C.C. and J.C., as next friends of the minor child M.C. v. Harrison County Board of Education

Summary

Justice Armstead concurred in part and dissented in part regarding claims against the Harrison County Board of Education arising from alleged harassment and bullying by an assistant principal. The dissent would affirm dismissal of the negligence per se claim in Count 5 and the negligent retention claim in Count 6, concluding that governmental immunity and insufficient pleading defeated those claims. It agreed with affirmance of the dismissal of the negligent hiring and negligent supervision claims.

Holdings

1. In the dissent's view, the Board was immune from the negligence per se claim because the alleged duties to adopt or maintain an anti-harassment policy fell within West Virginia Code section 29-12A-5(a)(4), and the cited anti-harassment statutes imposed responsibilities rather than expressly imposed liability.
2. In the dissent's view, the allegations that the Board failed to act to address the assistant principal's conduct alleged negligent supervision rather than negligent retention, and they failed because the assistant principal's alleged acts were intentional rather than negligent.
3. In the dissent's view, petitioners failed to state a negligent retention claim because they did not allege specific facts showing that retention of an unfit employee caused a reasonably foreseeable injury.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Board was immune from the negligence per se claim in Count 5 because the claim rested on statutory responsibilities to adopt or implement an anti-harassment policy.
2. Whether the negligence per se allegations in Count 5 merely restated a negligent supervision claim based on intentional conduct by the assistant principal.
3. Whether petitioners adequately pleaded negligent retention against the Board, including a foreseeable injury caused by retaining an unfit employee.
4. Whether the complaint satisfied the heightened pleading requirements applicable when a governmental defendant asserts qualified or statutory immunity.

Disposition

other