Torts Keyed to Franklin
A.W. v. Lancaster County School District 0001
Facts
Joseph Siems entered Arnold Elementary School in Lincoln, Nebraska during lunchtime. He walked past the main office without signing in as a visitor and without being noticed by the office workers. A teacher saw him and asked if he needed help. When Siems ignored her, the teacher went to the office to see if he had signed in. Two other teachers, who were supervising a group of first graders, saw Siems in the hallway. One approached Siems while the other stayed with the students. Siems told the teacher he needed to use the restroom. The teacher pointed out a restroom that she knew no children were in and told Siems to go to the office when he finished using the restroom. No one saw Siems exit this restroom and walk down to another restroom closer to the school’s entrance. Meanwhile, the teachers went to the office to report the incident. At the same time, C.B., Plaintiff’s 5 year-old son, came back from a trip to the restroom and informed his teacher that a “bad man” had been in the restroom who had briefly performed oral sex on C.B. The office administrator found Siems in the bathroom with no children present. She initiated a “Code Red” lockdown of the school and called 911. A custodian detained Siems until police arrived. Plaintiff sued the school. The district court granted Defendant’s motion for summary judgment, finding that: 1) Defendant did not owe a duty to protect C.B. from sexual assault, 2) the sexual assault of C.B. was not foreseeable, and 3) Defendant took reasonable steps to protect against foreseeable acts of violence on school grounds. Plaintiff appealed.
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