A South Brunswick sexual assault case from 4 years ago has turned into a premises liability case. A student, identified in New Jersey’s Middlesex County Court only by her initials, was assaulted in a stairwell in February 2016. She has filed a lawsuit against South Brunswick High School on the grounds the school failed to protect her.
The student was a freshman at the time of the attack. Four months later, she attempted suicide and has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. She has found it difficult to attend school over the ensuing 4 years out of fear she would encounter the other student.
The student who committed the crime was found guilty and judged a delinquent in court. As the legal focus now shifts to the school itself, it bears asking—what are the expectations for school security?
Commission of a crime on school property does not make the institution itself responsible—at least not on its face. The plaintiff in this case, as in all premises liability cases, must prove the school failed to provide a reasonable and professional standard of care for its students.
The first step is to determine whether South Brunswick High met basic legal requirements for security, including everything from training to equipment. The lawsuit alleges that high school staff were not given proper training to prevent sexual assault and that security cameras in the stairwell were inoperable at the time of the assault.
In that regard, a number of questions that will come out either in discovery or at trial will swing the case.
- Was a teacher or staff member in position to prevent the assault, but was unable to do so for lack of training? It isn’t enough simply to prove the allegation that staffers were left unprepared. It must also be proven that this negligence caused the attack.
- How long were the security cameras out? If they just went out the morning of the assault, a jury would likely find it an unreasonable expectation of the school to have them replaced. On the other hand, if broken cameras were left in place for months on end, then the school could have a problem.
- Let’s say the answer to the latter question is somewhere in between the 2 extremes. How did the school deal with the loss of security cam footage? Were students given clear warning not to use the stairwell with a reasonable alternative in place? Or were they just left on their own?
Those will be the questions the jury has to decide with outside expert witnesses on school security issues likely playing a role. That a tragedy happened at South Brunswick High in 2016 is not in doubt. The question of who’s to blame remains up in the air.