Schools May Be Responsible if Students Are Injured
A fatal stabbing in the hallway between classes at Coral Gables High School in Coral Gables, Florida may lead to a negligence lawsuit against the Miami-Dade School District.

November 19, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Schools May Be Responsible if Students Are Injured

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A stabbing in the hallway between classes at Coral Gables High School in Coral Gables, Florida on September 15 left one student dead and one charged with second degree murder. Anais Cruz, mother of murder victim Juan Carlos Rivera, is preparing to file a lawsuit against the school district after a mandatory six-month waiting period. According to Cruz's attorney, the basis of the lawsuit would be negligence by the district in failing to protect Rivera.

The Miami-Dade School District chose not to comment on the potential suit, but Superintendent Alberto Carvalho described the murder as resulting from an isolated act of random violence. Cruz's attorney contests this description and claims that Rivera's death was foreseeable, particularly since four of seven student murders in south Florida in the last five years have occurred in Miami-Dade County.

In determining whether the school district has acted negligently, a court will consider the scope of the duty the school district had toward the plaintiff, whether the duty was breached and whether the breach was the cause of the plaintiff's injury. In determining the scope of the duty a school district has toward students, courts will consider whether the injury to the student plaintiff was foreseeable by the school district.

In the Rivera case, for example, the existence of prior student murders and an expired bid for the purchase of metal detectors by the school district might be relevant in showing that the district knew students such as Rivera were at risk from other students. On the other hand, the security cameras installed in the school might constitute reasonable action on the school district's part to fulfill any duty to prevent foreseeable crimes against students. Whether there was active monitoring of security cameras and the speed with which school personnel acted to intervene upon learning of the fight are additional considerations that may be relevant to determining whether or not the school district acted negligently.

Florida is a pure comparative negligence state, which means that a jury may consider the negligence of the parties in determining a damage award. Under pure comparative negligence theory, an injured person is able to recover damages regardless of the extent to which his own actions caused the injury. However, the amount of damages will be reduced in proportion to the injured person's responsibility in causing his or her injury. With Rivera, when two students engaged in a fight, comparative negligence theory could limit the amount of any award to Rivera's estate if the school district is found liable, based on the extent Rivera is deemed responsible for engaging in the fight that led to his death.

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