Credit v. Richland Parish School Board

92 So. 3d 1175, 2012 WL 1859027, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 681
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 23, 2012
DocketNo. 46,163-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 92 So. 3d 1175 (Credit v. Richland Parish School Board) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Credit v. Richland Parish School Board, 92 So. 3d 1175, 2012 WL 1859027, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 681 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

GASKINS, J.

1 jThis matter is before us on remand from the Louisiana Supreme Court.1 For the following reasons, we affirm the trial court judgment finding that the plaintiffs have no cause of action, against certain employees of the Richland Parish School Board arising from the death of Adrienne Breana Howard (“Breana”).

FACTS

Breana had been expelled from Rayville High School because of an ongoing dispute with another student, Courtney McClain (“Courtney”).2 Breana was attending the Richland Career Center at Archibald. At the close of the day on December 14, 2009, Breana had been dropped off by a school bus at the rear of Rayville High School and began to walk home. Allegedly at the instigation of another student, LeBaron Sledge, Courtney and Breana became involved in a fight on a sidewalk at the rear of Rayville High School near the school bus zone. According to the pleadings, Breana was either pushed by Courtney or fell off the sidewalk and was struck by an oncoming school bus driven by Samuel G. Hesser. Breana died from her injuries. Her younger half-siblings, Kaylin Howard and Kevin Credit, Jr., were on a bus in front of the bus that struck Breana. The bus stopped and the passengers disembarked. Kaylin and Kevin saw Breana’s body.

Nakisha Credit, Breana’s mother, filed suit individually and on behalf of Breana, Kaylin, and Kevin, against the Richland Parish School Board; [2State Farm Automobile Insurance Company, the insurer of the school board; Cathy Stockton, superintendent of the Richland Parish School Board; Georgia Ineichen, principal of Ray-ville High School; Larry Wright, Sr., assistant principal of Rayville High School; Samuel G. Hesser, driver of the bus that struck Breana; Rayville High School; Richland Parish Career Center at Archibald; XYZ duty teachers; Gail McClain, Courtney’s mother; and Amy Doe, LeBar-on Sledge’s mother.3

The plaintiffs argued that the defendants were negligent in numerous ways, including the failure to supervise, failure to timely respond to the fight, and failure to adequately staff the bus area with teachers or school personnel. The plaintiffs alleged that Mr. Hesser saw or should have seen the fight and yet continued to operate the bus near the fight without regard to the safety of the children in the school bus zone. According to the plaintiffs, the mother of LeBaron Sledge was liable for her son’s role in instigating the fight and Gail McClain was liable for Courtney’s action in allegedly pushing Breana into the path of the bus.

[1177]*1177Various exceptions were filed. This case concerns the exception of no cause of action filed by Cathy Stockton, Georgia In-eichen, Larry Wright, Sr., Samuel G. Hes-ser, and XYZ duty teachers. They asserted that the plaintiffs have no cause of action against school board employees in their individual capacities under La. R.S. 17:439. The statute provides that “Except as otherwise provided in this Section, no person shall have a cause of action against any school employee based on any statement made or | .¡action taken by the school employee provided that the action or statement was within the course and scope of the school employee’s duties as defined by the school board in which the school employee is employed and was within the specific guidelines for school employee behavior as established by that school board.” The statute further provides that a “school employee” means any school employee who has direct contact with students in the course and scope of the school employee’s duties as defined by the school board by which the school employee is employed, and includes but is not limited to school-based administrators, classroom teachers, coaches, librarians, counselors, teachers’ aides, clerical employees, lunchroom workers, custodial workers, school bus drivers, and school bus drivers’ aides. La. R.S. 17:439(B).

After a hearing, the trial court granted the exception of no cause of action as to Cathy Stockton, Georgia Ineichen, Larry Wright, Sr., and XYZ duty teachers, based upon La. R.S. 17:439 and dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims against them. Regarding Mr. Hesser, the school bus driver, the trial court found that La. R.S. 17:439(D) prohibits the plaintiffs from bringing a claim directly against the bus driver in his individual capacity, but they would have a direct action against the bus driver’s insurer to the extent of any insurance. Accordingly, the trial court granted the defendant’s exception of no cause of action as to Mr. Hesser and dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims against him.

The plaintiffs appealed the trial court decision to this court. In our prior opinion, we reversed the trial court judgment in its entirety. In finding |4that the plaintiffs did have a cause of action against Cathy Stockton, Georgia Ineichen, Larry Wright, Sr., and XYZ duty teachers, we reasoned that the legislature, in enacting La. R.S. 17:439(A), created a qualified immunity from liability for school board employees for negligent acts of commission, but not for negligent acts of omission. We noted that La. R.S. 17:416.4(A) provides that, when school employees are sued for damages based upon any “action or statement or the omission of any action or statement by such employee when in the proper course and scope of his duties as defined by the school board employing such employee, then it shall be the obligation of said school board to provide such defendant with a legal defense to such suit including reasonable attorney fees, investigatory costs, and other related expenses [Emphasis supplied].” We observed that La. 17:439(A) precluded a cause of action against a school employee based upon any “statement made or action taken” by the school employee within the course and scope of his or her duties, but the statute did not include the language regarding omissions. We determined that the legislature did not intend to preclude a cause of action against school employees for negligent omissions.

The Louisiana Supreme Court granted the writ application filed by the defendants, Cathy Stockton, Georgia Ineichen, Larry Wright, Sr., and XYZ duty teachers, and Mr. Hesser, objecting to this court’s decision. The supreme court reversed that portion of our opinion finding that the plaintiffs Ifihad a cause of action against Cathy Stockton, Georgia Ineichen, Larry [1178]*1178Wright, Sr., and XYZ duty teachers for negligent omissions.4

The supreme court stated that La. R.S. 17:439(A) has a threefold requirement which must be met before a school employee may successfully assert a peremptory exception of no cause of action. La. R.S. 17:439(A) requires: (1) the cause of action against any school employee must be based on a statement made or action taken by the school employee; (2) the action or statement must be made within the course and scope of the school employee’s duties as defined by the school board in which the school employee is employed; and (3) the action or statement must be within the specific guidelines for school employee behavior as established by the school board.

The supreme court determined that, in enacting La. R.S. 17:439, the Louisiana legislature did not intend to exclude qualified tort immunity for negligent acts of omission. It found that Louisiana courts have long reasoned that the word “act” or “action” in a statute refers to both acts of commission and acts of omission. The supreme court held that the “statement made or action taken” language in La. R.S.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
92 So. 3d 1175, 2012 WL 1859027, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 681, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/credit-v-richland-parish-school-board-lactapp-2012.