Can I Sue the School District, Not Just the Teacher?

Why the district can be responsible

The adults at your school had one job: keep you safe. When a district fails to protect a student, the claims we bring commonly include:

• Negligent supervision. Failing to monitor staff who were alone with students, investigate red flags, or step in.

• Negligent hiring and retention. Failing to vet staff, or keeping someone in contact with children after warning signs.

• Failure to train and educate. Failing to teach staff, students and families to recognize grooming and boundary violations.

• Failure to report. California’s Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA) requires teachers, coaches, aides and administrators to report suspected abuse (Penal Code § 11166). Districts must also train their staff as mandated reporters (Penal Code § 11165.7).

• Responsibility for employees. A district can be liable for the acts and failures of its employees (Government Code §§ 815.2, 820).

The district doesn’t have to have known about this person

Institutional liability does not depend on proving the school knew this specific person was dangerous. It depends on proving the school failed to create and keep systems that make any predator’s conduct structurally difficult.

Warning signs we investigate include:

• pulling a student out of class, or keeping a student in a classroom at lunch, recess or after school

• closed-door or blinds-down sessions in classrooms, offices, portables, locker rooms or weight rooms

• rides in a staff member’s car, or off-campus trips

• private texting and social-media messages

• gifts, money and favoritism

• complaints from students or parents that went nowhere

It isn’t only teachers

Districts are responsible for every adult they place around students. Our cases involve teachers and substitute teachers, coaches, teaching aides, counselors and administrators, campus security officers, after-school program staff, custodians, bus drivers and other staff.

Suing the person who abused you

The person who abused you can usually be sued too, for example for sexual battery (Civil Code § 1708.5). Suing the district matters because the district had the duty to supervise, and the power to stop it.

What compensation can cover

Survivors can seek compensation for emotional, mental and psychological injury, physical injury, counseling and medical costs, and lost earnings and earning capacity. California does not allow punitive damages against public school districts. Every case is different, and no lawyer can promise a result.

How long you have

You can bring a case against a California school district any time before your 40th birthday, with no government claim first. For abuse on or after January 1, 2024, there is no deadline. If you’re 40 or older, different and stricter rules apply, so talk to a lawyer promptly.

Was it a private school? See Private school sexual abuse.

Every case is different. This is general information, not legal advice.