School Isn�t Liable For Student�s Suicide

A school is not liable under the civil rights law for the death of a student who committed suicide after meeting with a school counselor, a Federal Court has ruled. A public high school student gave his ex-girlfriend a note that talked about killing himself. She gave the note to a guidance counselor, who met with the boy and asked if he had thought about hurting himself. He denied that there was a problem and said he was fine, and the counselor believed that he didn�t show any signs that he was at risk. A few days later, the student committed suicide. The student�s mother filed suit alleging that the school and the guidance counselor were liable under a state-created danger theory. But the Court disagreed and stated �To prevail on a state-created danger claim�a Plaintiff must prove the following four element: (1) the harm ultimately caused was foreseeable and fairly direct; (2) a state actor acted with a degree of culpability that shocks the conscience; (3) a relationship between the state and plaintiff existed such that the plaintiff was a foreseeable victim of the defendant�s acts, or a member of a discrete class of persons subjected to the potential harm brought about by the state�s actions, as opposed to a member of the public in general; and (4) a state actor affirmatively used his or her authority in a way that created a danger to the citizen or that rendered the citizen more vulnerable to danger than had the state not acted at all.� The Court further went on to say that a reasonable jury could not find that the second and fourth prongs above were met.

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