Civil Money Damages for Michigan Bullying Victims
Michigan's grade schools owe the duty to their students to prevent and address bullying harm. When they fail in that duty, and a student suffers additional bullying harm as a result, the school may owe the student money damages recoverable in a civil court action. Bullying can have a devastating impact on a student, even to the point of causing student suicide. When schools fail in their duty to prevent bullying, bullied students can have much higher truancy and dropout rates, lower academic performance, and behavioral issues with substance abuse and vandalism as they compensate, act out, and self-defend from harm.
Our Education Law Team stands ready to help your student make a money damages recovery against the Michigan grade school that allowed your student to suffer bullying harm. Civil liability litigation against a Michigan school is complex and challenging. You need premier representation by attorneys who have the required knowledge, skills, and experience. Our attorneys can help your student achieve the best outcome, including, in appropriate cases, recovering a full and fair monetary award. We offer this information to help you understand how we may be able to help your student recover and move forward from serious bullying wrongs.
Bullying Is a Persistent and Serious National Problem
Bullying is no secret. State legislatures around the nation have taken notice of the sad statistics on the high prevalence and awful impact of bullying in grade schools. The experts who best know the challenges that grade school students face attest to the seriousness of the bullying problem. School nurses are among those front-line experts daily witnessing the harms of bullying. Relying on the reports, experiences, and studies of its school nurse members, the National Association of School Nurses calls bullying a persistent national problem, forcing students to withdraw from school studies to avoid the bullies while leading to high dismissal and dropout rates, as the Centers for Disease Control also reported. Student bullying can even cause such severe mental health issues as to lead to student suicide, a National Library of Medicine study reports. Retain our Education Law Team to help you fight bullying's effect on your student's academics, health, and development. We may be able to help your Michigan grade school student make a monetary recovery for bullying harm.
Money Damages for Bullying Harm
If you are seeking a monetary damages recovery for your student for bullying harm, you should know that you are not alone. Bullied students have made monetary recoveries into the millions of dollars in cases all over the country, including recoveries against public schools and private schools relating to student bullying suicides. Those settlements, verdicts, and judgments require skilled representation. Money damages cases against public schools, especially, may require special notice, pleading, and other requirements with which attorneys handling ordinary personal injury cases like auto accident cases are unfamiliar. The attorneys on our Education Law Team have the special experience and skills necessary to evaluate your student's claim and pursue it toward a full and fair recovery where the facts and law allow. Trust us with your student's important bullying matter.
Bullying in Michigan Grade Schools
Bullying is a problem in Michigan, too, not just in other locations around the country. According to one national survey, Michigan ranks twenty-fifth among the fifty states in the size and seriousness of its bullying problem. Although that ranking puts Michigan right in the middle, the middle isn't good enough when the ranking involves something so serious as grade school bullying. Michigan's state government admits that more than one in five Michigan grade school students report having been bullied. Michigan marks October as Bullying Prevention Month to raise awareness. If your Michigan grade school student has suffered bullying, your student is not alone. Bullying is a serious problem in Michigan schools, as it is a serious problem elsewhere. According to a national database of bullying settlements and judgments, Michigan parents have made monetary recoveries for their student's bullying harm, just as have parents in other states. We can help your student evaluate and pursue that monetary recovery.
Michigan's Anti-Bullying Laws
Michigan adopted The Matt Epling Safe School Law as its primary anti-bullying law more than a decade ago. The law requires school districts to adopt an anti-bullying policy meeting the law's requirements. The policy must prohibit bullying. The policy must also designate school officials who are responsible for accepting and acting on bullying complaints. The school must immediately notify the parent of the bullying incident against the parent's student. The policy must also provide for anti-bullying training for school teachers and other employees. Michigan's Matt Epling Safe School Law is a strict and strong anti-bullying law compared to other laws nationwide. Michigan has given your student the legal protections your student needs to enforce your student's right to attend grade school without bullying harm. Let our Education Law Team help your student evaluate and pursue a monetary recovery under those laws.
Michigan's Bullying Definition
Michigan's bullying definition is broad, including all common bullying forms. Michigan's Matt Epling Safe School Law defines bullying as “any written, verbal, or physical act, or any electronic communication” including cyberbullying, either “substantially interfering with” education, “adversely affecting” education “by placing the pupil in reasonable fear of physical harm or by causing substantial emotional distress,” “having an actual and substantial detrimental effect on a pupil's physical or mental health,” or “causing substantial disruption in, or substantial interference with, the orderly operation of the school.” Examples of bullying that would generally fall within Michigan's definition include taunting, ridiculing, threats and intimidation, harassment and humiliation, social exclusion, violence such as striking, shoving, and pulling hair, and theft, extortion, damage, or destruction of personal property.
