BROWN, Chief Judge.
Plaintiff, Faye Huey, individually and as tutrix of the minor LaShaun Latrice Thompson, filed suit against defendant, Caldwell Parish School Board ("CPSB"), seeking damages arising out of her 16-year-old daughter's sexual contact off campus with an adult male non-student.
In Spring 2006, LaShaun was enrolled at Caldwell Parish High School ("CHS") and rode to and from school on a bus driven by W.L. Rush, who had been employed as a bus driver by CPSB for 36 years. Plaintiff alleged that on three occasions, March 12, 2006, April 4, 2006, and May 3, 2006, La-Shaun was allowed to disembark from the bus before reaching school so that she could attend a medical appointment. Defendant notes that March 12, 2006, was a Saturday. Also, the forged note from La-Shaun was dated May 4, 2006, not May 3, 2006, as one of the days she was dropped off for an alleged doctor's appointment.
There were, however, no doctor's appointments. LaShaun admitted to intentionally lying to Rush in order to meet with Gary Thomas, a 28-year-old male with a criminal history. Each time, after Rush dropped her off at the health unit or hospital, LaShaun was picked up by Thomas, who drove them to his sister's apartment where they had intercourse. After these rendezvous, Thomas would drop LaShaun
It is not disputed that LaShaun knowingly contrived false excuses in order to convince Rush to allow her to exit the bus before arriving at school in the morning. On one occasion in May 2006, LaShaun forged a note from plaintiff asking that she be let off at the local health unit for a doctor's appointment. In April 2006, she asked to be let off for another doctor's appointment, but Rush asked to speak with her mother. LaShaun used a cellular phone to call a friend who pretended to be her mother and gave permission for her to be dropped off for the appointment. As stated in the record, on both of these occasions, LaShaun was already pregnant.
LaShaun testified that she met Thomas around the beginning of February 2006. The only authority figure who knew about Thomas was plaintiff. Prior to the dates subject to this lawsuit, plaintiff learned from others in town that Thomas was attempting to pursue LaShaun whenever she walked home from an after-school tutoring program. Plaintiff confronted Thomas, along with his mother, demanding that he stay away from LaShaun due to her age. Following her confrontation with Thomas, she pulled LaShaun out of the after-school program. Plaintiff did not inform anyone at the school of the issue, reasoning: "My deal was if I told him in front of his mom and everything, you know, that should have settled it."
Additionally, plaintiff did not disclose to anyone at CHS that LaShaun had to leave a previous school due to inappropriate sexual activity with another student on school grounds. Plaintiff testified that she felt this information was "privileged" and that "I told them what I thought they needed to know about, her attention deficit and her disruptive behavior and those kinds of things."
On March 7, 2007, plaintiff filed suit against CPSB. Specifically, she argued that Rush breached the duty of care owed to LaShaun by dropping her off at a location other than her home or school. Plaintiff also alleged that there was in place a school policy mandating that before a student is allowed to get off a bus at a stop other than her own, the school's principal must confirm written permission from a parent or guardian. Had this policy not been violated, plaintiff claimed that LaShaun would not have had sexual contact with Thomas.
Defendant filed a motion for summary judgment on June 25, 2010, arguing that there was no formal policy governing bus activity at the time of these events, that the risk of the harm that occurred was not foreseeable, and that Rush substantially complied with school board policies, even if there was an alleged technical violation.
On February 7, 2012, the trial court rendered written reasons for judgment, and on March 7, 2012, the court signed a judgment granting defendant's motion. The court found that "there was no written policy governing students exiting a school bus at the time this event occurred." The trial court also found that plaintiff could not prove that the injuries suffered by LaShaun were foreseeable or that CPSB's conduct was the cause of her damages. The court found it noteworthy that the relationship between Thomas and LaShaun began before the first incident involving
Appellate courts review summary judgments de novo, using the same criteria that govern the trial court's consideration of whether summary judgment is appropriate. Argonaut Great Cent. Ins. Co. v. Hammett, 44,308 (La.App.2d Cir.06/03/09), 13 So.3d 1209, writ denied, 09-1491 (La.10/02/09), 18 So.3d 122. Summary judgments are favored under Louisiana law; however, factual inferences reasonably drawn from the evidence must be construed in favor of the party opposing the motion and doubt must be resolved in the opponent's favor. La. C.C.P. 966(A)(2); Id.
Summary judgment shall be rendered if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, show there is no genuine issue as to material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
Louisiana courts have adopted a duty-risk analysis in determining whether liability for negligence exists under the facts of a particular case. Pinsonneault v. Merchants & Farmers Bank & Trust Co., 01-2217 (La.04/03/02), 816 So.2d 270. Under this analysis, a plaintiff must prove five separate elements: (1) the defendant had a duty to conform his or her conduct to a specific standard of care; (2) the defendant failed to conform his or her conduct to an appropriate standard of care; (3) the defendant's substandard conduct was a cause-in-fact of the plaintiff's injuries; (4) the defendant's substandard conduct was a legal cause of the plaintiff's injuries, and (5) actual damages. La. C.C. art. 2315; Id. at 275-76; Lowery v. WalMart Stores, Inc., 42,465 (La.App.2d Cir.09/19/07), 965 So.2d 980. The plaintiff's failure to prove any of the elements of the duty-risk analysis results in a determination of no liability. Carroll v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 31,652 (La.App.2d Cir.05/05/99), 732 So.2d 1263.
