But this one is different. It's about bullying and a touch football game.
It's a classic story (again, unfortunately). Two kids are in middle school in Los Angeles. One of them is big and burley, and the other is small an frail. The big kid relentlessly bullies the little kid, with both physical bullying (pushing him down, etc.) as well as emotional bullying (e.g., calling him gay). The teachers at the school allegedly do nothing, and the bullied kid is hesitant to report anything as well because, in his own words, "snitches get stiches." (I've heard my own kids use this phrase as well, though -- I sincerely hope -- sarcastically.)
The lawsuit here, however, is not about the bullying, but is fallout from an (allegedly) related touch football game in P.E. class. Four games are going on, the big kid really wants to win, the P.E. teacher is totally on his phone not paying attention, the little kid catches a pass, and the big kid -- even though it's touch football -- completely decks the buy, tearing his ACL and causing huge injuries.
So the parents of the bullied kid sue the bully, his parents, the teacher, and the school. And at trial, the jury awards the bullied kid $1.75 million in damages against the school.
I had thought that the principal issue on appeal would be the typical sports "assumption of the risk" defense, and that issue was indeed raised, but the Court of Appeal holds -- rightly, I think -- that this principle doesn't apply to a mandatory sport in which you were required to participate. (The bullied kid had to do touch football in P.E.) The key fight was instead about whether the school district was liable, which it wasn't. That said, the teacher might still be liable, and since the school district has to pay for him anyway, the plaintiff's still likely to get a fair chunk of change. The Court of Appeal holds only that the jury -- on retrial -- will need to apportion fault between the negligent teacher and the deliberately tortious bully. No fair imposing complete joint liability between intentional vs. negligent defendants.
Bullying: Not good. On many levels.