Michigan's Bullying Definition Does Not Include Discrimination Prohibitions
Many state anti-bullying laws include anti-discrimination prohibitions in their anti-bullying laws. Those states define bullying to include conduct demeaning the victim's protected characteristics like race, color, national origin, religion, sex, and disability. Michigan's Matt Epling Safe School Law does not refer to discriminatory bullying. It does not list protected characteristics. But that does not in any sense mean that bullying that demeans and ridicules a student's race, color, national origin, religion, sex, and disability falls outside the definition of bullying. To the contrary, demeaning, harassing, and ridiculing any student characteristic, whether specifically protected or not, should fall within Michigan's bullying definition.
Michigan Civil Liability Compensating Bullying Victims
Michigan's Matt Epling Safe School Law does not, on its own terms, authorize a money damages action when a school fails to protect a student against bullying. You and your student must look to other Michigan laws for that monetary recovery. The discussion below first addresses how Michigan treats immunity for public schools and their employees before enumerating your students' potential recovery theories. Keep in mind that governmental immunity and governmental liability laws and procedures complicate school liability claims. When you retain our Education Law Team, you get the skills and experience you need for your student to navigate those complicated laws successfully for your student's best outcome.
Michigan Law Waiving Sovereign Immunity
Michigan is like many other states that recognize and preserve sovereign immunity for local government agencies and public officials, including public schools and their employees, but then permits liability suits against those local public agencies under certain exceptions. Michigan's governmental liability law first provides that “a governmental agency is immune from tort liability if the governmental agency is engaged in the exercise or discharge of a governmental function.” But related Michigan law lists several exceptions to that immunity. The exceptions include injuries caused by a defective building, sidewalk, or road walk, in a motor vehicle accident, or by the agency's gross negligence. Your student may thus proceed with a Michigan law tort claim against the public school if the evidence supports a claim under one of those several exceptions, particularly the gross negligence exception.
Michigan Immunity for Individual School Employees
Michigan's governmental liability law retains governmental immunity for public employees, including public school teachers and staff, if the employee is acting in the scope of the government employment, discharging a government function. However, the law immediately waives the public employee's immunity if the public employee acts with gross negligence. So, once again, your student may have a money damages claim against the public school teacher or staff member if their conduct amounts to gross negligence. Other related Michigan law permits the governmental agency to indemnify (pay for) the school official's wrong.
Michigan Negligence Law and Bullying Victims
Keep in mind that Michigan's governmental liability law simply addresses the sovereign immunity of public agencies like public schools and public officials, including public school teachers and staff. The law does not expressly create and define the money damages right of action. Your student would instead look to Michigan tort law for those causes of action, especially Michigan negligence law. Your student's claim against the school and its teachers or other staff would be for their failure to reasonably supervise, monitor, investigate, discipline, and otherwise protect against bullying.
Michigan Gross Negligence Law and Bullying Victims
Because Michigan's governmental liability law retains immunity except for gross negligence, your student would also have to present evidence elevating the wrong to that higher level of negligence. Michigan's governmental liability law defines gross negligence as “conduct so reckless as to demonstrate a substantial lack of concern for whether an injury results.” Proof of gross negligence would generally require evidence that school officials received complaints of the bullying or observed it themselves so that they had notice that their failure to act had a high probability of causing further injury. Recklessness generally means deliberate indifference to a known high probability of harm. Gross negligence claims are possible in school bullying cases but require more proof than ordinary negligence claims.
Other Michigan Tort Law and Bullying Victims
Michigan law recognizes other tort theories, although the gross negligence theory is the one that Michigan law expressly recognizes as overcoming governmental immunity. Michigan intentional tort theories include assault, battery, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. While your student may plead these theories against the student bully, teachers, and other school officials generally do not commit the bullying themselves. If they do, they might be liable under these intentional tort theories, but the school would not generally insure and indemnify them for intentional wrongs, meaning that collecting on the liability could be problematic. Your student's better course may be to pursue the gross negligence theory.
Michigan Student and Parent Liability to Bullying Victims
As just indicated, Michigan intentional tort theories would apply to the student bully, against whom your student could potentially plead and pursue a money damages claim. However, students generally do not have the assets, insurance, or income from which to collect damages for an intentional tort. Parents do not ordinarily, by common law, have liability for their child's wrong. But Michigan has a parental responsibility law that grants a claim against the parent for up to $2,500 when the child causes injury willfully or maliciously. Your student may have a limited claim against the bullying student's parents.
Michigan Compensation Laws for Private School Bullying
Michigan private schools and their employees do not have governmental immunity. Private schools are not government agencies. If your student suffered bullying at a private school, your student could potentially maintain a negligence action against the school and its teachers or other staff without having to prove gross negligence. Let us help you and your student evaluate your student's Michigan law recovery rights.
Federal Laws Compensating for Michigan Bullying Harm
You don't have to rely solely on your student's Michigan law recovery rights. Your student may also have federal law recovery claims. Court procedures generally permit a party to plead as many claims as they have in one court proceeding. You may be able to raise your student's Michigan and federal recovery rights in one court case. Let us help you evaluate those federal recovery rights.