The duty of a school board to its students is well settled. A school board, through its agents and teachers, owes a duty of reasonable supervision over students. La. C.C. art. 2320; Wallmuth v. Rapides Parish School Bd., 01-1779 (La.04/03/02), 813 So.2d 341; Adams v. Caddo Parish School Bd., 25,370 (La. App.2d Cir.01/19/94), 631 So.2d 70, writ denied, 94-684 (La.04/29/94), 637 So.2d 466. However, a school board is not the insurer of the safety of children, and constant
The liability of the school board and its employees for injuries to students exists only when the school board has actual custody of the students entrusted to their care. BL, supra at 460. In this case, LaShaun was aboard a CPSB school bus on her way to school, in the care of defendant, when she was allowed to exit at the health unit or hospital.
The trial court correctly identified foreseeability as key to the negligence analysis for determining the liability of CPSB for the off-campus criminal actions of Thomas. Most important, in this case, is whether the scope of the duty encompassed the risk of the harm which occurred. This court has laid out the proper framework for examining whether a risk falls within the scope of a duty owed:
Thomas v. Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, 38,170 (La.App 2d Cir. 03/19/04), 870 So.2d 390, 398, writ denied, 04-1403 (La.09/24/04), 882 So.2d 1132. Or as colloquially stated in the dissent:
Caraway, J., dissenting, Thomas, 870 So.2d at 400-401.
Defendant notes that similar to the facts in this case, in J.M. v. Acadia Parish School Bd., 08-1377 (La.App. 3d Cir.04/01/09), 7 So.3d 150, the Third Circuit
Plaintiff, while not addressing the implications of the holding in J.M., supra, urges the application of Agnor v. Caddo Parish School Bd., 41,224 (La.App.2d Cir.08/01/06), 936 So.2d 865, in which this court affirmed a trial court judgment finding the defendant school board 75% liable for injuries sustained by a third grader who slipped on a wet school bathroom floor and stabbed herself in the eye with a pencil as she fell to the ground.
The Louisiana Supreme Court, however, has cautioned that the extent of the duty of reasonable supervision depends on the age the student. S.J., 41 So.3d at 1127.
In Williams v. Orleans Parish School Bd., 07-0917 (La.App. 4th Cir.01/23/08), 2008 WL 399353, the Fourth Circuit affirmed a trial court judgment finding no liability on the part of the defendant school board, where a high school student was stabbed by a classmate after leaving campus without authorization during the school day with group of around 25 other students. The school principal and school security officer ordered the students not to leave, but took no action when the students did not heed their directions. While out of school, the victimized student was fatally stabbed by another student. The court held that this case was similar to Frederick, supra, because the injury was not foreseeable to the school or the teenaged student who joined the walk-out. Id.
In the instant case, LaShaun was 16 years old when the incidents began; she would turn 17 at the end of May 2006. She started seeing Thomas in February 2006 and was pregnant by April 2006. The two incidents involving the school bus occurred in April and May 2006. In each case the bus driver inquired about LaShaun's reasons for getting off at the health unit and doctor's office. LaShaun gave the driver a forged permission slip and called a friend on her cell phone who pretended to be LaShaun's mother. She
Plaintiff reiterates that LaShaun could not consent to the sexual activity with Thomas, pursuant to La. R.S. 14:80. However, this does not mean that LaShaun failed to understand that her actions in skipping school and clandestinely meeting with Thomas put her in danger. LaShaun knew that she was not supposed to get on or off of the bus anywhere other than at home or school.
Perhaps more importantly, there is no evidence or analysis in the record that anyone at the school would have been able to foresee this type of injury. Nor was it foreseeable to Rush when he dropped her off at the health unit or doctor's office that she would instead wait until he left and then get into a car with Thomas and leave.
Substandard conduct does not render the actor liable for all consequences spiraling outward until the end of time; the concept of legal cause is necessary to cut off liability at some point. In this case, too much has intervened, and this risk is not within the scope of defendant's duty. We hold that the trial court's grant of summary judgment was not in error.
For reasons set forth above, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed. Cost of appeal of are assessed against plaintiff.
The adverse party may not rest on the mere allegations or denials of his pleadings in response to a properly made and supported motion for summary judgment, rather, his response, by affidavits or otherwise, must set forth specific facts showing a genuine issue for trial. Otherwise, summary judgment shall be rendered against him, if appropriate. La. C.C.P. art. 967(B).
