm, and specifying who you are making the claim against - the school as a whole, the headmaster, a particular teacher, or all of the above.
Federal Anti-Bullying Laws Supporting Civil Liability
Unfortunately, there is no federal law that expressly prohibits bullying while also creating a right to bring a civil suit against a school for bullying harm. Instead, you will have to rely on Arkansas's particular laws to recover from ordinary bullying harm that took place in an Arkansas public or private school. That being said, bullying typically occurs in conjunction with discrimination – which is federally prohibited. So, if your child's bullying harm falls under federal law, you might have a civil claim. Federal anti-discrimination laws include:
- Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: protects public school students from discrimination based on their race, color, sex, national origin, or religion.
- Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: protects anyone in a school that receives federal funding from discrimination based on their race, color, or national origin.
- Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972: protects individuals in schools that receive federal funding from being discriminated against based on their sex, which includes sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking, dating violence, and domestic violence.
- Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973: provides students with disabilities – no matter their age – with equal access to their education and prohibits discrimination based on their disabilities.
- Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act: requires schools to reasonably accommodate students with disabilities. The Act overall makes it illegal to discriminate against an individual with a disability, which includes excluding them from participating in school.
- Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: requires that states provide students with disabilities access to a free appropriate public education. As such, it prevents school districts from discriminating against students with disabilities.
It is important to remember that ordinary bullying alone is usually not enough to support a civil suit for monetary damages under these federal laws. You need to be able to show a connection between the bullying and a protected category or characteristic. Thus, if your child is being bullied because of their race and their teacher does nothing to stop it – or joins in – you will have an easier time recovering under these federal laws than if your child was being bullied for an unprotected category (like their reading ability).
Compensation for Bullying Victims in Arkansas Schools
When you are allowed to make a claim against a public or private elementary or secondary school for bullying under Arkansas law, your child may be able to recover certain types of damages. The most common type of damage is economic damage. These damages seek to repay any monetary loss your child or family has suffered because of the bullying harm, such as:
- Money to replace damaged or destroyed property
- Out-of-pocket medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Lost earning capacity
In some cases, you may also be able to recover for non-economic damages that resulted from the bullying harm, including pain and suffering, embarrassment, humiliation, fear, fright, mental and emotional distress, shock, and loss of enjoyment of life. While economic damages are specific, non-economic damages can account for a much higher monetary value and are thus harder to prove. Working with a skilled education attorney is the best way to determine which damages to pursue and how to back up your claims so the court is more likely to award what you have requested.
Pre-Suit Steps at Arkansas School for a Bullying Victim
Typically, parents and guardians will want to pursue justice with the school before filing a civil lawsuit for monetary damages and injunctive relief. In addition to the fact that exhausting the school district's procedures first will only add to your civil claim later, Arkansas school districts have the right to settle civil claims for monetary damages even if they have immunity from the claim.
Furthermore, Arkansas schools have clear obligations to prevent and address bullying within their communities. For instance, under the Arkansas Code, public school students have the right to receive an education in an environment that is reasonably free from substantial harassment, intimidation, or harm or threat of harm by another student. Therefore, if a school official fails to prevent the student from being bullied and interferes with their education, they can be held liable under this law.
This same section of the Arkansas Code goes on to explain the steps the school must take after it receives a bullying complaint, including:
- Investigating the complaint within five school days of receiving it.
- Notifying the parents or legal guardians of the bullying student.
- Making a written record of the investigation and any actions that were taken as a result of it.
- Offering the bullying student and the victim counseling or other intervention services.
Additionally, the Arkansas Code makes it clear that public schools have a responsibility to enact policies to protect students from bullying and train their employees in these policies. When a public school fails to do so, parents may have another opportunity to file a complaint against the school or its employees.
Pursuing an Arkansas Civil Action on Behalf of a Bullying Victim
While many parents and guardians may want to file a civil suit against their child's school or its employees for their bullying harm, it must fall within the parameters of state or federal law. To ensure a claim falls within these requirements, you must work with an experienced attorney. Lento Law Firm will review all applicable laws, policies, and procedures to determine how best to make your child's case in civil court. Once they are sure you have a case, they will begin building it, which will include:
- Searching for relevant evidence that is admissible in court.
- Researching and drafting a detailed complaint and determining which court to file it with.
- Filing the complaint and serving the summons on the appropriate parties so they can answer your claim in a timely manner.
- Communicating and negotiating with the other side's attorney in an attempt to settle the case before going to court.
- Exchanging information and evidence with the other side during the discovery phase.
- Combing through the other side's discovery information to find relevant evidence that supports your claim or refutes their counterclaim.
- Filing pretrial motions, if necessary.
- Participating in mediation or alternative dispute resolutions, if requested.
- Presenting your case at trial and challenging the other side's defense.
- Enforcing and collecting the court's judgment.
- And, if necessary, evaluating and pursuing an appeal.
Defending Disciplinary Charges Against a Bullying Victim
Unfortunately, there are instances where students who have been bullied end up behaving in ways they normally would not and facing disciplinary action at their school. For instance, when a student is being sexually harassed by another student and ends up slapping the bully, they can be accused of misconduct. When this happens, the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team can help your child defend themselves from harsh punishments and unnecessarily negative consequences.
Helping Your Student Avoid Arkansas School Bullying
Children of any age can find it hard to resist engaging in bullying behaviors. This is especially true if they see their friends do it and feel pressured to participate. However, the law and the school's procedures do not tend to differentiate between the instigator and the follower. So, to prevent your child from engaging in bullying, it is vital to speak to them about the dangers of bullying, the importance of saying something when you see bullying occur, and how to protect their classmates from bullies. Not only will this protect them from becoming bullies themselves, but it will help them protect their classmates from becoming victims.
Premier Representation for Arkansas Bullying Victims
The Lento Law Firm Education Law Team knows how hard it can be to watch your child get bullied and find out that their school or teacher is doing nothing about it. Our skilled attorneys can help you draft a civil suit against these perpetrators for monetary damages and injunctive relief. Call 888-535-3686 today for help, or schedule a consultation online.
