Appeals court rules
against
Toms River schools
Robert Schwaneberg,
Star-Ledger (nj.com) on the Web, December 7, 2005
A divided state appeals court today
ordered the Toms River Regional School District to pay $50,000 to a former
student who was slapped, punched and repeatedly taunted by classmates who
thought he was gay.
The 2-1 ruling gives New Jersey students greater protection against harassment
than their peers nationwide and holds school districts to the same rules that
employers must follow to prevent a hostile workplace.
The court unanimously rejected the district’s arguments that such a tough
standard is unrealistic in the classroom because students, unlike employees,
cannot be fired.
“We see no justification for imposing a higher hurdle for claims by students who
are subject to bias-based harassment in school than that which is imposed for
individuals who experience such harassment in the workplace,” Appellate Division
Judge Joseph Yannotti wrote.
Yannotti and Appellate Division Judge Ariel A. Rodriguez concluded that Toms
River school officials failed in their duties by allowing the former student,
identified only by the initials “L.W.,” to be “subjected to severe or pervasive
harassment on the basis of his perceived sexual orientation.”
They upheld state Civil Rights Director J. Frank Vespa-Papaleo’s order that the
district pay the student $50,000 for his emotional suffering.
Appellate Division Judge Edwin Alley dissented from that part of the ruling,
finding that the incidents of bullying “were occasional, not pervasive, and
hostility did not characterize the conduct or attitude of the school.”
The dissent gives the district an automatic right to appeal to the New Jersey
Supreme Court.
Vespa-Papaleo was “ecstatic” over the ruling, one of the first in the nation to
use anti-discrimination law to establish such tough protections against
harassment in the classroom. The much weaker standard under federal law
allows students to sue only if school administrators turn a blind eye to
student-on-student harassment.
“Hopefully this is the beginning of an effort for every school district to
reassess their practices and policies and if they find any deficiencies, correct
them immediately,” Vespa-Papaleo said.
Contributed by Robert Schwaneberg
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