Does the district have reasonable security measures addressing third-party violence?

Schools have a special relationship with their students and an obligation to impose reasonable measures to protect them from foreseeable injury caused by third parties acting negligently or intentionally, the California Court of Appeal has said.

The plaintiff in C. Achay v. Huntington Beach Union High School District was a student belonging to her high school’s track team. After practice ended early one day, she left the school for around 45 minutes. She returned to retrieve her schoolbooks from the girls’ locker room before it was scheduled to be locked for the day. On the way to the school parking lot, a former student stabbed her. She suffered serious injuries requiring two surgeries.

The plaintiff filed a lawsuit based on negligence against the high school district. She claimed that the district:

• owed her a duty to properly hire, train, and supervise employees providing security;
• knew or should have known that it was foreseeable for individuals to enter school grounds to cause physical or emotional harm;
• breached its duty by failing to offer adequate security;
• should pay damages for the physical and emotional harm she suffered.

The district, filing a summary judgment motion, argued that it owed the plaintiff no legal duty of care at the time of the incident and that there was no causal connection between the stabbing and the alleged failure to provide adequate security.

The trial...

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