Sexual Harassment or Molestation of Students

Despite this ruling, the Court also commented on the severity of the paddlings. In such instances, the justices stated, school authorities might be held liable for damages to the child. Moreover, if malice is shown, the officials might be subject to prosecution under criminal statutes. In a later action, the Court also indicated a role for the dueprocess clause discussed earlier in this chapter. By declining to hear Miera v. Garcia, the Court let stand lower-court rulings that “grossly excessive” corporal punishment may constitute a violation of students’ due-process rights. Thus teachers can be prosecuted in the courts for using excessive force and violating students’ rights.54

Indeed, lower courts have ruled against teachers or administrators who have used cattle prods to discipline students, slammed students’ heads against the walls, or spanked students so hard they needed medical attention, and the Supreme Court will probably continue to uphold such rulings. Overall, recent judicial decisions, together with the ever-present possibility of a lawsuit, have made educators cautious in using corporal punishment.

9-3h sexual harassment or Molestation of students

The Supreme Court’s decision in Ingraham v. Wright regarding physical punishment and a later decision in Franklin v. Gwinnett strengthened prohibitions against sexual harassment and sexual molestation. Definitions of these terms vary, but for interactions between students and teachers, the terms generally include not only sexual contact that calls into question the teacher’s role as exemplar but also unwelcome sexual advances or requests for favors, particularly when the recipient might believe that refusal will affect his or her academic standing. Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in court cases involving school employees accused of sexually harassing students. Although the courts have been vague on what constitutes illegal sexual harassment of students, it is clear that both staff members and the districts that employ them can be severely punished if found guilty in court.55

School officials’ legal responsibilities regarding teachers’ sexual harassment of students were somewhat clarified in a 1998 Supreme Court decision (Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent School District) that involved a ninth grader who was seduced by a science teacher but never informed administrators about this sexual relationship. Her parents sued for damages from the school district using the argument that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 requires schools to proactively take action to identify and eliminate sexual harassment. The Supreme Court ruled that school officials are not legally liable unless they know of the harassment and then proceed with “deliberate indifference.” Some analysts were unhappy because they believed this decision allowed officials to avoid identifying and combating harassment, but others believed it reinforced administrators’ resolve to implement policies that demonstrate their concern about harassment.56

Despite the relief from liability that Gebser provides for school officials, individual staff members must be wary of any action a student or parent might interpret as

54Miera v. Garcia, 56 USLW 3390 (1987); Edwin C. Darden, “Legal Problems with Corporal Punishment,” School Administrator (January 2009); Rachel Chason, “As More Schools Ban Paddling, Others Defend It,” USA Today (July 18, 2014), available at www.usatoday.com; and “School Corporal Punishment,” January 27, 2015, posting by Inquisitr, available at www .inquisitr.com. 55Martha M. McCarthy, “The Law Governing Sexual Harassment in Public Schools,” Phi Delta Kappa Research Bulletin (May 1998), pp. 15–18; and Ada Meloy, “What Title IX Has to Do with Sexual Assault,” September 9, 2014, posting by the American Council on Education, available at www.acenet.edu. 56Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent School District, 98-1866 S. Ct. (1998). See also Revised Sexual Harassment Guidance (Washington, DC: US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights, 2001), available at www.ed.gov; Allison Fetter-Harrott, “Staff-to-Student Sexual Harassment,” District Administration (March 2010), available at www.districtadministration.com; and “Sexual Harassment,” 2015 posting by MRSC, available at www.mrsc.org.