Section 1983 Claims for Michigan Bullying Harm
Whether your student's claim arises in Michigan or any other U.S. state, a federal damages statute 42 USC Section 1983 may provide for a money damages action against the public school and its officials for violating constitutional rights. To raise that federal Section 1983 claim, your student may have to prove the school's deliberate indifference to known acts of bullying. Your student would also have to prove that the school's indifference violated your student's substantive due process and equal protection rights. But a substantial monetary recovery under this federal damages statute may be available, especially if your student can prove a state-created danger, Jones v. Reynolds, 438 F.3d 685, 690 (6th Cir. 2006), special duty and relationship, Soper v. Hoben, 195 F.3d 845, 852 (6th Cir. 1999), or act shocking the conscience, Range v. Douglas, 763 F.3d 573, 588 (6th Cir. 2014). We can help evaluate and pursue your student's Section 1983 claim.
Federal Anti-Discrimination Laws and Michigan Bullying Compensation
Federal law prohibits several forms of discrimination in public schools and private schools receiving federal financial assistance. Bullies often target those characteristics, including race, color, national origin, sex, religion, or disability, that federal anti-discrimination laws protect. The bully's discriminatory harassment would not, on its own, ordinarily give rise to your student's federal anti-discrimination claim against the school. The school is not directly liable for student bullying. But if the school fails or refuses to prevent and correct the bullying, and the discriminatory harassment continues, then the school may have violated its federal anti-discrimination obligations. Section 1983 and other federal law may then give rise to a money damages cause of action, in conjunction with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Titles IV and VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, or Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. We can evaluate your student's federal anti-discrimination law claim.
Recoverable Damages for Michigan Bullying Victims
If your student is entitled to monetary damages for bullying, then Michigan law will provide for compensatory damages. Compensatory damages make a party whole, as far as possible. You may thus prove whatever natural and foreseeable loss your student suffered from the bullying that the school and its employees caused. Those losses may include both economic harm, meaning out-of-pocket losses, and non-economic harm. Students may have relatively little economic harm other than medical or counseling expenses for treating the bullying injuries and replacement of stolen or destroyed personal property like eyewear, electronic devices, clothing, backpacks, books, and jewelry.
Non-economic damages, though, may be far greater than economic loss. Non-economic damages in bullying cases can include substantial pain, suffering, fear, fright, shock, humiliation, mortification, embarrassment, mental and emotional distress, and lost enjoyment of life. Michigan law allows for all of these damages in reasonable amounts. While some states allow for punitive damages to punish the defendant in personal injury cases involving malicious or willful misconduct, Michigan is not among those states.
Pursuing a Michigan Civil Action for Bullying
Pursuing a civil action against a school and its officials for bullying harm is complex, technical, and challenging litigation. Ordinary criminal defense counsel and trial attorneys don't generally have the knowledge, skills, and experience for that litigation to address the unique immunity, liability, notice, proof, and procedural issues. Our Education Law Team's attorneys do have the required knowledge, skills, and experience to assist you and your student with effective representation. We can acquire the available evidence, serve the required notices and complaints, and help you advocate and negotiate for an appropriate resolution, including full and fair compensation for your student's harm. We can also pursue your student's case through pretrial, trial, and appeals for your student's best-litigated outcome.
Defending Michigan School Disciplinary Charges
You may be surprised and disappointed to learn that school officials sometimes charge the bullying victim, rather than or in addition to the bully, with misconduct relating to the bullying incidents. Our Education Law Team can help you and your student defend disciplinary charges arising out of the bullying incidents. Bullied students sometimes must defend themselves, especially when school officials ignore their duty to stop the bullying. Self-defense may involve threats and actions that would, in the absence of the bullying, be grounds for discipline. Bullied students also sometimes act out in ways that disrupt classrooms and school operations and disrespect teachers and school staff. Bullied students also face disciplinary charges for academic issues caused by the bullying. Our attorneys can help your student show school disciplinary officials the connection between the bullying and your student's disciplinary officials, while our attorneys also pursue your student's case for recovery of monetary damages.
Helping Your Student Avoid School Bullying
Michigan public officials encourage students to help themselves and help one another stop bullying. While the school is responsible for stopping bullying, you may be able to help your student avoid more serious harm. Tell your student not to join in the bullying. Ensure that your student knows to tell you immediately whenever bullying occurs. While the school is supposed to notify you, it may not. Your student's notice to you allows you to notify the school and invoke its protections. It also helps you document with the school the ongoing bullying. Ensure that your student also tells teachers and school staff whenever bullying occurs. Reassure your student that the bully, other students, teachers, and staff must not retaliate against your student for reporting bullying. Retaliation only adds to your student's damages case.
Premier Representation for Michigan Bullying Victims
The Lento Law Firm's premier Education Law Team can provide you and your student with a prompt review and evaluation of your student's right to maintain a civil action for monetary damages for bullying harm. Our Team is available across Michigan. We have helped hundreds of students nationwide successfully address bullying and other school conduct issues. Call 888.535.3686 now or chat with us. Let us help your student achieve the best possible outcome, and money damages recovery.
